Time to detox..

Starting to remove certain foods from my diet to prepare for some detoxing in January. The hardest two to give up are breads and cheese...I've been experimenting with different gluten free/dairy free recipes. Most have been good with a few that have been not so good. I had my first green smoothie today..Haven't had one of these in a while, since the fruit sugars were getting to be too much for me(ie.making me gain weight)..So not something I can have everyday any more. Making some raw crackers and Raw Key Lime Pie..I love Raw Desserts because they aren't too sweet and are actually fairly healthy for you. I'm making some stuff today in the kitchen so if anything turns out good I will post the recipe tomorrow or later today. Something with Kale probably maybe some kale chips..

Life has been hectic,stressful, and unkind lately. I am remaining optimistic as it does no good to be negative, plus we all have it so much better than many others in this world. So just remember to be kind the world has enough a holes! You never know how one nice thing can make someones day!

The best quote I've heard today.. "I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive."
- Gilda Radner

Fun times and good beer in Portland

Well I made it one week straight eating only raw food. I felt really good and it felt like a really nice cleanse. I'm still eating 2 raw meals a day(most days), and a cooked meal for dinner. My pants are getting looser, but I'm not sure if I've lost any weight since I don't have a scale. I've been doing lots of walks almost everyday for an hour and fifteen minutes. I made some raw brownies here's the recipe I used. I cut the frosting recipe in half though.
recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=59196

I really like these they taste like a chocolate lara bar with frosting on it.

Just got back from Portland and tried this place called Vita Cafe in the Alberta District. I had a salad with their lemon tahini dressing and cup of tomato basil soup(not raw). They had a lot of vegan, vegetarian and a few meat options. I really wanted to try Blossoming Lotus but I didn't get a chance maybe next time. A few places I did go to was Portland Saturday Market. It was opening day and they had a little fruit stand with fresh fruit all sliced up and this was really good. We hung out at a really cool little brewpub called Tugboat Brewery which is a small pub with a nice atmosphere we didn't eat there, but we drank a few beers. We also hit up Deschutes Brewery in the Pearl and got to see our friend Brandi, that used to work in the Deschutes Brewery here in Bend. She treated us to a beer. Yes I'm aware that beer is not raw, but I love beer so I'm not giving it up just yet. Just for your information most wine is considered raw, although not all wines are vegan. So if you are going to serve a vegan some wine please make sure to check out some vegan wines.

Almond ginger nori rolls

Thursday, Day Four


Breakfast:

Green Smoothie- Mango, blueberries, raspberries, chard, microgreen sprouts, lime, merlin's magic and water.


Lunch:

Almond Ginger Nori Rolls(Ani's Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo)I'm guessing the measurements since I don't own this book. Deschutes Public Libraray has it though. Here's what I did.


Almond Ginger Pate
1 Cup sprouted, dehydrated almonds
1-1/2 inch piece of peeled ginger, rough chopped
1 large clove of garlic, rough chopped
1 meyer lemon, remove seeds
1/4-1/2 tsp. himalayan salt( I used closer to the 1/2 tsp.)
3 Tbl. water

Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until it's about medium fine chunks. Set aside

Chop the following vegetables
1 cup purple cabbage, chopped in thin strips
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cucumber, deseeded and julienned
1 carrot, julienned
1 baby yellow or red bell pepper, julienned
4 lettuce leaves(I used butter lettuce)

2 sheets of untoasted nori rolls(Nature's and Whole foods carries these)

Once your veggies are chopped and your pate is made get out a sushi mat and lay your untoasted nori scruffy side up. Place the lettuce leaves on the nori. Make sure you leave an inch on the side closest to you and 2 inches on the side furthest from you. After the lettuce, put the cabbage, cucumber, carrot, cilantro bell pepper in little rows, next to each other (look at the picture to get an idea of what I'm talking about). Place 1/2 the pate mixture on top of the veggies, wet the end furthest from you with some water and roll tightly away from you and towards the wet end. Push down to seal. Repeat for a second roll. Cut in half with serrated sharp knife. Serves 2

If anyone makes it let me know what you think. It's pretty filling and yummy. Going out for my walk now..

Take Care,

Jen

I've failed, so I'm just going to pick my self up and start all over again!

Well the 11 week raw food rehab didn't go quite as planned. In fact what the hell was I thinking trying to do a cleanse around my birthday and the holidays. El stupido! Not only did I fail at it, I fell hard. I started eating meat again the week of Thanksgiving until this last Sunday. I was almost 2 years vegetarian.(I ate fish once a week so I guess I was a pescetarian) I just started craving meat like crazy. I was having dreams about meat..very weird. So I experimented with it and I have to say, that while it tasted pretty good, it did not help me feel any better. I just had to find out if that was the missing component, it wasn't..

Where am I now in all this.. I started the raw food diet again on Monday. This time I mean business. I just want to feel good again. I've been feeling like shit for too long and I'm over it. I just got an allergy test in the mail that tests you for gluten, milk, soy and egg allergies. I want to lose the weight that all the stress and drinking has put on me and I'm finally to the point that I'm willing to do what it takes.

So on to what I ate

Monday:
Breakfast:
Green Smoothie(raspberry, mango, cherries, microgreen sprouts, spinach, cilantro, lime and merlin's magic.
Lunch: Raw Almond Hummus recipe is from here: http://www.drbenkim.com/almond-hummus-recipe.htm ( I cut the recipe in half, remove the parsley from the recipe and place it on top of the hummus, I also add in some cumin to the recipe and extra garlic. I also top with zaatar seasoning, cayenne and a little cold pressed olive oil) I love this recipe! I ate the hummus with cucumbers and my mexi flax crackers which I will post in the future after I measure everything out..
Dinner: Large salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, cucumber, tomato, red bell pepper, with some guacamole I made(2 avocados, 1/4 cup sweet onion(chopped), 1/4 of a tomato, 1/2 of a lime, a thin strip of jalapeno(chopped fine), pepper to taste, a little cilantro(chopped fine) and himalayan salt to taste. I also made some cilantro lime dressing in my vitamix blender.
Cilantro Lime Dressing
3 limes
3 Tbl. Olive Oil
1/4 cup cilantro
2 heaping Tbl. raw honey
1/4 tsp. himalayan salt
Blend in the blender until well blended.
Dessert: frozen bananas blended with almond milk to make a banana milk shake.

I will try and update what I'm eating and my weight loss more regularly.

Take Care,

Jen

Raw Food Rehab 11 weeks of raw food

Just started another raw food cleanse it's supposed to last 11 weeks, it's called the raw food rehab. I know the last time I lasted a whole whopping 5 days of eating 100% raw. Mainly because once I know I can't have something I become obsessed with what I can't have.

Most people would be surprised to know that I eat rather healthy. I don't eat junk food, occasionally I will eat french fries from the Deschutes Brewery. For the most part I eat healthy. I drink a green smoothie for breakfast everyday, I normally eat a burrito(meatless) or veggie sandwich for lunch and then for dinner I'll have some roasted brussel sprouts or something vegetarian for dinner. I eat fish once a week. Lots of brown rice, broccoli..etc.. You get the idea..

What I've been doing that has brought me to this place is two things stress(from almost losing my house to foreclosure) and copious amounts of wine..

This is how things are going to go down now. I'm putting it out there.

1.) Wake up and make my green smoothie or green juice.

2.) Exercise at least 5 times a week for 1 hour. (I've been running and walking the river trail)

3.) Eat lots of raw food, and stick to this 11 week raw food rehab. (Which is at least 80% raw foods and 20% cooked foods)

4.)Continue my Holosync meditation cd.

In the words of my hero Yoda, " Do or Do Not, there is no Try!" (Ironic how my blog is called Trying to live the raw food life. Could there be a correlation to my many failed attempts)

Food Log for today October 16, 2009

Breakfast Green Smoothie consisting of blueberries, mango, cherries, papaya, lime, rainbow chard leaves, spinach, micro-green sprouts, water, chia seed gel, camu camu berry powder, merlin's magic, cilantro, and parsley. (All organic)

Lunch Raw Hummus made of raw soaked and sprouted almonds, raw tahini, lemon, garlic, himalayan salt, cumin, water, olive oil. With raw flax crackers which consisted of sprouted flax, pumpkin seeds, red bell pepper, onion, cilantro, carrot, sundried tomatoes, himalayan salt and cumin. A small salad consisting of romaine lettuce, spinach, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrot with my raspberry vinaigrette that is posted on this blog somewhere.

Dinner Will be Raw Tacos consisting of walnut taco meat, served with some hemp cheese dip, lots of veggies in a collard leaf.

Dessert if I feel like it, which I usually don't will be a little bit of some raw chocolate dipped into a banana.

August is almost over

The summer is almost over and the good news is my house is pending right now. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to sell my house in this horrible market. This has been an extremely stressful summer. Almost having my house foreclose, my best friends husband killed himself, and I was there while my friend told her 10 year old daughter that her dad was dead. This is probably one of the most painful things I've ever experienced. He killed himself on July 5, 2009, so sad. July was a horrible month! R.I.P. Brad Pruitt a memorial account has been set up at Bank of the Cascades for his daughter Lucy Pruitt the account is the Brad Pruitt memorial fund. If you knew him or his partner of 15 years Beth Seiler please give what you can. Beth is now a single mother in these tough financial times...

On a raw food note. I have barely eaten any raw food lately, just fruit and salads. I've been drinking way too much wine to drown my troubles and now I need to get serious and do a cleanse. I'm thinking next week I will start another raw food cleanse. Lots of green smoothies, fruits and vegetables and I will more than likely get a colonic. I really want to be hypnotized to eat more raw food and not always cave in to eating burritos and macaroni and cheese. If anyone out there can recommend a good hypnotherapist let me know. I was thinking Jane Meyers sounded good. Recipes to come shortly, I promise. I've got some new recipes in the works.

Take Care,

Jen

Raw Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream

My house is for sale right now and I have been really busy and not eating as raw as I should. I am still eating 1-2 raw meals every day, but I've been really stressed out and feeling kind of sad and slightly depressed. I'm really trying to snap at out of it as I know I have it so much better than most others. I am trying really hard to stay positive about my house selling! My financial picture is not where I want it to be. So when I am blue I try to channel it into something creative. So I've been experimenting with different ice creams and I'm pretty stoked on this strawberry one. Definitely better for you then dairy ice cream and better than nasty tasting soy ice cream..

Raw Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream

5 Cups organic frozen strawberries

4 Tbl. raw agave syrup

2 Tbl. raw unrefined coconut oil, melted

1/2 Cup raw cashews

2 Cups raw almond milk ( I will post the recipe below)

1/2 a vanilla bean, seeds from the inside scraped

a few pinches of himalayan salt

4 dates, pitted

1/4 Cup fresh organic strawberries, chopped fine

Place the first 8 ingredients into a high speed blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into and Ice Cream maker and let it run for 10 minutes, then throw in the remaining strawberries and let it run for another 5 to 10 minutes until it resembles ice cream.

I have a cheap ice cream maker the brand is Rival. I got it for a few bucks at goodwill. If you don't have an ice cream maker you can freeze the mixture and then run it through the food processor or blender again.

Here is my almond milk recipe that I that I taught in my raw food 101 class. It is so much better than any preservative ridden store bought version and you can control the sweetness:

Almond Milk

1 Cup almonds, soaked in water, overnight

3 Cups filtered water

1 Tbl. coconut oil

2-4 dates, pitted 

1/2 tsp. gmo free lecithin

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. himalayan salt

Rinse and drain the soaked almonds and place into blender with 3 cups of water. Blend for a few seconds until well blended. Pour mixture into a nut milk bag that is set into a bowl or large measuring cup. Squeeze out the milk(reserve the pulp, for another use).  Rinse out blender and pour the nut milk back into the blender. Add additional ingredients and blend until well blended. Serve chilled. Makes 3 cups lasts 3 days in fridge.

Trying again Tuesday!

I was going to start my raw food cleanse yesterday, but I'm not much of a Monday person. Maybe it's the time change thing, but I was really tired yesterday. So today I had green smoothie that had mango, pineapple, strawberry, beet greens, romaine lettuce, spinach, chia seed gel, coconut oil, merlin's magic and water to blend it up. Then I had some raw granola that I made. Here's the recipe for those interested. Note you need a dehydrator.

Raw Muesli

1 cup almonds, soaked for 12 hours
1 cup pecans, soaked 4 hours
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 4 hours
1 cup walnuts, soaked 4 hours
1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked for 2 hours, (rinse many times to remove the natural slime that occurs with buckwheat)

zest of 1 orange
1 Tbl. orange juice, fresh, not pasteurized
1/4 tsp. himalayan salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. coconut oil, has to be raw, and not refined

dried fruits of choice:
I used black currant and cherries,

In food processor place all the nuts (don't add the buckwheat at this time), and the zest of the orange, orange juice, himalayan salt, cinnamon, coconut oil. Pulse until it resembles muesli or granola. Place into a large bowl and add your rinsed buckwheat to the mix. Place on dehydrator sheet and dry for one hour at 145 degrees, then turn down to 104 degrees and dry for approximately 6 hours. Once completely dry add in the dried fruit. Serve in a bowl with almond milk or nut milk of choice with some fresh fruit for a healthy cereal.

On a cool note, I got a phone call yesterday from my friend Beth Seiler that some other friends of ours, that ended up moving to Corvallis; want me to come and give a raw food cooking demonstration for a bunch of docotors. So I am thrilled that I get the opportunity to do that.

Take Care,

Jen Reed

Monday, Monday!

I stayed up too late last night drinking $2.99 wine from the Grocery Outlet, watching a movie. Now I'm feeling the pain. I tried to make up for my sins by making some fresh juice. Here's what I put into it: beet, orange, celery, cucumber, ginger, chard, parsley, cilantro, carrot, and apples. Believe it our not, it was just what I needed. I'm going to meet my good friend Belinda Kachlein for lunch it will be fun to catch up. I am going to start running again, it's been a few months but I'm missing it. I've just been getting dvd's from the library. I like the pilate's dvd.

My friend Faith Butsch called me this morning and her dog Moe, that she's had for 13 years was put down. She's pretty broken up about it. I feel her pain losing a dog is seriously painful. I can't imagine life without my Tui girl. Well that's it for now. I'll post tomorrow, when I plunge into making some more raw food.

Take Care,

Jen

Friday!

I love Friday's! This morning I had my green smoothie I made it with frozen mango, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, spinach, romaine lettuce, parsley, cilantro, collard greens, coconut oil, water and Merlin's herbal magic.

I found the site it's www.merlinsherbalmagic.com . The ingredients are maca, marshmallow root, slippery elm, triphala, ashwaganda, astralgus root, burdock root, dong quai, fo-ti root, kelp powder, licorice root, milk thistle seed, pau d'arco, sarsaparilla, saw palmetto berries, shizandra berries, suam, wild yam root, anise seed, cinnamon, ginger, bilberry leaf, catsclaw, cayenne, dandelion root, gingko leaf, gota kola, irish moss, olive leaf, passion flower herb, vanilla orchid bean. Every part of the body is covered with this stuff it's all wild crafted and organic. I put about a tablespoon in my smoothie everyday. It is a superfood, baby. A 170 gram bag is about $26 and lasts me about 2 months, way worth the money. So check out the website if you have a minute.

Going out to lunch with my good friend Beth Seiler of Trader Joe's. I can't wait to hang out with her we have such a great time together laughing about silly stuff. Our friends from Portland Alex and Coleen are coming in this weekend and they are going to stay at Mc Menamin's downtown, that should be fun. We just got a huge dump of snow up at Mt Bachelor so the guys are up at the mountain, shredding some powder. I wanted to go today, but I will have to save it for Sunday I think, hopefully there will be more powder. I'm spoiled, it's pow pow or nothing for me, since I don't have a pass.

Everyday I am just trying to add in more raw food, instead of giving stuff up I've chosen to add more good stuff. Last night I made my family some pork, with boxed mashed potatoes, which I don't even normally buy as I know better, but I just grabbed what they had at the store. I don't eat meat so I didn't eat any of the pork, but I took like 3 bites of the mashed potatoes and my throat was starting to swell up on the inside. When that happens I know that there has to be MSG somewhere in the food. Well I grabbed the box, and put alternative names for MSG in the google search engine. I discovered that one of the ingredients in the potatoes was in fact MSG in one of it's many disguises. Well one thing led to another, as so often does when using the google search engine. I learned a lot about how the food manufacturerer's have learned how to hide the MSG so that they can get away with putting it into our food supply. That in turn led me to the "cheeseburger act" which I guess in 2005 our good buddy (facetious, of course) GW Loser, passed a bill saying that big food corporations cannot be sued. It's called the personal responsibility act or something to that effect. I am all for personal responsibility but I think that these corporations are poisoning us with there freak foods, and they should be held up to more ethical standards and held accountable. This kind of stuff really makes me mad at our government's lack of ethics! Well I guess that's enough ranting for today.

If you leave with one thing from all this, please remember that you need to be your own advocate for health, don't count on the fact that your government has your best interest at heart, because they simply don't.

Take Care,

Jen

Raw food class in Sister's is full with a waiting list!

Hello,

My class in Sisters is full with a waiting list. I can't believe it. Thank you Kim Luckini licensed massage therapist, (who I hear, gives an amazing massage),for all your help in organizing this class for me. I am doing my kids vegetarian class not this weekend but the following weekend. I was just looking at this site called www.rawfoodtalk.com they have this before and after section that is just so inspiring, if you get a chance check it out.

So far today I have had raw granola which was made out of sprouted dehydrated buckwheat, sprouted dehydrated sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans, orange zest, raw honey, dried blueberries, with some almond milk I made. Followed by my green smoothie made from pineapple, mango, strawberry, spinach, coconut oil, and some merlin's magic.(google it)

My husbands' friend Joe Curren and his lovely wife Teasha were in town, they went up to the mountain to go snowboarding. He is a surfer and amazing photographer, here's the link to his website: www.joecurrenphotography.com I made some wild salmon tacos, man were they ever good. We drank wine watched some cheesy television. How could I give up wild salmon? I'm definetely not there yet!

I have to make food today. I think I will make the raw alfredo dish, with zucchini pasta.

Take Care,

Jen

Cha Cha Cha Changes!

Well it's been a while since I've written in my blog. I've been so busy with where my life has taken me. A lot of personal family stuff going on in the last few months, which I won't go into as I don't want to share such personal stuff with a bunch of strangers. I will reveal some stuff though. We are going to have to sell our house. Which is sad and exciting at the same time. My youngest son has lived his whole life in this house and that makes it hard, thinking of all the sweet memories of him crawling, climbing, etc. The good thing is I am rarely attached to material things, so I can separate myself from feeling a sense of loss. I know that something wonderful will come my way, it always does. This is where I feel that I am very lucky. So many people identify self worth with material things. The thing I will miss the most is the location, we are right downtown, and I love that! Being able to walk places and just the energy of downtown.

My rawfood business has changed to adapt to the economy. I still make food for a couple of people. I decided to start teaching raw food classes and vegetarian cooking classes. My first two classes did very well. It was so fun, to show people how they can add more raw foods into their repertoire. That has opened up some great doors for me. I am doing a big raw food class in Sisters, OR, which is about 20 minutes away. The class will be in April. I am back to working the ranch as well. A girls got to do what a girls got to do. The cool thing is it's outside and it's serene and I feel that I learn a lot from all the animals. They really are amazing creatures. I haven't been eating as raw as I should. I always have my green drink and try to make sure I get enough raw food in my day. I know I need to eat more, but sometimes it just doesn't sound as good as a burrito from Super B.

Last night I went to this silent auction for the new skateboarding park they are going to build. All these different artists designed skateboarding decks, and people bid on them. We didn't win the won we wanted but it was a fun night none the less. Well I will try to be a little better about writing, as it's very therapeutic. I've also been doing the Holosync meditations, which have been changing my life. I am saving up to buy it, I've been borrowing a friends.


I created this recipe with the leftover pulp after making Brazil nut milk, which is one of my favorite milks.

Cacao Bites

1/2 cup brazil nut milk pulp (This was from making brazil nut milk with 1 cup of brazil nuts)
1/2 cup walnuts
7 small dates, pitted
1/4 tsp. of salt
1 Tbl. coconut oil
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbl. agave syrup
1/2 cup coconut flakes, fine shred
a few dashes of cinnamon

Place all ingredients into a food processor until well combined. Roll into balls and roll into some coconut. Keep in the fridge and eat within a few days. Makes about a dozen balls.

Take Care,

Jen

The summer is almost gone..

Hello beautiful people,

 

Summer is almost gone. I love hanging out with my kids over the summer it's so nice to bond again with them. I have still been making food for a couple of people but, my business is fizzling out. I know it's not personal but it still makes me a little sad. I was finally doing what I want on my own terms. So when school starts I will be back to working on the ranch a couple of days a week and making food a couple of days a week. Today I made this really great dressing. I hope you like it..

Strawberry dressing

1 cup strawberries, remove green tops

1 Tbl. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp-1 Tbl. agave

1 Tbl. olive oil

Mix in the blender. It is so good people.

I also made the chocolate dessert from raw food real world..Yumaroo

It's been awhile..

When ever I see that I think of that song It's been awhile..I can drive people crazy with turning everything into a song. I have been a naughty girl. I haven't been eating a whole lot of raw lately. Let's just say I feel like a bloaty beast. Tomorrow I am back on the raw wagon. I have been craving a lot of crap lately. Crap like grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, etc. I am not sure why I am craving so much dairy. It really makes me feel gross and very uncomfortable. So why do I do it to myself? I am going to start cleansing. I will continue with my green drinks and I am going to try to go back to 3 raw meals a day. I have been doing 2 off and on, so it's time to step it up. Exercise wise I have been running a couple of times a week and I am doing like 300 total of  various styles of crunches, to get my gut into shape. I would like to shed 3o pounds. I know I need to lay off the wine, that is just adding too many calories to the mix. 

I went to Barnes and Nobles to look for the 80/10/10 book but, they don't have it and sounds like they can't order it. Job wise things haven't been going well 1 lady decided she was tired of eating raw. The other lady cut back from 5 dinners and lunches a week to 2 dinners and lunches a week. The other person is still ordering the same amount but, I am not going to be able to survive off this. So unfortunately, I will have to get a regular job. The job market here sucks! They pay $8 an hour, that's what I made when I was  20 year old. Sickening isn't it. I have management experience, cooking experience, animal experience, tour guide experience. So something great needs to come my way, and soon. So if anyone in the Bend cyberspace has a great job that pays more than $8 an hour keep me posted. Or if someone needs me to help them in New Zealand speak up.

Raw Recipe 

 Jen's Raw Taco's 

Taco Meat

1 cup walnuts

1 cup pumpkin seeds

2 1/2 tsp. cumin

3 tsp. onion powder

3 tsp. garlic powder

3 tsp. tomato powder( if you can't find, place a couple sundried tomatoes into a coffee grinder)

4 tsp. chile powder

1 1/2 Tbl. olive oil

2 Tbl. water

Take the walnuts and pumpkin seed and pulse in a food processor until it resembles ground meat. Place into a large bowl and stir in the other ingredients, you may have to add additional teaspoons of water to make it a little wet. Set aside

Guacamole

2 avocados

1/8-1/4 cup of sweet onion

1/4 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 a lime squeezed

1/4 tsp himalayan salt

couple turns of fresh pepper

Mash ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

Salsa

2 heirloom tomatoes, chopped (reserve 1/4 cup of the chopped tomato)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1 clove of garlic

1/4-1/2 tsp himalayan salt

a couple dashes of tapatio hot sauce(not raw, but it's just a couple of splashes)

1/2 a jalapeno, diced fine

Place everything but 1/4 of tomato, onion and jalapeno into blender or food processor. Blend together then pour into a bowl and add the extra tomato, onion and jalapeno

Additional things you'll need: lettuce for wrappers, shredded cabbage, and a side of LOVE.

Take your lettuce leaves (I used butter lettuce but romaine or any other kind you have should be fine) sprinkle the leaf with the taco meat top it off with the guacamole, salsa, and fresh cabbage and enjoy your tacos.

Hope you like them..

Take Care, Jen

School's out today!

I've been crazy busy...I am helping to coordinate a fundraiser. A family that used to be in my oldest son's class, was involved in an explosion. This event sounds unbelievable, but it's true. This event really made me take stock and just appreciate and be humbled by the fact that things can be changed in a moments noticed..

check out this website..  www.caringbridge.org/visit/jrlitehiser

This guy sustained 80% of his body burned, 70% of his burns were 2nd and 3rd degree burns..He has  a wonderful wife and two lovely children..It just made me think, hard and long about how our life can change in an instant.

This Saturday, June 14th is a  garage sale with 50% of the benefits to go towards the J.R. Litehiser fund. 

I organized the bake sale portion with 100% of the profits to go to the fund. I am anticipating a huge turnout..

I spent hours e-mailing people encouraging them to come and support this event,,

Please help me to help this family contact me at jenreed1023@gmail.com or donate to any U.S. Bank under the account of J.R Litehiser.

Thanks,

Jen Reed

P.S. recipes to come soon..I promise..

Going to Michael Franti on Friday the 23 of May!

This week has been good. I get to go to Michael Franti and Spearhead tomorrow night at the amphitheater here. I am so excited about that. I contacted his people to see if they wanted any raw food. 

Well this week I created a couple of desserts one was an oat groat crust with raw chocolate on top. Here is the recipe;

Oatmeal Chocolate Bars

1 Cup almond meal

1 Cup raw oat groats, soaked for 12 hours and rinsed a few times

2 Tbl. almond butter

2 Tbl. cashew butter

1 Tbl. tahini

2 Tbl. agave

2 Tbl. coconut oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Raw chocolate sauce either the one from raw food real world or whichever one you choose.

Mix everything but the raw chocolate in a food processor until blended well. Spread 3/4 of the mixture in a 8 x 8 glass pyrex dish and dehydrate for 5 hours at 105 degrees. Put the 1/4 of oat mixture aside. After the Oat mix comes out of the dehydrator spread the raw chocolate sauce on top and sprinkle remaining oat mixture on top. Place in the fridge until set up and then eat.

I have had a busy week..

Wow, I've been really busy lately. I have tried some new recipes out lately. One in particular that is really good is raw vegan crab cakes by Cherie Soria. I will find it and put a link to it. Oh my god you would think you were eating a crab cake, unless someone told you otherwise. I also made some raw tartar sauce out of cashews and wasabi powder and some capers which are not raw, but really added to the taste of the tartar sauce. I also made the white chocolate strawberry tart by Vanessa Sherwood and topped it off with fresh strawberries and bananas and raw chocolate sauce. It tasted like a banana split. I also made a raw carrot cake out of the juicing pulp I had leftover, and made a cashew lemon coconut frosting, it turned out good. I picked up another client..Yeah! I will post some photos and recipes one day this week..Take Care, Jen

Kale Salad with Sour Cherries

I recently created this recipe, because I had a bunch of kale I didn't know what to do with. This is a great way to get your dark leafy greens. Many people who say the hate kale like this recipe.

Kale Salad With Sour Cherries

1 Bunch Lacinto (Dinosaur) Kale, or any kale will do, remove the hard middle stem  and chop into small strips.

1 Cup Dried Sour Cherries

Cilantro Pesto

1 Cup Cilantro, stems included

1/2 Cup Pumpkin Seeds

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

1 Clove of Garlic, green part removed, then press it through a garlic press

1/2 tsp. Himalayan Salt

1 Tbl. Lemon Juice

Place cilantro, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, garlic, salt and lemon juice into food processor, blend until slightly chunky. Place into a large bowl with chopped kale, now massage the shit out of the kale with the pesto on it, for about 5 minutes or less. Then add in the dried sour cherries and stir it all together. Makes enough for 4 people. Lasts for about 5 days in the fridge.

I just got back from Portland, Oregon..

I had so much fun with my friends..What a great trip. Lots of shopping at thrift stores, Buffalo Exchange, Nordstrom Rack, and many other cool shops. Stayed up way to late and ate too much food that was not raw, and boy can you notice the difference. My stomach stayed bloated the whole time, my fault though. I had this really good meal at Typhoon it was drunken noodles which were these really wide rice noodles, with this wicked good spicy sauce and a whole bunch of vegetables and little pieces of tofu in it. Oh my gosh it was so good. Today I will be back to normal, making my green smoothie and eating raw and healthy again. Todays menu for my clients is beet ravioli with cashew ricotta(from raw food, real world), with a sundried tomato sauce on the top, and pad thai(today when I make this, I will measure it out, and repost with the recipe). It is such a great quick and easy meal. 

Take Care, 

Jen

I still can't find my camera..

I am so bummed. I have visualized myself finding it. I know I still will but it's frustrating. I just created corn fritters with mango salsa, pad thai, falafel, and this great kale salad that I could have photographed. I need to measure out some of the stuff I made so that I can post the recipes on here I will try to do that next week. I go to Portland, Oregon this week with my friend Faith of Leaf and Petal, and a couple of other ladies. This is going to be so fun. A girls weekend. I will get to see my old boss Lynette (aka Nettie Von Glutenstein), that I just love to bits. Also I will get to visit some other friends that live there like my sweet friend Brandi that just moved up their she used to work at Deschutes Brewery here and is transferring to the Brewery in the Pearl District, also I will get to see Colleen and Alex. I am so excited. I will blog more tomorrow when I have more time. 

Take Care,

Jen