My Babies!

I've imported all posts from "Healing My Sons" to this one. So many people ask me about my kids and how they are doing. It makes more sense to talk about them here. If you go to the "Autism" label on the right side of the blog, posts about them will show up. This is them on November 27 at the National Aquarium.

And speaking of them, Raymond had another seizure on Saturday morning. This was his first one since February 2011. We're going back to Johns Hopkins for a re-evaluation. I'll let you all know what happens.

We've been juicing from Drew Canole's fitlife.tv. I think he's redesigned the site because I can't find the recipes anymore. Here are the ones I have made:

Morning Call: 4 kale leaves, 1/2 broccoli with stems, 1/2 head of cabbage. (I add 1 whole peeled lemon. Makes it go down a whole lot easier.)

Waldorf Salad: 2 celery ribs, 2 green apples

Full Immunity: 2 cloves garlic, thumb size ginger, handful parsley, 3 carrots, 1 apple (surprisingly tasty) 

And this is what I've been eating lately. Harmony Spinach Salad, and a salad with Roasted Tofu.

This one is cauliflower sushi, spinach, and and a salad with Body Ecology Diet Dressing (3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt). 

I am also thinking of moving this entire operation to Wordpress. I want to intergrate mochaangels.com with a blog, making it an all-in-one site. If anyone has any experience with this, please share it with me.

Love,

Althea

◦

My Babies!

The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Pasta and Salad

I made my version of Chef Chole's Avocado Pesto Pasta two weeks ago. Chloe won a Food Network Cupcake Wars earlier this year. The judges RAVED about her cupcakes (and her competition was like, "What the hell? Vegan? How good could they be?) I've made vegan cupcakes and cakes, and they are truly better than traditional versions.

Chole's win piqued my curiosity about her food, so I gave her pasta a try.

As I was eating it, I kept saying, "This is good...No, this is really good...Man, this fantastic!" It became clear this was the best pasta I'd ever had. But when I ate it alone, it was good, not "The Best Pasta Ever." I realized it was the salad dressing plus the pasta that made it "The Best Pasta and Salad I Ever Ate." Make both of them together!

The creaminess of the pesto matched with the sharpness of apple cider vinegar in the salad dressing explode on the tongue. They go together like peanut butter and jelly.

You know how Cookie Monster says, "Cookies are a sometimes food!" This pasta and salad combo are a sometimes food. It has avocados, cashews, and oil. All of those are good fats, but they are fats nonetheless.

I got some GF linguine and went to town. Chloe's version (see below) has pine nuts. I am allergic to them (and they are expensive! $10.00 for 8 ounces of nuts??) so I went with cashews.

Althea's Version of Avocado Pesto Pasta
Pesto is (GF) and (RV)
Ingredients

• 1 pound linguine, get GF if you have allergies (for fully raw vegan, use carrots, zucchini, or butternut squash, or yellow squash)
• 1 bunch fresh basil, reserve some leaves for garnish
• ½ cup raw cashews
• 2 avocados, pitted and peeled
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• ½ cup olive oil
• nutritional yeast, to taste
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add linguine and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, make the pesto by combining basil, cashews, avocados, lemon juice, garlic, nutritional yeast, and oil in a food processor. Process until smooth. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add more salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and/or garlic as needed.
Toss pasta with pesto. Divide pasta among serving bowls and garnish each serving with a basil leaf.

Body Ecology Diet Salad Dressing (RV) (GF)

• 2/3 cup organic unrefined oils(a combo of EVOO, flaxseed, or an flaxseed/evening primose blend)(I use EVOO only)
• 1/3 cup organic apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
• 1 tsp. Celtic sea salt

Place all ingredients in a container and shake vigorously or put in blender. Use on top of your favorite salad. Or, as you see in my photos, fresh tomatoes.

Put the pasta and salad on a plate or bowl together. Throw some fresh cilantro on top of your salad too, or extra basil. Oh, it's so good.

Chef Chole's version

http://www.chefchloe.com/

Avocado Pesto Pasta (V)

Pesto is (GF) and (RV)

Ingredients

• 1 pound linguine
• 1 bunch fresh basil, reserve some leaves for garnish
• ½ cup pine nuts
• 2 avocados, pitted and peeled
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ cup olive oil
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes or sliced sun-dried tomatoes (optional)

Preparation

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add linguine and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, make the pesto by combining basil, pine nuts, avocados, lemon juice, garlic, and oil in a food processor. Process until smooth. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Toss pasta with pesto. For an extra touch of color and flavor, top pasta with cherry or sun-dried tomatoes. Divide pasta among serving bowls and garnish each serving with a basil leaf.

Love,
Althea

◦

The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Pasta and Salad

Tahini-Mustard Dressing

I made a Tahini-Mustard dressing from 30-Minute Vegan. I didn't like it at all. In fairness, this was made with raw tahini, which is nothing but ground sesame seeds. I don't even like homemade sesame seed milk without adding a sweetner. Since I'd made so much dressing, I couldn't let it go. I had to doctor it up a bit.

I thought to make it like Annie's Goddess Dressing. For the life of me, I could not remember the ingredients, but I knew the taste. It didn't occur to me to look up the ingredients (like I did just now!).

Here's the original Tahini-Mustard recipe:
1/2 cup tahini
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used wheat-free tamari)
1/2 cup water or more depending on consistency of tahini
Blend

To that I added:
honey (1-2 tablespoons, sorry I didn't measure)
more apple cider vinegar
about a teaspoon of salt
Blended again. It could have used more honey, but it definitely reminded me of this:

INGREDIENTS: *EXPELLER PRESSED VEGETABLE OIL (*CANOLA, *SOY, AND/OR *SUNFLOWER), WATER, *TAHINI, *APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, *SOY SAUCE (WATER, *SOYBEAN, SALT, *WHEAT, *ALCOHOL), *LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, SEA SALT, *GARLIC, *TOASTED SESAME SEEDS, *PARSLEY, *CHIVES, XANTHAN GUM.*ORGANIC INGREDIENTS.


Mine is oil-free and gluten-free which works for me. Try it and play around with the seasonings and let me know how turns out!

And here's the dressing on romaine lettuce.

One thing I have noticed with raw is that you must eat enough food. The more you eat raw, the less you naturally want to eat. I believe it's because raw food is so nutrient dense. This was my breakfast this morning.

The other two items are carrot tuna and Asian Spinach Salad.
Carrot tuna is just carrot pulp, leftover from juicing. I added sweet relish and Veganaise.

The salad recipe is from The Joy of Living Live by Zahkah:
1 bunch spinach
1/4 cup cold pressed sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons maple syrup, agave, or honey
2 tablespoons liquid aminos, or tamari
wash the spinach, remove stems, and chop. Mix ingredients and serve.

Enjoy!
Love,
Althea ◦

Tahini-Mustard Dressing

Chocolate Cake and Citrus Dressing

Ganache Fudge Cake

I'm keeping it simple these days. I had a revelation last night. I want to be a gourmet raw food chef + inspirational speaker + author. There is nothing wrong with that ambition. Currently, I am a wife, mom to two sons, a caretaker, a yoga teacher, professional intuitive, blogger, author, cook/cleaner/laundrywoman/ chauffeur/teacher/grocery shopper, etc., etc.

See where I'm going with this?

I am busier than I ever thought I would be. And my Candida is kicking my tail up and down the eastern seaboard. Anytime I even bite into cooked food, I feel my energy decrease and my mood shifts.

I have not given up on blogging through Everyday Raw and Light Eating for Survival. But my shift has got to be on simple raw food that heals me. I can make super impressive gourmet food later. Right now, I'm making simple, tasty raw food which holds my interest.

Recently, I adapted a recipe from Ani's Raw Food Desserts. Ani's Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake has, well, raspberries :-). I don't care for raspberries with chocolate. I left them out.

The "cake" is walnuts, carob powder, sea salt, and Medjool dates mixed together in a food processor.

Ganache Fudge Cake

The frosting was wicked good. It's Medjool dates, agave, avocado, cocoa powder, and sea salt. That could be a pudding. Jona would only eat the frosting. The rest of us ate the cake. The carob gave it a malty feel. I would absolutely make it again.

Creamy Citrus Dressing

This is from Raw Food Real World. It's a blend of avocado, orange juice, lime juice, cilantro, green onion, shallot, sea salt, olive oil, and black pepper. The recipe calls for jalapeno pepper, but I left it out. This dressing lasted me a week, and it was very simple to prepare.

Coming up, I made an easy carrot cake that took less than a half-hour to make :-).

love,
Althea

◦

Chocolate Cake and Citrus Dressing

Light Eating for Survival Blog Project

"Light Eating for Survival" Blog Project a la the movie Julie & Julia.
1 Year. 481 Recipes. 1 ambitious mama.
Days 18-37

Out of 481 recipes, I have officially made 61! That leaves 420 to go! This photo is a cashew salad with Apple Dream Dressing.

Here's a closer look.



This lentil soup. Reallllyy good.

1 cup sprouted lentils
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup celery
1/2 cup parsley
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 tsp. basil
2 cups water
kelp to taste.
Blend!
I added salt to mine because I didn't have kelp. This is a tasty light soup.

I'm not sure which drink this is, but when I saw the beet juice float to the bottom and the apple and celery float to the top I had to take a picture :-).

I've made almost all of the vegetable juices. I haven't done the tomato juices yet, because I'm chicken. I never liked "V8" juice, and I'm scared I won't like the tomato juice, but I did like Green Blood. But I like tomato soup so...hmmm. I've made two-thirds of the fruit juices. Here's the juices I have made so far:

Green Leaf: celery greens, beet greens, turnip greens, watercress

Beet Treat: orange, beet, papaya

Cranberry Punch: cranberries, apple, orange

Cranapple: apple, cranberry, celery

Garden Cleanser: carrot, cucumber, beet

Constipation Blue: carrot, spinach

Potassium Juice: spinach, parsley, celery, carrot

Simple Punch: carrot, apple, beet

Alkalizing: cabbage, celery

Comforting: carrot, apple, comfrey

I've also made a fruit salad with cashew cream that was a hit. I have to make it again, because we ate it too fast! That will be next time!

Love,

Althea

◦

Light Eating for Survival Blog Project

Kale Salad with Chipotle Dressing

Wilted Kale Salad with a Creamy Chipotle Dressing

From brownies to a salad :-). I know, right?

This salad comes courtesy of Russell James. If you sign up for his newsletter, you will get five free recipes. This is one of them.

Kale
2 heads kale
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups baby tomatoes
1 cup hulled hemp seeds

Dressing
2 avocados
1 chipotle pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons agave
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Remove the stems and then wash and cut the kale into small pieces. Place into a bowl, add the salt and massage it into the kale until it wilts and takes on a cooked texture.

Add the tomatoes and hemp seeds. Mix by hand.

Blend the dressing ingredients in a blender. Pour into bowl, and mix by hand.

Okay, I didn't have hemp seeds. I avoid them since the last time I had them, they gave me horrible stomach cramps. I added a little bit of nutritional yeast and more salt to this recipe, once I had mixed everything in. I enjoyed it, and so did my husband, and I would make it again. Russell also has a bread recipe I am aching to try. But I need to get some buckwheat and sprout it. Look for the bread sometime next week!

Up next: A plethora of juices!

Love,
Althea ◦

Kale Salad with Chipotle Dressing

Light Eating for Survival Blog Project

"Light Eating for Survival" Blog Project a la the movie Julie & Julia.
1 Year. 481 Recipes. 1 ambitious mama.
Days 8, 9, 10, and 11.

I kept my focus on the simplest recipes in the book this time. They are luscious and delicious.

Banana and Grapes

...enough said!

Garlic Dressing

3 cups olive oil

5 sliced garlic cloves

1 tablespoon kelp

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Blend, and enjoy!

Fruit Muesli

3 cups fresh, cut up, juicy fruit (bananas, apples, strawberries, peaches, etc.)

1 cup rolled oats

optional

1/2 cup currants or raisins

1/2 cup chopped nuts

This should be juicy. If not add 1 tablespoon water or fruit juice. Allow everything to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

This is fantastic. I'm going to add the raisins next time. It's just so fruity, juicy, and filling. Kid-friendly too!

Hot n' Spicy

6 oz. apple juice or cider

pinch of cinnamon

slice of orange

Heat everything in a small pot until hot to the touch. Enjoy. Warm apple juice and cinnamon on a cold day.... This is like a warm blanket. Very comforting and soothing.

Russian Dressing

1 cup tomatoes

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 lemon juice

1 chopped green onion

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoon tamari (I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos)

1 tsp. paprika

1 chopped garlic clove

1 tsp. horseradish (opt.)

Blend.

This kind of taste like French Dressing, with a kick. It's quite good. Try it and let me know what you think.

Coming up next: A review of The Vegan Soul Food Guide to the Galaxy!

Love,

Althea

◦

Light Eating for Survival Blog Project