Twenty Eleven Resolutions

Wow, it's been a while! 


After much thought I've come up with 4 resolutions I want to work on in 2011.

Avoid consumerism for the whole year.
I'm not sure how I will go here, buying second hand and freebees all allowed, but being addicted to books....(I have purchased a kindle, so I'll try downloading and reading the free ones this year) I have allowed only ONE unnecessary purchase per month, if I need it, so I REALLY have to think about it!
I also have some great ideas regarding birthdays and xmas under this resolution too! No 'STUFF'!!

Avoid refined sugar 
Nuff said!

Return to raw food living
Not to be anal about it though - raw breakfast and lunch, plus part raw dinner should do it.
I did this for 6 weeks last year and the weight just fell off me and I felt FANTASTIC!!!!
Considering that I have just purchased (Dec) 3 new raw books (waiting for arrival) I want to try at least one new raw recipe and blog about it. (I've done one tonight! Blog post and pics coming soon)

Return to a healthy weight and love my body
I think the above two resolutions will definitely help me with this one.

I really really hope this year is WAY better than last year for me!

Rock on 2011! 

Today's Tasty Foods

Looking for a tasty dip (not sure what I wanted, but I thought it would jump out at me when I saw it) I stumbled across a raw cheesy dip that sounded ok, but with only 4 ingredients I didn't know how well it would go.

Let me just say this - TRY IT!

WOW. It really does taste like cheese! It tasted FANTASTIC with the broccolini stalks I picked up for cheap yesterday, although the kids loved it with red capsicum sticks, and carrots.

(in case you were wondering and couldn't be bothered clicking on the link to see what the four ingredients were, they are: cashews, nama shoyu, red capsicum and lemon juice)

Tonight, I had left over salad for dinner (actually, the curried carrot salad that I love) so the kids and I made Cauliflower Yellow Capsicum soup. 

The  kids loved it. Again, having not tasted it, you'll just have to take their word for it!

Once again, photos are so crap, apologies! I am really, really, really lazy and usually grab the closest thing to me to capture the food before it (the food) gets munched!

Tahn

FYI Cheap dates!!

Love fresh medjool dates?  Coles has them on special for only $9.99kg!!!!!!!!!

Just wanted to share....

Tahn


Oh, and I found a yummy raw goddess salad dressing here.

Curried Carrot Salad

This is by far one of the best salads I have had yet! (yes, it's the same bowl - it's the only good one I own!)

Again the recipe is from goneraw.com and can be found here. Well worth a look!

Tahn

More Raw

From the dehydrator - chilli corn tortillas (or, what's left of it!!)

Apples and banana slices with fruity dip

Fruity dip

1 avocado

3 dates, pitted and soaked

1 kiwi

5-7 strawberries

a small amount of date soak water

In the food processor blend avocado and dates (with a little date water). Add kiwi and strawberries and process until smooth.

Recipe is from here!

I loved this dip best with apple slices but the kids preferred it with the banana.

Another awesome recipe from goneraw.com (my favourite recipe site at the moment!)

This is cauliflower rice from this recipe. Rather than chop it and then mix by hand, I processed the cauliflower in the food processor until it looked liked rice then placed it in a bowl. I added the rest of the ingredients (red capsicum, tomato, fresh peas, fresh corn, mushrooms, grated carrot, splash braggs, dash nutritional yeast) to the food processor and whizzed it up. Then I mixed up both lots and let it sit for a bit to let the flavours meld.

one last photo of the chilli corn tortillas being used as a scoop for my cauliflower rice. 

Deeee-lish!

Tahn

Raw foods we've been eating

Coconut Chia Pudding Shake

Meat and water from 1 young thai coconut (BTW these are so cheap at Coles for $1.69 each right now!)

1T Chia seeds

1/2 t vanilla

2T agave

1/2C ice

Blend

This is by far THE BEST way to open a coconut. Check out this:

Tonight's dinner - an almond cream with marinated mushrooms on zucchini pasta - toooooo good!

The recipe is here - Take the comment advice and halve the cream.

Watermelon Kiwi Cooler

3C Watermelon

3 Kiwi fruit

3 fresh or frozen strawberries

juice from 1/2 lime

Blend

Raw corn salad - awesome

I've been making a delicious salad for me and the kids and then adding a little something cooked for them like a burger or eggplant fritters (1000 Vegan Recipes). Apparently they were good - I'll take their word for it!

I've been raw for 13 days today and I feel FANTASTIC. I love it!

In the dehydrator - Spicy Corn Tortillas

Tahn

Teriyaki Noodles

Know I know this photo just looks like a pile of zucchini noodles, but it is drenched in a teriyaki sauce from Ani Phyo's Raw Food Essentials book.

I had some spiralised zucchini left over from the other day so making this was a cinch. After adding the sauce, I let it sit for a little while before eating which made the zucchini nice and soft. I ended up eating the whole lot myself!

I will definitely be having this again. It's a keeper!

Tahn

Raw...Again

Ok, I know I have said this before, but this time I mean it! For some reason I really feel like I have my head into it this time! Today is day three, and I am having a blast!

Last time I tried going RAW I mostly had issues with the kids - cooking for them especially, which in turn made me crave their hot food. Well, not this time. I cooked for them day one and two (no cravings), but today I really tried to include them in my meals. After Tweenie came home from school today I gave them all a green smoothie and stirred through some cacao nibs (I have had these around the house for a while now, but today was the first time I tried them. AND THEY ROCK!!!!!!). Then I made some cheesy cauliflower popcorn (small cut cauliflower, shaken with nutritional yeast, and pinch cayenne pepper. This can then be dehydrated, but we chose to eat it straight away.YUM) - all gone.

For dinner I spiralised some zucchini and made a different tomato sauce to go through it (I have previously made a red capsicum sauce to go on the zucchini). This was very nice also. Baby spiralised some apples and is still picking at that as I type.
I have joined a cool website/forum called Raw Food Rehab which has a mountain of information, recipes, advice and answers lots of questions.

I found a few Aussies on the the forum and  I found the recipe for raw zucchini pasta with tomato sauce through one of them (thank you!)

You really should try it.

If you know of other Raw food sites/forums that rock, let me know!

Tahn

It's here!

My copy of Ani Phyo's new book 'Ani's Raw Food Essentials' has arrived this very morning!

It was $19.98 from The Book Depository (with FREE delivery!). Don't pay more than that, fellow Aussies (it will be interesting to see how much they put the price up here!).

Will let you know what I think of it soon (no chance to do more than flick through it as homeschooling comes first!- I liked what I saw when I flicked!)

Tahn

Ani Phyo - Portobello Steaks on Brazil-Broccoli Mash with Mushroom Sauce

I mentioned in my last post that I had ordered a couple of Ani Phyo's raw cookbooks from The Book Depository. Excitedly, I received one today, Raw Desserts. Obviously from the title of this post this recipe did not come from my new acquisition. But I was lucky enough to borrow her Raw Food cook book from the library without too much of a wait. It was due back today, but I was unable to renew it as there is a bit of a list of people wanting to borrow it. So I quickly wrote out a few recipes to keep me occupied while I sit and wait patiently for my own copy to arrive!

Tonight I made the Marinated Portobello Steaks, which was really simple - the hardest part was waiting the 1-2 hours for the mushrooms to marinate and soften. The mushrooms sat on top of a bed of Brazil-Broccoli Mash. Another simple dish. A quick throw in the food processor. And lastly, the mushroom sauce - just a momentary mix in the blender. Voila!

It was delicious! The Brazil-Broccoli Mash was an interesting flavour. Definitely one that needed 'something' to go with it and it was perfect with the mushrooms. The kids did not like it by itself, but as a part of the combination it was great. The mushroom sauce around the edge was tasty and I ended up adding quite a bit more to my plate. I am really looking forward to trying a lot more savoury raw meals as I tend to stick to the sweet stuff.

Other recipes from her book I have tried are the Almond Mylk which is so easy and delicious and no straining required. A couple of her 'puddings' were yummy, 'Luscious Lemon Pudding' and 'Almond Pudding' usually we ate them at lunch and they kept me full for a good three hours.

I also made her 'breakfast pancakes' made primarily with flax seeds. I made the blueberry syrup she recommends and topped it with bananas. Very nice and filling.

Can't wait for my copy of her cookbook to arrive, especially her new one out VERY soon.

Enjoying the RAW,

Tahn

A New Dehydrator and Old Food Photos

A few weeks ago I splashed out and bought a 9 tray Excalibar dehydrator! I was so excited, it was a purchase I that had been on my wish list for a while. We have put it to great use, drying mountains of apples, zucchinis, pears, peaches, grapes and more. It has pride of place in my kitchen - I have moved my almost unused microwave and put the dehydrator in its place!

apples with cinnamon sprinkled on. Mmmmm

zucchini chips with moroccan seasoning. Too good. 

The following are some old photos (when I say old, only from when we returned from Bali! So not that old really.) Just trying to catch up.

A crepe from Vegan Brunch, if my memory serves me!

Walnut bikkies from 1000 Vegan recipes

A tiffin lunch for the kids. On the left is a spaghetti sauce I spent AGES making.

The sauce.

Semolina Potatoes for breakfast.

An absolutely DELICIOUS burger! The patty was out of 1000 Vegan recipes and I made the bun.

I made peach jam!!!!! My first jam ever, and so good! I gave some to the next door neighbour and Popeye's mum with a loaf of freshly made bread. Oh and the same to my vegan friends in Frankston.

A raw breakfast. It ROCKS! It's called Raw Porridge. Soak a couple of handfuls of nuts (I like peans, cashews and almonds) overnight. Soak a handful of sultanas for 20 minutes, then place nuts, sultanas and chopped apple into food processor. I topped it with chia seeds and ground flaxseeds. Very filling.

A raw school lunch.

Raw Chocolate! Not bad, quite fudgey. I chopped it and add it to our banana icecream. 1T coconut oil, 1 -and-a-half T of agave, mix. Add 1t vanilla, mix. Add 2T cocao, mix. Pour into a small container lined with glad wrap and put in the freezer for a while. Mmmmmm

My raw 'diet' went really well for about 9 days. I was really enjoying it and feeling great. I have had a LOT of difficulty keeping up with making different meals for everyone - cooked for the kids and raw for me. The kids ate a lot of raw too, but I was still making them a cooked meal once a day (for lunch). By the time I had cooked their meal, I couldn't be bothered making something raw for myself. So now I am still about 60-70% raw. I would love to go more, but I think I need to go a bit slower, to slip the kids into this way of life. I think Baby does better on a raw diet. She often complains after a meal "feel how hot my tummy is. Feel my head." When she was eating a lot of raw with me she did not complain. Maybe with them homeschooling things will be a bit easier, because I can just make us all a smoothie or something. It's a bit tricky to send a fresh smoothie to school with them!

Speaking of homeschooling, Steph asked why I decided to homeschool my kids. There a a lot of reasons, and I will jot them down on my next blog entry. I have really noticed an improvement with Tweenie and her attitude and love towards her sister. (she hasn't committed to h/s yet, but I hope she does!) Tweenie, as lovely as she is, is often in trouble for her pre-teen attitude towards us, and everything else. Also she rarely has the time of the day for Baby, often stating that she hates her. She has little tolerance for Baby's differences and is always being quite nasty to her. Well, for the week or so Tweenie has been home she has been an ABSOLUTE DELIGHT!!! I'm not over exaggerating! She has played amazingly well with Baby, helping her with her work and including her in everything! Just goes to show how much crap she brings home with her from school. (so there is reason number 1 for homeschooling!!) Here is a picture of Baby and Tweenie working together to make a yummy fruit smoothie. They blended each fruit up individually and wanted to layer it.

Oh the joy!

Tahn

Freaky Family

So much has been going on 'round here! For the most part, though, I have been able to keep up with everyones blogs - just haven't had time (or the inclination, really) to keep up with mine!

I've decided to add another freaky factor to our already freaky family (we already are viewed by others as 'a bit weird' because we are passionate vegans). I am going to homeschool my children.

Officially we are starting next term and the children are to finish off this term at school (Popeye's suggestion). Unofficially, we have started and they kids have stayed home here and there during the last few weeks.

It is totally legal in ALL states in Australia, and particularly easy to register in Victoria. You only need to send off a form for the Government to keep track of you and your children. No checks, no planning to show, no home visits, nothing.

Yesterday all three kids stayed home and we had a fantastic day. We watched a doco about hippopotamuses (which the kids loved! They now have an amazing fascination with documentaries!). Tweenie took notes and we discussed it all the way through. They had a couple of questions they wanted answered, so Tweenie wrote those down as well. When it had finished we wrote the questions on the whiteboard and they all chose one to research. Then they made little hippo books and wrote some hippo facts into it. This will be the start of our 'animal' themed lapbooks.

Then we went out to the shed. Popeye had a couple of boxed shelves he bought ages ago but never put together. Tweenie and YM were told to work together to assemble one, and Baby and I worked on the other. Baby and I worked really well - actually she did most of the work, I just facilitated. Tweenie and YM eventually got there, and learnt a lot along the way about working as a team, trying not to get frustrated, reading instructions carefully!

Next we went inside and worked together to make some lunch and do the dishes followed by watching another doco (this one on the giant octopus). After lunch Tweenie worked on her school project and YM and Baby individually read to me (Growing Granny Grasshead) and then they wrote directions on how to make a grasshead. Today I'll try and get the materials needed and they can make it themselves.

We watched yet another doco (I told you they loved them!) about black bears. Then I read a chapter of 'The Wishing Chair' By Enid Blyton (I just love how the children speak in those old books!!). Lastly we all went to the park (Popeye had made the long journey home to see us last night) and played a couple of games - S.P.U.D -which we changed to P.O.O to make the game go quicker; hospital tag; and dodgeball tag. So much fun!!

What a day! So much learning! So much fun! And our family is learning to love, respect and appreciate each other more. I love it!

Changing track a bit...I decided to go RAW for 90 days about 9 days ago. I have been going great guns! Not feeling hungry or left out. Lost 2 kgs. Yesterday, when the kids and I were making lunch I really just felt like some cooked food, so I had a bit of the lunch followed by a heap of lollies :( Oh well, back on track today. I don't feel bad about the cooked food - I figure I can have that whenever I feel like it- rather the lollies. I haven't even had any cravings for sugar all week. I think it was the all or nothing mentality. I ate cooked, so why not eat some other forbidden foods too!

Never mind, today is a new day!

Tahn

Balls, Balls and More Balls

Every since Popeye gave me his food processor I haven't stopped whipping up a batch a balls every couple of days. They usually don't last out more than 2 days around here with all kids on holidays, Popeye home and me - the worst culprit!!

Some I have just thrown all sorts together to make healthy raw balls

Others have been planned a little better

Both of these are from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. On the left are Chocolate Macadamia Clusters (p. 512) and on the right are Date and Cashew Nut Truffles (p. 513). Both are good, but my favourite is the orange looking ones on the right - they are rolled in ground cashews. Yum, yum, yum!

These delicious balls are Apricot-Walnut Balls from 1000 Vegan Recipes (p. 444) also by Robin Robertson.
There have been countless other 'freehand' balls that didn't quite make it to be photographed.

And now for something different:

Our first harvest of plums! Some more are still baking on the tree and should be ready (along with a MOUNTAIN of grapes) when we return from Bali. We are all very excited! (For Bali, and the grapes). We are off to Perth on Tuesday, and leave for Bali early Thursday morning. I've never been to Bali, and it is the first time the kids have been overseas! Exciting times ahead!

A taste of the RAW life

I have posted once before about my cool vege spiral machiney thing that I purchased at the World Vegan Day. Only that time when I made awesome vegetable curls, I forgot to take a photo of them. Here it is in action:

YM holding up a zucchini curl, while eating the left over 'core'.

Tweenie showing how long they can get.

The kids search through their food to try and find the longest curl!

This is our dinner (of raw zucchini, carrot and beetroot) before we added the sauce.

The sauce was a capsicum creamy sauce and it was delicious.

I got the recipe from www.raw-pleasure.com.au. I signed up for their newsletter and I got a link to a free e-book that was about 100 pages long and FULL of delicious looking raw foods. Well worth the 2 seconds it took to sign up! I will definitely be trying other recipes from the e-book.

Sweet Pepper Cream Sauce

By Mama Raw of the Raw Pleasure forums

Ingredients: 

2 large red capsicums, seeded & chopped 

1 clove garlic 
2 tablespoon olive oil 

1 tablespoons flax oil 

1⁄2 teaspoon marjoram 

1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt 

1/8 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste 

1 cup cashews 

juice of 1⁄2 a lemon

Method: 

1. Blend the first 7 ingredients to a liquid.

2. Add cashews and juice, then blend until smooth.

Serve at room temperature over spiralised zucchini. This can also be used as a dip or a salad dressing.

I bought myself a new blender on Friday (you may remember that Baby smashed mine to tiny little pieces the other week). I have been without a blender for about 2 weeks and it was killing me! I was missing my daily green smoothies! So I used the already over-extended credit card (it is christmas!) to buy me a new one. I don't know how long this $70 one will last but at 900w, it is much faster than the last blender. It really makes my smoothies smooth (as opposed to little green bits floating around). So I suppose Baby breaking the last one was a blessing in disguise (but I won't tell her that! - She is NOT allowed to touch this one!!)

I have a busy few days coming up. I've got to make cupcakes tomorrow for YM's birthday on Tuesday. He wants to take oreo cupcakes to school (27 kids, thanks very much!). YM's 9th birthday Tuesday. On Wednesday night I am flying to Sydney to see Popeye (I'm very excited! It's been 3 months!!). He is graduating from his course on Thursday. So on Wednesday I need to make 3 lots of school party foods (of COURSE they are all having end-of-year parties on the same day!). Two kids want Cindy and MIchael's sausage rolls, and one wants cupcakes. I also have chosen to pre-prepare Wednesday and Thursdays dinners for my babysitters (Popeye's sisters have kindly donated their time, so I will repay them by feeding them and making sure they don't have to do much except be there!). I still have a few christmas gifts to get, but especially Popeye's - I'm thinking a home brew kit. Thursday is Popeye's graduation parade (all those HOT navy men in their crisp white ceremonials uniform (especially mine - 3 months is a long time!). Then we are jumping in his car and driving back to Melbourne, while it is the last day of school for the kids. Not to mention a bit of personal grooming - waxing, tanning, toe nail painting (It HAS been three months, did I mention??) and all this adds up to 5 VERY busy days! Phew, I'm exhausted just from typing all that!

Better get some rest,

Tahn

A Raw Treat

In an attempt to begin tapping into the rich raw world, I made some raw treats for the kids to take to school.

My kids take a main lunch item (salad sandwich, left over dinner etc), 2 pieces of fruit and a piece of 'junk' as we call it, which is usually a couple of biscuits, a slice of cake etc. So I am happy that the kids loved this recipe. And I loved it too. I'm such a sweet tooth and these will make me feel a bit better about my sweet binges!

(Yes, that is a Bratz plate! I really go all out with presentation, don't I?)

DATE, ALMOND AND COCONUT BALLS

1C Almonds
1C Dates
1/4C Coconut
4-6T Agave Nectar (I actually used Maple syrup!)
1/2t all spice
1/4t nutmeg
1/4t cinnamon
1/4t vanilla essence
Mix altogether in a food processor. Roll into small balls and then roll into some extra coconut.

So simple! I used maple syrup instead of agave nectar because I had none, in fact, I have never even used it! Been meaning to, but never really 'come across' it. I really haven't looked but it has never really found me either! It tasted really nice with the maple syrup, but I was wondering if it was cheaper to use agave nectar as real maple syrup is so expensive!
Also I don't actually own a food processor, so I tried to use my Bamix (a new toy for me!). It was ok, but a food processor would have actually been sooo much easier and less messy!
Anyway, these are yummy and I am really happy the kids like them. I need to get the food processor that Popeye offered me a few months ago, but I wasn't keen to take it because it was a MASSIVE industrial sized one (my excuse was I had a small kitchen!). Popeye is actually a cook in the navy (although he is off doing a course to change that path - 75 days to go) and got it when they were getting rid of them, so you can imagine how bulky it is! Would have been perfect for the job today though!

Exercise today almost didn't happen. Again it was horrible, windy and disgusting! When I moved to Victoria 22 months ago, I left windy Geraldton in W.A (people come from all over the world to windsurf in Gero!) and thought I had gotten away from the frightful wind. I hate it! It doesn't make for a pleasant time whenever you leave the house! So I couldn't deal with a jog in the wind again today. So I decided to bring Viera (the TV) home from Spain half a day early so we all could play Wii fit for a bit of fun (We never use the Wii). But the bloody remotes were flat!! So annoying! I've got rechargeable batteries in the remotes but they don't last long between charges. May have to return to normal batteries so I can use it on a whim, not have to plan when we are going to use it.
Anyway, I ended up jumping on my rower for 20 minutes, 20 minutes on the cross trainer and 20 minutes on the stationary bike. Better than nothing. Must go outside tomorrow though, regardless of the weather. I had also better get to the gym and do some strength training!

Tahn

Lentil Spaghetti

I decided we would have pasta for dinner tonight and since it is YM's favourite, I let him cook. It's a very simple lentil sauce recipe from Vegan a Go-Go. We usually double the mix to make more than enough for us. Use whatever pasta you like.

LENTIL SAUCE
1T oil
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
3/4C stock
2 garlic crushed
1/2C red lentils
pinch black pepper
pinch salt
pinch cinnamon
 Heat oil and cook onion. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 or so minutes. Blend half or all and serve over pasta.


So today I did things slightly different. Kids went back to school today and instead of going for a jog while they were at school, I waited until they were home and we all went together. I am hoping that will encourage me to continue exercising in the long term and as an added bonus the kids get some physical activity in, too.
While the kids had a 20 minute play on the playground I decided to do some hill runs. At the Coburg Lake playground there is a small hill that goes towards a main road. I ran up there, to just past the toilets, and walked back down and repeated it 12 times in 15 minutes. I was aiming for 15 times in 15 minutes but as the sprints went on, they turned into slow jogs up the hill! Something to improve on though :)


We came home, YM made dinner (with my help) and Baby made fruit salad and custard for dessert (by herself).


Today I have been checking out raw vegan food sites, and I am going to try and have at least one raw meal a day (even if it is only a smoothie or a juice or a piece of fruit and a handful of nuts). You gotta start somewhere.

Tahn