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

I have had a great week.

Well Monday is my busy raw food preparation day. I have one client that orders 3 raw lunches with soups and salads and 2 entrees for pick up on Mondays.  Now I have another lady that does the same thing. This is the first time I have prepared so much raw food in one day. My other busy day is Wednesdays. 

But on Monday I was rushing to be done by 4:00pm , usually I am not done until 5:00. On Monday, Bill Clinton was here in Bend, Oregon and I really wanted to hear him speak. I couldn't leave until my new client came to pick up her food. So I am rushing and hurrying I get to Bend High School where he is speaking it is about 5:15 p.m., the line down the street must have a thousand or more people in it. I get in line, and it seems like the line is moving pretty quickly. Well with about 75 people ahead to go, someone comes out and says, "that they can't take anyone else". Well I already waited a half an hour so, I head near the door, just to see if they will let me in. A lady from the Clinton team came out and said, "that if we all wanted to move over to this one area, Bill Clinton would be out in  a little bit to say, "hello to us"." So a group of us just stood their waiting. We were all laughing and joking. It was freezing cold and I had left the house in such a hurry, that I was wearing capri pants with just a light sweater and it was for sure at least 4o degrees. So we waited and waited and by 8:30 p.m., Bill Clinton came outside, now I was about an arms length distance and I got a handshake. Woop Woop! You hear that, a freaking handshake, he almost grazed my boob when he went to shake another persons hand. I almost got a boob graze by Bill Clinton, but I was stoked on the handshake. The really cool thing is when I got there that night I said to myself "I am getting a handshake", power of intention people, it really works. Even though I was chilled to the bone, not even the hot tub warmed me up, it was worth it. And to my fellow outside people that I was waiting with, what a bunch of lovely people. We were laughing and snuggling up just to get warm. It warmed my heart to see so many Democrats in Bend. Because this is really a Republican town, and sometimes you feel as if you are a tiny minority. I have got to say though, people in Bend are just so nice. That is why I love living here. Good People. Go Hillary!

So yesterday I prepared Pad Thai, Falafel and Taco's with Pineapple Salsa. Everything turned out so good. I wish I could find my camera. I have searched high and low for it. Where could it be? I am going to use the power of intention to find that camera, by the time this day is done, I will find that camera, you'll see.. The Pad Thai I made with Limes, Almond Butter, Ginger, Garlic, Red Pepper Flakes, Yacon Syrup, Nama Shoyu, Olive Oil, Cilantro and a little seaweed. I made the noodles from zucchini and carrot. It turned out really lovely when I make it again I will measure everything out and post the recipe on here. So check back, because these 3 recipes were really good. Well I am off to take a run. It's shaping up to be a nice day. 

Take Care,

Jen

This really doesn't have much to do with raw food.

Just a heads up. Today I am feeling a little like ranting about something. So if you don't want to hear it please read another blog. 

So last night I was having a hard time sleeping. I was watching Lou Dobbs on CNN. They were talking about Hillary and Obama. Now both of these candidates I like. Each for different reasons. I originally wanted Dennis Kucinich. The reason I liked him was because he really voted the way I would have. So when he dropped out I was a little sad. Then it left me to form a decision on whether I would vote for Obama or Clinton. On CNN Casey from Pennsylvania, said he thought Hillary should step down. At first when I heard this I was annoyed. Why should she step down? Why on earth can't we have 2 candidates all the way until the end. The sad thing about our voting system is it is so based on old concepts. I understand that the Democratic party is thinking united we stand divided we fall. 

Thoughts on Clinton- I think that she is always perceived wrong. She is a highly intelligent woman. She has flaws just like everyone else. But for some reason people just go after her with such venom. Why? I really wish someone could tell me why. If she cries she is weak and if she doesn't cry she is heartless. What the F&*k? Why are women held to such ridiculous standards. I never wanted to choose a candidate based on their sex or race. But a huge part of me feels like as a woman, we are always looked at differently in this society. I don't think we should be elevated above males or anything like that. I just believe we should be treated as true equals. I know I am living in a blue state, but Bend is the most republican stronghold I have ever lived in. There are a lot of misogynistic rednecks that are here.  It seems that the comments they make are always directed at her looks. ex:(she is fat, ugly and is a dyke). Why do men (not all do) label women as fat, ugly and dyke, when you are a strong woman? I find that really insulting as  a woman. I think a lot of women feel as if they need to be heard. To me the term feminist means female that is strong, compassionate, and is treated as an equal.  So on one hand I would like to see a woman be president for a change. Women generally don't rush in to war. They tend to think things through from many perspectives. 

Thoughts on Obama- Obama seems like a great speaker. He is very articulate. I do believe he means what he says, when he speaks of change. But my only concern with him is his experience. We saw what an unexperienced candidate can bring us with GW. Not that he is anything like GW. I just have a hard time with the fact that I rarely hear what he is going to do. Like concrete plans. I just seem to hear about change. I think it would make me feel better to hear about how things are going to change. Solutions. I don't care what his faith is. I personally think the Bush regime is responsible for creating that fear of him being a muslim. Only to get all the repressed, religious drones to be afraid of him. Sadly I do think many americans are racist. They won't always admit it but they are. When I first moved here to Bend. People used to stare at me the whole time I was eating, because my son is part hawaiian. People would come up and say things like, "What is that?" like my child was a creature. When I first moved here there was only one black family in this town. It isn't like that so much anymore. But this is the mentality of many people here. They are fearful of race. Lucky for me I grew up in a liberal town with many colors of the rainbow represented. I also lived for years in Hawaii, another melting pot. I am disgusted by the average american. It seems as if they are either fearful of Obama because they believe him to be unamerican. Or they are fearful of Hillary because they don't want a women telling them what to do.

Thoughts on Mc Cain- This is just Bush Jr. as far as I am concerned. I think he is mentally unstable. I get so annoyed by christians who will just pick someone because of the abortion thing. But then they will blindly go along with a war that kills innocent women and children. I find this very hypocritical. I also find it interesting that christians act like they vote by character, but Mc Cain cheated on his wife. Where is the character in that? I think it is sickening that he was a POW and would still vote for waterboarding. WTF? That doesn't make any sense. He will keep us in Iraq, which has been a total joke. I think it is funny that the average american will vote for a person that will actually financially drain them. Americans aren't the brightest people sometimes. How is it that we continually make the same mistakes and seem to never evolve as a species? I think religion should not be used to brain wash people into voting for some of these corrupt people. My brother in law is a pastor and he said that they just voted for Bush because of the abortion thing. They can't even fathom that their leader would lie and kill for oil. They have been brainwashed from their church. Sadly you can't ever convince someone like that to investigate the facts. They just heard GW is a christian, so that's all they need to know. That is messed up. Look at all the republicans that get caught having affairs with women and men. I googled republican philanderers and you wouldn't believe how many of these so called righteous religious types have been busted for perving out.

I will support Hillary first, but I will support Obama over Mc Cain. I really just needed to express my feelings on this subject, as it is really disturbing to me. I mean no offense to anyone that reads this...

As far as raw food goes. I made the best wrap yesterday. I took a collard leaf and filled it with chipotle mayo  (I will try to estimate the measurement) 

1 Cup Cashews

1-1/2 Limes, juiced

1 tsp. Chipotle Powder  

1/2 tsp. Himalayan Salt 

1/4-1/2 Cup Filtered Water  

 couple of squirts of Agave.

Mix in a Food Processor or Blender until well blended

Then I smeared it on the collard leaf, put some avocado, red bell pepper, grated carrot and cucumber. Oh my goodness this was so good. If I can find my camera I will photograph it.