Raw Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo

During my visit to the border town where my mom lives, my brother lined up his friend, a New York raw food chef, to prepare a meal for us in my mother's home. My kids had three days off from school, and they were supposed to return on Thursday, but I let them ditch, as I thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and worth missing Math and English for.

Let me introduce Tzoul Shine!

(pronounced "Soul Shine")

I asked him if it was okay if I took pictures of him during his food preparation, and he was totally hip to that. In fact, he is probably one of the hippest people I've ever met. However, that might not be saying a whole lot because being a mom of ten, I really don't meet that many hip people.

He had the coolest dreads, which he spun around into a bun to put into an enormous beanie...,

...and he danced to the 80s music my brother had playing too loud in the background...

...and he said "magical" a LOT, especially when talking about coconut oil.

As I usually do while my brother prepares food, he worked and I took pictures...

Fortunately, the 10-year-old boy was willing to help, though...

...and the 8-year-old girl spent her time in the kitchen making swirls with the water spilled on the table...

So the menu consisted of raw Fettuccine Alfredo (a super-healthy and delicious version of the standard American diet (SAD) Fettuccine that is said to be the most unhealthy food on the planet), marinated kale and grape clusters.

The Fettuccine Alfredo was to die for and I literally couldn't get enough...because there wasn't enough for thirds.

The first step was to make the sauce. Tzoul used a base of almonds and I didn't ask for the exact recipe, but because I've made my own version of raw Alfredo sauce before, I'll be posting it below. My recipe calls for macadamia nuts, but Tzoul used almonds...

...which were a perfect, delicious, and less expensive substitute.

While Tzoul was working on the sauce, he instructed my brother on how to prepare the raw "pasta"...

When preparing a pasta-like dish, most raw foodists use squash or zucchini, sliced very thinly, as a pasta substitute. You would be amazed at how wonderfully this takes the place of pasta, one-upping it in taste and texture in my personal opinion...

As a topping for the zucchini "pasta", my brother chopped up a variety of vegetables....

You could really use any vegetables you like...

The final product filled six plates for our family with vegetable, herb and nut goodness and it felt absolutely wonderful to be eating something I knew was good for me on every level...

Tzoul, I know you are going to read this, and just in case I didn't express it enough in person, let me again thank you from the bottom of my heart for the time you spent with our family teaching me and my children about the importance of choosing the best foods to put into our bodies. My brother communicated it best this way...

So here are the recipes and thanks for listening!

For the Fettuccine Alfredo:

Ingredients

* 1 ½ cups carrots, peeled and thinly julienned
* 1 cup zucchini, thinly julienned
* 1 cup squash, thinly julienned
* 1 cup red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, and thinly julienned
* 2 tsp. basil, minced
* 2 tsp. parsley, chopped
* ½ cup Alfredo sauce (see Alfredo sauce from Mom2my10)
* 2 TB. pine nuts

Directions

1. Combine carrot, zucchini, squash, red bell pepper, basil and parsley in a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir well.

2. Add Alfreda sauce and stir well. Place veggies on plates and drizzle with leftover Alfreda sauce. Garnish with sprinkle of pine nuts.

Direct recipe link: http://keyingredient.com/recipes/310081/

For the Alfredo sauce:

Ingredients

* 1 ¼ cup water
* 1 cup macadamia nuts
* 1 TB. freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 2 tsp. nama shoyu or soy sauce
* 1 ½ tsp. garlic, minced
* ½ tsp. raw apple cider vinegar
* 1 ½ tsp. nutritional yeast
* Pinch cayenne
* ⅛ tsp. salt or to taste
* ⅛ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender, preferably a Vita-Mix, for about 60 seconds, or until smooth as possible.

This sauce can also be used as a dip for vegetables.

Direct recipe link: http://keyingredient.com/recipes/310085/

Raw Vegan Stir Fry with Homemade Teriyaki Marinade

I've blogged about this before, on my homemaking blog, but since I made it again, this time for a class I gave on dehydrating this afternoon, I thought I'd post it here, since it's so delicious, healthy and colorful. The last time I made this, I used fresh vegetables from my fridge. This time, because I wanted a more authentic Asian veggie combo, I simply chose to use a large bag of Asian vegetables from my freezer.

The first step was to defrost the vegetables, then make the marinade. I then mixed the thawed veggies and the marinade together in a large bowl, and spooned the vegetables onto the dehydrator sheet, making sure to spread them evenly, without layering...

But beware...unless you want little hands stealing bits and pieces, make sure to keep them away from the edge of the counter...

I dehydrated these for about an hour and a half and I wish you could have smelled it as the marinade heated up. Everyone who entered my house, and later, the cultural hall at my church where I gave the class, said how good it smelled...

While it was dehydrating, I put some rice in the rice maker (and I know I said that nearly all of my recipes would be free of processed food, but we happened to be out of brown rice, so we used white....sorry!) and we had a beautiful, healthy meal that all the kids enjoyed. Here's the card...

...and in case the card isn't available, here's the recipe...

Ingredients

For the teriyaki marinade:
* ½ cup nama shoyu (If you don't have access to this, you can just use regular soy sauce. Nama shoyu is just a healthy, unpasteurized version of soy sauce.)
* ½ cup sesame oil
* ¼ cup agave nectar (If you don't have access to this, you can use honey.)
* 3 Tbsp lemon juice
* 2 Tbsp onion powder
* 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
* ½ tsp toasted sesame seeds, optional
* ⅛ tsp cayenne
* 3 cloves garlic, crushed
For the stir fry:
* -Carrots
* -Zucchini
* -Broccoli
* -Cauliflower
* -Red bell peppers
* -Green bell peppers
* -Mushrooms
* -Roasted sesame seeds

Directions

To make the marinade, place all of the above ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

1. To make the Teriyaki vegetable stir fry, I used my food processor to slice a variety of vegetables I had in my fridge. You could really use any vegetables you have lying around. Get creative! Once my vegetables were sliced, I dumped them into a bowl, poured on the Teriyaki sauce and stirred until all the vegetables were coated.

2. The next step was to spread the veggies out on Teflex sheets in the dehydrator. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you could lightly oil a large cookie sheet and spread the vegetables out on that. In the dehydrator, dehydrate for 1 to 2 hours at 125 degrees. If you are using the oven, turn it to it’s lowest setting, prop the door open with a wooden spoon, and dehydrate until vegetables start softening, probably 1 to 2 hours as well.

3. When the vegetables have softened, remove from teflex sheets and serve over rice.

Direct recipe link: http://keyingredient.com/recipes/304227/

Orange Fruit and Veggie Popsicles

I am totally obsessed with the idea of fruit and veggie Popsicles! I know humankind has thought of this before, but I personally came up with the idea for our family when I was cleaning out my food storage room. I came across some old Popsicle makers I had bought from a school girl selling things door-to-door so her school could get some kind of grant, and...since I'm ALWAYS trying to find ways to get vegetables into my kids, the idea occurred to me that I could use my Vita-Mix to blend up raw fruits and veggies and freeze them into Popsicles. THEN....my mind went into over-drive and I thought how fun it would be to come up with recipes to make tons of different colors of Popsicles. My first attempt was, as the title states, orange fruit and veggie Popsicles. We used strawberries (these are from our garden)...

...baby carrots...

...and fresh-squeezed orange and lime juice...

...along with some honey, a dash of salt and a cap-full of vanilla. After filling up the Popsicle makers, I had enough leftover for a refreshing drink...

Actually, I added ice to this and watered it down about 50 percent. I felt so healthy drinking strawberries, fresh citrus juice, and carrots! Delicious. So here's how you do it...(But don't leave after checking out the recipe, because I have some amazing suggestions for Popsicles of every color of the rainbow and more cute pictures of my kids!)

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup shredded carrots
The juice of 2 oranges
The juice of 3 limes
1 cup water
1/4 cup cup honey
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Blend all ingredients in a blender, preferably a Vita-Mix, pour into Popsicle makers and freeze for at least four hours, or until completely frozen.

To remove from Popsicle makers, run cool water over them for a few seconds until they can be easily removed.

Okay, so here are some fruit and veggie combos my kids and I came up with to make all kinds of different colors. If you are too chicken to try them, don't worry, I will, and I'll blog about it. Good luck and I'd love it if you'd let me know what YOU come up with!

Red: tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, red grapes

Purple: red leaf lettuce, blueberries, blackberries

Yellow: bananas, yellow bell peppers, corn, lemons, squash

Pink: strawberries, celery, peeled zucchini

Light Green: white grapes, celery, ice berg lettuce

Medium Green: Kiwis, green leaf lettuce, spinach

Dark Green: blackberries, cucumbers, green leaf lettuce, spinach

Spring Rolls

I copied and pasted this post directly from my homemaking blog because I just had to share it with you. Also, it's not completely created from whole foods, as the recipe calls for white rice paper and noodles. However, spring rolls are still really, really good for you and my kids just LOVED them!

To make spring rolls, you first go to the Asian market, which happens to be across town, but you get detoured because your brother is with you and wants to take the kids to the pet store...

(For lots more about that activity, go HERE.)

Okay, NOW you go to the Asian store. You wait a really long time in the car for your brother and 15-year-old daughter because you don't want to take the other six kids in. You wait patiently...

So do the kids...

Your brother finally comes out, and you have to take his picture because he just looks so ridiculous, on purpose...

You go home and he starts making the peanut sauce...

He tries to get you to try some, and you do, and it's really, really good...

He gets tired of you taking pictures and he says, "Why don't you put your camera down and help by snapping these?"

You do...

....while he and your 15-year-old daughter thinly slice and mince all manner of vegetables and herbs, including asparagus, cucumbers, carrots, snap peas, spinach, alfalfa, and cilantro...,

They then saute shrimp in butter...,

...cook the rice noodles in boiling water according to the manufacturer's instructions...,

...dip rice paper into boiling water, then immediately roll it into spring rolls. Aren't they lovely?...

Any questions? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for listening.

Veggie Burgers on 100% Whole Wheat Sesame Seed Buns

Going to a hamburger fry isn't always easy when you're a vegetarian, but if you prepare these patties ahead of time to bring along for the grill man to cook up for you, you won't be disappointed. And having freshly ground whole wheat sesame seed buns doesn't hurt a bit either.

Sesame seeds are so good for you, and I keep them around my house in bulk...

...and put them in or on nearly everything...

We ended up making 32 buns, transporting them to the hamburger fry in a turkey roaster...

While these were rising and baking, my 15-year-old daughter googled and threw together the veggie burgers...

...and there were absolutely no feelings of deprivation about not eating meat. Aren't these gorgeous?

Hope you enjoy these burgers as much as we did!

The Sesame Seed Buns

2 1/2 cups warm water
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup oil
6 cups whole wheat flour
6 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
5 teaspoons yeast
2 eggs
Sesame seeds


Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees f. then mix the water, yeast and honey in the mixing bowl of a mixer with a dough hook. Let it sit for about ten minutes, or until the mixture is foaming, like beer.

Step 2: Add the remaining ingredients and let the machine knead the dough for ten minutes. If the dough is too firm, add a little water during the mixing process. If it's too soft, add a little flour.

Step 3: Divide dough into 16 pieces. Shape into balls, then flatten on a greased cookie sheet.

Step 4: Let rise in a warm place for at least 20 minutes or longer if possible, until doubled in bulk.

Step 5: While the dough is rising, beat the eggs in a bowl to prepare for brushing onto the raised buns.

Step 6: Once the dough has risen, brush with the egg mixture, sprinkle on the sesame seeds, and bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until the buns are light brown.

The Veggie Burgers

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, grated
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 carrots, shredded
2 small zucchinis, shredded
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoon vital wheat gluten (optional, but will help the patty hold together a little better)


Step 1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over low heat, and cook the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in the carrots and zucchini. Continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and mix in oats, cheese, and egg. Stir in salt, transfer the mixture to a bowl, and refrigerate 1 hour.

Step 2. Preheat the grill for high heat.

Step 3. Mix flour and gluten, and place the mixture on a large plate. Form the vegetable mixture into eight 3 inch round patties. Drop each patty into the flour, lightly coating both sides.

Step 4. Oil the grill grate, and grill patties 5 minutes on each side, or until heated through and nicely browned.