KimmyKokonut

Summertastic!

I’ve been enjoying trying all the different kinds of granola at the food co-op but today I wanted muffins!  Based on my tiny pantry selection I had the right ingredients to make VWAV’s corn blueberry muffins but I altered the recipe.  Instead of using soy yogurt I substituted about 1/2 of a banana (mashed) and used fresh strawberries instead of blueberries.  I omitted the lemon zest and added about 1/4 cup of chiffonade basil.

The most beautiful one

YUM!  They were delicious, puffed up and browned nicely and tasted amazing.  I think the banana gave it a nice color and subtle flavor.  I love strawberry and basil and have a bunch of basil seeds in the sprout process.  Hopefully I’ll have a porch full of basil soon enough because to me, basil equals summer.

I first discovered the beauty and simplicity of making nachos in college.  A friend bought corn tortillas to make burritos but he wanted flour tortillas and was very disappointed.  Instead of throwing out the tortillas, I played around and cut them up and baked them in the oven with oil and salt and I had that moment of AHA! I am a genius!  I felt as if I had invented nachos and nothing would ever be the same again.

Getting crispy

Obviously, I did not invent nachos but used my intuition to make them, which was deeply satisfying.  My husband bought some corn tortillas last week for tacos but I am not a fan of store-bought corn tortillas for anything other than turning them into nachos.  I bought some flour tortillas so I could get my burrito on, but with the corn torts, I went all out.  I FRIED THEM.

An old saying goes, “Everything tastes better fried.”  While this may be true, I don’t really want to eat everything fried all the time. It’s not ideal for the body.  I prefer baking or sauteeing, but tonight I wanted that greasy fattiness and it would be a good use for the Teese Vegan Cheese I bought.

Look at it melt!

Making nachos is easy but borderline dangerous (hot oil).  I simply cut the torts to a desireable size, heat some canola oil in a skillet (about 1/4″ of oil is fine, or plug in your FryDaddy).  Once the oil is good and hot, place the torts in, making sure to give them a little space from each other.  If the oil isn’t hot enough, the nacho will not get browned and crunchy, it will get really greasy.  Fry, flip, fry other side.  Place on a paper towel (if you want to reduce the grease factor) and sprinkle some salt on top.  The end.

The microplane version

To make my double decker nachos, I spread the chips across a plate, added beans, cilantro, fresh chopped garlic, scallions and Teese.  The Teese needs seasoning so I added a little jalapeno flakes, garlic granules, black pepper and of course, salt.  I added a little nutritional yeast and kelp flakes because I am crazy and strange sometimes.  Then, layer two of nachos and continue with the toppings to your delight.  I baked the nacho dish in a preheated oven (at 375deg F) for about 10 minutes, then switched it to broil mode to crisp up the top.  I forgot to pack my grater when I moved here, so all i had was the microplane.  Teese does not like the microplane, but it makes for an interestingly crunchy topping and a gummed up grater.  My other batch I sliced really thin strips and they melted into each other without hesitation.

Eat and enjoy.  I surely did.

While I was in Peru, all I read about on people’s food blogs was the magical teese.  And what a tease it was, because there is very little access to vegan cheese outside of Lima.  Luckily, the local dairy cheese was NOT to our liking (unsalted chewy curds), so I was able to banish my addiction to cheese and ice cream while in Peru.

I was excited to find Teese when visiting FoodFight and although the price tag is hefty ($7.50/lb), it’s cheaper than fancy dairy cheese and we thought we’d give it a try.  It’s packaged like a sausage in a red wrapper but slices like fresh mozzarella and has a similar taste and texture to it.  It’s unsalted, and the water content was higher than I thought it would be.

Looks and tastes better than any other faux

I ate it in sandwiches with avocado (and salt!) and tomatoes.  I made a pizza to test the meltability and it did indeed melt.  If I wanted to brown it I had to broil it because baking it longer just seemed to dry out the teese (though it’s not bad crunchy…i will have to make mozz sticks next).  As pizza cheese, it’s perfect.  It’s not super stringy, but it stays together and provides a good mouthfeel.  As nacho cheese, it’s awesome.  I found that after adding the teese to whatever, I needed to salt and spice it to my taste (garlic, black pepper) because alone, it’s a little bland.  But I think it was meant to be like that.

Dog Bowl of Treats with Taster Tray

I had the opportunity to drink some great beer while visiting the small craft brewery, Laughing Dog, in Sandpoint, Idaho. Sandpoint is a fun town and is close to Schweitzer Mountain (great snow sports) and it’s on Lake Pend Oreille. Proximity to fresh water and mountains is my kind of place. Laughing Dog was opened a few years ago by veteran home-brewer, Fred. He has been home-brewing for 18 years and he knows the process intimately. His passion pays off in some tasty beer, reflected in multiple award-winning beers. We were honored to have a tour of the brewery by Fred, who let us smell the different types of hops and look inside his new mash tun. There is a beautiful geekiness in brewing that I can appreciate and relate to.

We ordered the taster, which consisted of 8 tastes. My hands-down favorite was the IPA, apparently Fred’s own recipe that precedes the commercial brewery. It is really unique in flavor, hoppy but not too intense and nice and smooth. I also really liked the Black IPA, known as Dogzilla, which looks dark but the flavor is intense, unique and smooth. Fred told me that the beauty of this IPA is that it contains Simcoe hops, which are very aromatic and different than the ever-popular Cascade hops. Another favorite was the seasonal Hot Chihuahua, which is a blonde ale brewed with chipotle and 2 other chili peppers. It’s not a 5-alarm sort of spicy, but more of a smoky taste and a heated finish. It’s really fun and enjoyable to drink.

Deep in hops discussion

Other beers drank included the Huckleberry Cream Ale, which is nice and full of flavor, but too sweet of a finish for me. The award winning cream ale, pale ale and award winning csb were good, but I wouldn’t order a pint for myself. The Sweet Stout was a nice surprise. I am usually not a stout consumer but Fred’s stout was really unique. It had strong coffee and caramel flavors, making it a party on my palate. He recently won a big award for his Hop Dog, a fresh hop ale that is made only once a year. It sounds really interesting. It’s supposed to have a really green grassy flavor, which sounds right up my alley. When they brew it next year, I’ll have to make a special visit to Idaho and say hello.

The only book I carried with me while traveling was Vegan with a Vengeance. I love this cookbook so much. I cooked a few recipes while visiting parents and they were relatively quick and easy to make and full of flavor.

I tried the Banana Pudding Brownies again. They flopped in Peru but there were a lot of factors involved, the main one being I can’t wrap my head around the Celsius thing. So they baked too hot, for too long and the pan was too big. This time I used an 8×8″ pan instead of the recommended 9×13″ and they came out really yummy. It is more like a firm pudding than a cakey brownie but it’s really rich and decadant. And the banana is a really nice balance.

The Biscuits & Gravy Recipe is always a winner to my husband. The first time I made it he gushed the whole meal. He really misses that white gravy with sausages at the diner and this substitute is better than that. The biscuits are amazing, fluffy like KFC, but I couldn’t find the spectrum shortening in FL, so I used the biscuit recipe from Millennium Hippies and it came out great. I added a little sage to the biscuit batter.

The Roasted Garlic & White Bean soup recipe was a new one to me this time. Using canned beans and roasted the garlic a day ahead, it was a snap to make and full of flavor. I used dried rubbed sage instead of fresh sage and my dad tried the soup and said he liked it. Shocking! He usually refuses to try anything I make and I try not to take it personally. Luckily, my mom will try anything I make. It is a really rich soup, but not very summery. It’s got all those warm fall and winter flavors to it. I’ll look forward to making it again this fall.

The Green Beans & Mushroom recipe was also a first for me. It was straightforward and easy but I wasn’t very impressed with it. I didn’t have wine to cook it in, but I think it was too much liquid overall. I served it over quinoa and added Bragg’s and toasted sesame seeds. It’s good, but it’s not like most of the other recipes in the book that are uber-fabulous.

I’m getting closer to cooking every recipe in this cookbook. I have never done that before with a cookbook, so it’s quite a compliment.

Here’s a brief rundown on the fast I just did, because it differed than my other fasts in a few specific ways. This time, we preceded the fast with 5 days of raw food, which has been talked about before. I think eating raw detoxed us significantly because we didn’t lose that much weight during the juice fast. When I have juice fasted before, I’ve lost a max of 4 pounds a day. This time it was more like 1 pound a day. Strange. I didn’t reach the 10% of my body weight, but broke the fast after day 3. We were ready for food and felt 3 days was enough this time.

The first day I had energy, did yoga and went swimming. I only craved potato chips (strange because I rarely eat them). The second day was my hardest. I felt nauseous, dizzy and my blood pressure dropped every time I stood up, causing really brief blackouts. That was usual, my day 2 is usually sucky. The only thing I wanted to eat that day was pudding; I have no idea why. On day 3 I felt good and strong and didn’t have any cravings or felt sick. After we decided to break the fast that night I had trouble sleeping. All I could think about was eating that delicious apple in the morning.

While breaking the fast, we had bigger appetites than ever before. Normally half an apple fills my stomach for breakfast and a bowl of soup for lunch is too much. This time it wasn’t. We ate more soup, more apple and had toast. I don’t know if the raw detox did anything to our metabolism but we were really hungry the whole second day. I got full easily, meaning my stomach was still shrunk and I didn’t overeat, but the hunger came back every few hours. We are now back to “normal,” and I’m excited to be cooking again.

For breakfast today, I made VWAV Coconut Pancakes and they were delicious! I’m getting close to cooking my way through the whole book. The only change I made was substituting water for the maple syrup and using sweetened coconut instead of unsweetened. I usually don’t make pancakes but we watched Music Within during the fast and it made us really want pancakes. The movie is amazing and I highly recommend it.

I will try to run down as briefly as I can how I’ve done my fasts in the past. Feel free to modify it and make it your own. Before fasting I try to do at least one day raw before the fast to prepare my body for the change. Some people do much longer. This means nothing cooked or heated over 104 deg F. Also, eat some flax seeds and/or psyllium seed (mixture whole and ground) at least one day before the fast. These little seeds are colon brooms and are known for absorbing toxins as they move through your intestines. I like to mix them with a little yogurt or salad. This day is also good to go buy your juicing veggies and fruits (apple, beet, cucumber, celery, watermelon, zucchini, kale, parsley, garlic, carrots, whatever). I tend to make a vegetable broth the night before and store it in the fridge.

Bulk Herbs for Tea

Essential Items
* A juicer
* Herbs for tea (chamomile, valerian, dandelion leaf/root, nettle, mint, rosemary)
* A scale
* Honey/Agave (for the nauseous moments)
* Enema Kit
* Flax and/or Psyllium seeds (I buy them in bulk at my local health food store or co-op)
* Epsom Salts (for laxative and bath salts)
* Organic dried prunes/figs

Tongue Scraper

Non-Essential Items
* Tongue scraper
* Sesame oil (for massage and after shower moisturizer)
* Skin brush (or regular brush for stimulating lymph system and releasing toxins)

Every day: Drink at least 8 cups of water (seriously, force it down, your body needs the flushing). Dilute all juices with water. Drink herbal tea 3 times a day. Shower/bathe and exfoliate (your skin is your largest organ and wants to get rid of toxins, too). Weigh yourself upon waking and before bed and record it. Don’t be scared if you start losing a lot of weight, most of it is your stomach shrinking and the lack of food/waste in your system. If you lose 10% of your body weight, STOP and proceed to break fast. Take a walk, do yoga and meditate. Make sure you are outside at least 10 minutes every day-the sun also aids in detoxification.

Day 1: Wake up and treat yourself to a lovely laxative cocktail. I usually dissolve 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts into a cup of warm water with a little lemon juice. Plug your nose and chug! Doesn’t taste good but it’s important to clear out your tract as well as you can, since you are done with solid foods for a few days. Try to stay home this day, or at least the morning. I’ve gone into work and school while fasting and have felt fine, except for the first few hours after the Epsom salts. It is unpredictable when they will kick in and for how long. Have a cup of tea, make a little juice, enjoy the free time. At lunchtime I have either a cup of juice or broth with tea. Same for dinner time. The first day I don’t really feel hungry or crappy but I am aware that I WANT to eat for pure pleasure. I find it fascinating to not be hungry but see my mind wanting to eat out of habit, for comfort or whatever psychological attachments we have to certain foods.

Day 2: Rejoice, you are done with the laxative drinks. Just do the water/tea/juice broth thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner and use your time well. Try not to spend all your time on the couch. If you are doing gentle-moderate exercise it helps with the fasting. It’s nice to go to a sauna and sweat out the toxins or get a massage. Day 2 I usually start craving junk and feel nauseous, dizzy and weak. My husband feels fine and has a lot of energy on this day. If you feel like crap, have a spoonful of honey/agave. It will immediately make you feel better. I know people hate or are embarrassed talking about butt things, but there is no shame in taking care of your body. Do an enema! There, I said it. Don’t be scared. I was worried the first time but the amount of help an enema has on detoxing is crucial, so get over your butt issues. I just do a normal warm water enema. Some people use coffee, salt or sesame oil. Try it with water first. The whole point of the enema is to flush your intestines out, thus removing toxins that your liver is releasing or any remaining poo. When in autolysis, your liver and kidneys are on holiday but don’t stop working and go to Jamaica. They clean. Like Monica on friends. All that crap they’ve stored from preservatives, pesticides from produce, mercury from fish consumption and whatever else they didn’t have time to take care of while you were in eating mode. The only time they can really process it well and get rid of it is during a fast. It doesn’t hurt, but you’ll feel like shite because the toxins are released into your system. If you don’t do an enema and flush them out, these toxins will go into your bloodstream and make you feel sicker (dizzy, nauseous, confused). So do your enema. It won’t hurt you, it can only help you. If you feel like crap later on in the day, do it again and have a spoonful of honey/agave.

Day 3: This is the hump day, usually the hardest day for me (well, losing 12 pounds in 3 days was intense for me). I crave foods, any foods, and miss the process and tradition of eating and chewing. Usually after day 3 all food cravings are gone and it’s not a concern anymore. All the cravings just disappear. Start the day with an enema. You may continue your fast if your weight is under control and want to, but please check with your doctor and do research. I am not a doctor and am not responsible for the results of other people following my advice. We are all unique and must listen to ourselves and know our bodies.

Good Morning Food!

Day 4: If your weight loss is in the safe zone and you want to continue the fast, do it! Keep purging those toxins and removing those dead, diseased cells and tissue. I usually am at 10% weight loss by now and need to break my fast. If you are too or want to stop, follow along. Note: breaking the fast is more important than doing the fast itself. You can screw up your metabolism big time. You may miss pizza, but not today. You can wait, it will be there later if you still want it. Continue drinking a lot of water and tea. The night before I soak 3 prunes or figs in water. When I wake up I slowly eat those wonders of nature and drink the soak water. This is to wake up your system gently. For breakfast I try to eat an apple. I never succeed in eating the whole thing because my stomach is shrunken and am full usually halfway through the apple. For lunch I have a potato soup that I made the night before (or that morning) using my leftover broth, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, black pepper and parsley. For dinner I have quark (or greek yogurt or soy yogurt without sugar) with flax/psyllium seeds and an apple. Eat slowly, don’t force yourself. If you are full, stop.

Muesli.

Day 5: A good rule of thumb is to spend half the amount of time you fasted on breaking the fast. So for my 3 day fast I usually just spend 2 days breaking the fast. Today I have muesli for breakfast (oats, raisins, walnuts, chopped apple and flax/psyllium seeds with milk (I use homemade cashew milk) or yogurt of choice). Keep drinking your cleansing teas! Lunch is more soup and a raw salad. Dinner can be a repeat of lunch or toast.

The idea is to slowly introduce foods back into your diet and take your time. If you are interested in seeing if you have food allergies, you can use this time well by doing an allergy avoidance diet. Your body is pretty clean now, so you will notice reactions a little clearer.

So I hope I was able to share some valuable information. Let me know if/how you fast and your experiences. It is only through communication and education that fear and ignorance go away. Fasting is now a part of my life and I am better for it and not any less of a weirdo.

Fasting is a challenge that’s fun and rewarding. I always feel lighter, more energetic and cleaner after a fast. I am more in tune with myself and can identify my psychological addiction to certain foods. I can tell when I need to eat versus wanting to eat.

Before I did my first fast, I read a lot of books (I know there’s a lot of good books out there. The best how-to I read years ago was a German book in English called Healthy Fasting by Hellmiss). I had a lot of American preconceived notions and mythical fears about fasting but the more I learned, the more I was encouraged and empowered that this was not only safe, but invaluable to my health. Most animals do it. Fasting is old-school (like b.c.), dating to over 5,000 years ago. This includes the Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Baha’i. But in today’s world, it’s not solely driven by religion. There are many health advantages to fasting which include: prevention of illness, disease and cancer; weight-loss; detoxification; longevity-enhancing; and a house cleaning of sorts for your tissues/cells. While fasting your body enters auto-lysis, where your body decomposes all the dead, damaged, diseased, weakened and aged tissues and cells in your body. When you are eating, your body doesn’t have time for all this cleaning because it’s busy digesting and the little fast overnight isn’t significant to counter all the toxins we face on a daily basis (plastics exposure, air/water pollution, pesticides/hormones/antibiotics in our food, etc.)

There are many different kinds and ways to fast. You can eat raw, you can buy an expensive kit filled with supplements and pills, you can do all liquids (juice, water, tea) or the all-water fast (which I don’t think is appropriate for our modern world. I think it’s important to consume some calories from juice to balance the outside stresses). So, after my reading I designed a fast combining my new knowledge from all the books I read. My next post will detail the process of the fast so you aren’t overwhelmed by too much at once.

If you decide to fast, don’t forget to take this extra time spent not eating on something positive. I try to meditate more, take walks, do yoga and take baths. There are many ways to enhance the detox which I’ll cover in the day-by-day.

Don’t obsess.

After my first fast my weight dropped by 5 pounds and stayed there, which shocked me. My weight is pretty stable and I’ve weighed about the same the past 9 years. I’ve fasted since the big weight loss and my weight has not dropped after subsequent fasts. I think I must have had 5 pounds of poisons somewhere hidden in my body and the only time I’ve gained weight (those 5 pounds again) was being in South America for 7 months (and eating a lot of rice and potatoes and candy bars).

It’s very important to weigh yourself twice a day while fasting and know your average weight. The initial fast was planned to be 5 days, but I lost 4 pounds a day, 3 days in a row and reached a 10% loss of my body weight. I had to stop. Once you get under 10% your body changes from detoxing and cleaning to starvation mode. It can screw up your metabolism for life. You can start storing all your food as fat reserves. Bad news. So I haven’t been able to do longer than 3 days for a juice fast but that’s okay, I know I can’t force my body. So don’t force yours. Love it and take care of it. I think it’s strange that one of the best preventative things you can do for your body isn’t discussed or encouraged in our country outside of no meat on Fridays for Lent. That kind of a fast has always been a focus on restrictions with a negative viewpoint. Perhaps one day fasting will be seen by more as a positive thing, not about restricting yourself but using your willpower to quiet down the digestion and take time to clean house, physically and mentally.

After fighting multiple colds since returning from South America, my husband and I have decided to add a few days of eating raw before we continue with a liquids fast. I don’t understand if we have a build-up of toxins from the produce in South America or if we are adjusting to new germs in the US. Regardless, we could use a cleanse.

Unfortunately, we are not in a “green” zone, like Seattle. We are in Florida. At the local farmer’s market, I asked a vendor if he used sprays or pesticides on their produce. I got an “I don’t know” from one and a laugh from the other. Apparently, seeking produce sans chemicals is not in demand or the supply at the farmer’s markets. I was shocked to see apples from Washington and grapes from Chile at the market. Guess “local” is not in demand, either. I don’t want anyone to take offense, I am just observing the differences between my experiences in Seattle’s markets versus the markets I’ve visited in Florida. We did find a nut and dried fruits guy at the market that had raw, organic nuts at a good price.

So the raw idea came about because I want to learn more about raw cuisine and want to practice. I used the highly recommended Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Kitchen as my intro to raw foods. She has a lot of good information about green living as well as eating. I was excited to try her recipes. Some of the recipes we liked, others were blah. We did 5 days of raw foods and survived. Overall, it was not difficult but a lot of prep and washing the food processor and blender. I was in the kitchen for hours making the dishes, which was too much for me. I assume you spend less time as you learn more, but it seemed like it was more time to un-cook than to cook. I found it difficult to make some of her recipes without a dehydrator or a $400 Vita-Mix blender. I have been trying the oven drying method (turn your oven on, turn your oven off, wait, repeat) and the bread took about 14 hours to dry. I would do sun-drying but I am in muggy Florida. I think it would just add moisture to my food and rot it. We spent about $175 on food for 5 days of raw for 2 people (we did end up with some leftovers). $60 of that was just nuts. Nuts are expensive and it was intense to eat so much fat in the form of nuts and olive oil (she calls for a lot in the recipes). Her serving sizes are HUGE, which left us with more food than we could eat.

Why raw? There are many schools of thoughts on raw, and the one I am learning about is vegan raw foodism. The concept is to consume food that is “live” and not heated over 104 deg F (although people do have different opinions about the temperature thing). The main benefits of eating raw is for increased energy, improved health (prevention and healing of disease) and benefits of anti-aging. When food is cooked, there is a loss of vitamins and water. Juliano says that cooking in metal pans means we are consuming toxic metals as well. It’s very cleansing and high in fiber. Not all raw folks are 100% raw, there are many people who choose percentages of raw/cooked that work for them. I have always found raw cuisine fascinating and fun. I’ve enjoyed trying new raw places, my current favorite is Almond Blossom Cafe in Flagler Beach, FL. They blew me away with great flavors, textures and presentation. I always feel great after eating a raw meal and a little hyped on energy.

I didn’t really notice any detox feelings while on the raw diet. I missed bread and chocolate and beans. The main thing that my body noticed was the high level of fats in the food and the lack of carbs. I personally don’t consume a lot of carbs, but zero was a little extreme. I like fat like everyone else, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of olive oil in the soups and salad dressings.

Now on to the recipe reviews. I think Ani has done great and beautiful things with raw food and I don’t want to offend, just offer my personal opinion.

Hemp Muesli.

For breakfast, we tried the Hemp Muesli and the Spanish Scramble. The buckwheat crispies were delicious, but took a long time to dry out in my oven. The muesli mixture was tasty and balance in terms of texture. I made the Almond Yogurt to go with it but was not impressed with the yogurt. It was really thick and gritty (no Vita-Mix). Instead, I watered it down and added some honey and sea salt and turned it into a milk and it was much better. The portion for the muesli was perfect. I also made the Pumpkin Mylk to go with the muesli and really liked it. I used less water than called for in the recipe.

Spanish Scramble.

Another breakfast we had the spanish scramble, which is nut-based. I added more water than the recipe called for. It looked great, the portion was too big and it was really filling with lots of chewing. The texture got old after a few bites. The flavor was little bland. It needed a kick, like more cilantro or salt. Perhaps a VM would have helped out here as well. Overall it was too fatty for me in the morning.

Save the Tuna Pate; Thai Salad.

Tuna Salad: Ate as a wrap. It was okay. The texture was right on for mock-tuna, but the flavor was lacking salt. I doubled the dulse flakes and wished I added more. Matt hated it. The Thai Salad was delicious and a fun balance of herbs and greens. The dressing was really oily. I think with a little less oil it would be really good. I didn’t have Kaffir lime leaves. I used Meyer lemon leaves.

Burrito: This was a favorite meal for both of us. Apparently so good I forgot to take a picture. The nut meat is great, but perhaps too much salt. The baja cheese was weird but it went fine in the burrito. Matt really wanted it on a tortilla shell; the cabbage leaves were not cutting it for him. I thought it was fun. The corn salsa was delicious and tasty and perfect.

Ginger Almond Nori Rolls.

Ginger Almond Nori Rolls: Interesting. Raw nori is a little too fishy for my palatte. Matt liked it a lot. The pate had a lot of salt and lemon in it, making it “fishy”. I used julienned carrots instead of the gobo and a variety of sprouts instead of pure mung beans. Fun texture, good flavors, but not for me. I apparently have a thing with seaweed, sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it.

walnut garlic soup.

Walnut Garlic Soup: I used 2.5 cups of water instead of 4. I wished I used less oil, too. It was too oily and hard to eat with that much fat (not to mention there are oily walnuts and avocadoes in it). I blended the dill with the soup. It was nice and creamy and I loved the avocadoes in it.

Sun Burgers.

SunBurgers: Definitely add the lettuce and tomato and a lot of catsup and mustard. It is bland alone. The bread was hard to make but tasted good. The catsup was too sweet for me. The mustard was awesome. I used a little less oil for that one. The burger itself was fine, but nothing amazing. This meal involved a lot of chewing, which got tiring. I think a dehydrator would have helped a lot for the bread and the burger.

Apple Pie.

The apple pie was awesome! I think if I had a mandoline to slice it would have been better with thin slices. Raw seems to need a lot of machinery. I really wanted to do the noodle dishes, but I needed a spiral slicer to get it right. Gourmet raw does require a bit of investment. I sliced the apples as thin as I could and it was worth it. We looked forward to the pie every night.

We also made (not pictured) the Sweet Spicy Pecans which were really spicey. I would do cayenne to taste. But it’s a great tasty snack. The Portabello Bisque was good, except that it was too watery, oily and salty. If I made it again I’d do half of the salt and oil and add water until it’s the texture I like. The ceviche style mushrooms were delicious. The curry salad was wonderful. I used less oil and water in the dressing and it was delicious. I would make that dressing again.

In summary, I didn’t love it nor did I feel full of energy. If anything the high fat content made my appetite decrease. Funny that when I eat at a raw restaurant I feel different. Maybe 5 raw days is different than 1 meal here and there. Everyone’s bodies need different things, but I will not pass it aside. There are many benefits to eating this way, and I will try to incorporate it into my usual diet, just not 100%. I still have a number of recipes in the cookbook marked and want to try them out when I have time (and the money) to do it.

Cactus garden

While in Peru, we saw a lot of vendors selling tuna, which in English is the fruit of the prickly pear cactus (or nopal, cactus fig or Indian fig). We never bought it or tried it until we were backpacking for 3 days in the 2nd deepest canyon of the world. There were cacti of all sizes and types everywhere. The villages we hiked through had gardens filled with prickly pear cacti. So, finally, we picked on and tried it.

Carefully cutting the fruit.

You can eat the fruit regardless of it’s color. We picked one that was reddish, hoping for more sugar content. You have to pick the cactus fruit with a leaf (prefereable a tough leaf, mine was not) to avoid the tiny, almost invisible spines on the fruit. For two days, I was trying to pick out the spines which irritated me to no end. Once you rub off the spines with the leaf, cut it open and eat the inside. It’s really seedy and not as juicy or sweet as I expected. Well, I didn’t really know what to expect but I ended up spitting a lot of seeds out and getting frustrated. But it was a fun experience and something new to try. You can also eat the new growth of the paddles (called nopalitos in Mexico) but once again, use gloves to remove the spines. A nice trick is to use a vegetable peeler and peel the outer skin along with the spines. Chop up the cactus and use as desired. It is quite gummy and viscous (think aloe vera) but is fun in sauces or soups or whatever your heart desires. I found this recipe for cactus pie that is supposed to be similar to apple pie. Next time I’m near prickly pear, I’ll give it a try.

The seedy insides.

Well, just because I didn’t love it I don’t want to discourage you from trying it. The locals pratically live on it and not just because it grows well with neglect. Prickly pear is known to help Type 2 Diabetes, stomach aches and diarrhea. It has a lot of alkaloids, especially phenethylamine, which is the love compound that is in chocolate. It is also known to treat hangovers, but interestingly enough a distilled spirit is made from the cactus in Malta and Saint Helena. The sap can be used as hair conditioner. Most importantly it is known to treat colon cancer, lower cholesterol, prevent blocked arteries, detoxify the liver, balance the pH in the stomach and it’s high in fiber. So, ther’ya go!