Graduation!

I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So on Day Ten, my computer would not let me upload photos. I got it fixed a few days before I graduated. For that reason, and because I was back-breakingly busy, I stopped posting. As I head into Level 2 on April 6, I will update you all now. I learned a lot, but one thing was: don't kill myself trying to do this. I stayed until midnight or one a.m. many nights. I ran myself into the ground. The other thing: it was totally worth it. The skills I learned will allow me to create original raw food cuisine. And that is worth it's weight in gold. 

Working backward, these are the two dishes I made for my Video Final Presentation. We were to create original recipes. I did a spin on the Standard American Diet. Burgers, fries, and apple pie. I didn't make the fries, as we were to do two dishes, but talk about the third. A jicama slaw was my take on fries. Above is a burger on wheat bread, pineapple salsa, cheese, pickles, mustard, mayo, and ketchup. It came out terrific. I wanted to create a burger that looked like burger and I did.

I was even prouder of this. It's an apple & pear crisp with creme and caramel. I love apple anything. I have made great baked and raw apple crisps which a rustic. An apple crisp is a homey dessert. Presentation is everything at Matthew Kenney Culinary (henceforth known as MKC). I elevated my homey dessert to something elegant. And after I did my video and cleaned my kitchen, you know I ate this sucker. 

Any of you who want to be raw food chefs HAVE TO TAKE THIS COURSE. I messaged Mimi Kirk before I started. She is a seventy-something year old raw foodist who has written at least five books. When I saw she had taken this same class at MKC Santa Monica, I was like, "What? She's a raw food author!" She wrote me back and said that I had to do this. And she was right. 

If you want to go pro, even if you've been making raw food for years, like I did, do it. I lacked knife skills and flavor knowledge and technique. I have all of that now. If you take this class, you will not regret it. I am so glad I made this decision. 

Love,

Althea

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Graduation!

Leah's Raw Food Feast

I connected with the wonderful Leah Salmon, The Naturally You Coach, on Facebook a few months ago. After reading about her, I knew I had to interview her for my blog. I read her books first and tried out the recipes.

They were a hit.

My oldest son loves juices and smoothies (he likes almost everything!) He is pictured before drinking Leah's Apple, Carrot, and Broccoli Juice, and a Carrot Juice.

This is a Mushroom and Walnut Burger from Leah's Raw Food Feast. This book teaches you how to be raw for nine days. Complete with recipes and a planning menu, depending on your Metabolic Type (explanation in my next post), this book is for the beginner. It guides you every step of the way with Leah's gentle guidance. This burger was easy to make and very, very good.

And you all know how I love a Kale Salad, of any kind. Again, it was easy. There are lots of complaints about raw food being complicated and expensive. It can be. But it doesn't have to be that way. Leah's book was full of easy recipes, with ingredients that can be found at your local grocer or farmer's market.

So guess what's next?

And interview with Leah Salmon and a giveway of her wonderful books!

Love,

Althea

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Leah's Raw Food Feast

Mother's Day at Liquid Earth

Jason, Antonette, and Rudy from Liquid Earth

Rom took me to a restaurant called Liquid Earth on Mother’s Day. It’s an awesome vegetarian/vegan restaurant in the Fells Point area of Baltimore. We had the most wonderful time. I’d wanted to go there ever since a few of their sandwiches landed on Baltimore Magazine’s 50 Best Sandwiches list.

Drinks on the wall :-)

Jona, the pickiest eater on the planet, only ate the bread and oil. I ordered him black beans and rice, but he wouldn’t eat it. (Good stuff!)


I ordered the Reuben sandwich for Raymond, who will eat anything at least once. The Reuben was on that 50 Best list. I had to take a bite. WOW. I would never take food out of my child’s mouth, but I was tempted. It was hot, silky, with just the right amount of the sauerkraut, thousand island dressing, swiss cheese, and “corned beef brisket” taste. I’m still thinking about it….

I ordered a raw burger, the first time I’ve eaten one. I was impressed. The seasonings, the consistency, even the collard wrap worked perfectly. I kept saying, “This is good. This is really good.” I ate the whole thing and wanted to order another one. It inspired me to try to make a raw burger at home.

Now to my husband, who cracked me up with his enthusiasm. Rom is not easily impressed, by anyone or anything. He ordered the Earth Burger, a veggie burger, with a side of macaroni salad (awesome!). I didn’t get to taste the Earth Burger because I was too busy taking pictures, which is too bad because Rom went on, and on, and on, and on, and on some more about his burger. This is what happened:

Thirty minutes into our drive home: “That was a good burger.”
Thirty-five minutes into the drive: “That was the best veggie burger I ever had.”
Forty-five minutes into the drive: “That was a good ass burger.”

Me: “You sound like Gayle King. When Oprah did a “Best Sandwiches in America” show, Gayle went around the country tasting and rating sandwiches. Five stars was the highest rating possible. She went to one place and gave the sandwich four stars. But on the drive home she kept raving about the sandwich to her daughter. Her daughter said, “Mom, if you’re still talking about the sandwich, then it deserved five stars.”

Rom: “Then my Earth Burger was a five star sandwich. I may need to go up there once a week. That was a good ass sandwich.”

I think “good ass sandwich” makes it ten stars. Perhaps I’ll get a bite next time.

I cannot wait to get back to Liquid Earth to try the raw pizza and some of their juices. We had a wonderful time. Jason, Antonette, and Rudy were very cool people. The vibe was easy-going and smooth. I loved it.

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Mother's Day at Liquid Earth

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.
Day 15

Vegetable Nut Loaf turned Veggie Burger topped with Creamy Port Cheese

I didn't have enough nuts to hold the nut loaf together, so I improvised. The original recipe is
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup tomatoes
1 cup grated celery
1/2 chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated green bell pepper
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
enough ground nuts to hold it together
Mold into oiled serving dish and garnish

I had 1/2 cup of ground almonds on hand, and that was not enough. I had some cashews, which I was saving to make "cheese" with, which I wound up using in this dish. I threw the cashews into the food processor and it did help. I learned to process the veggies until it was nearly a pate. That's how it held together.

The cheese is from Recipes Made with Love by Jodi Allen. I cut the recipe in half. Below is the original recipe.
3 1/2 cups soaked (for at least 6 hrs) cashews
1 cup diced onions
almond milk (enough to moisten)
splash of apple cider vinegar
sea salt to taste
Blend in food processor until creamy

Where else can you get 14 tomatoes for $5.00? At your local farm or farmer's market. I'm a huge fan of seconds (overripe produce). When you catch tomatoes at the perfect time, they are fantastic. And local produce tastes much better than anything you get at the grocery store. So of course I made a tomato salad :-).

Tomato Salad

3 large ripe tomatoes

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove pressed garlic

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon kelp

I only had dulse on hand, instead of kelp. This is a very simple, lightly seasoned salad. The ripe, flavorful tomatoes make this a wonderful dish.

Love,

Althea

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Light Eating for Survival Blog Project

Sunflower Vegetable Burgers

I got this recipe out of Incredibly Delicious, the vegan cookbook I always recommend. This was in the RAWSOME section. The burger is darker than the photo indicates. The flash makes it look like an uncooked beef burger. It was surprisingly good. The ingredients are almonds, sunflower burgers, celery, bell pepper, scallions, carrots, beets, tahini, nutritional yeast, and sea salt (I used Spike). I would definitely make it again. Good stuff.

Also, I decided to do a 3-day juice fast on my birthday weekend. My birthday falls on a Friday in March, and it's a New Moon too. I'm using Queen Afua's Heal Thyself as my guide. Everyone is doing a 92-day juice feast it seems, but I won't be doing that until my children are much older and more independent.

And I made a carrot-apple-beet juice tonight. I'm going to make it again tommorrow and take a picture. It was super super good. I almost couldn't believe it. And it was beautiful to look at. Beets have never been my favorite, but in this mixture, I could drink it everyday.

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Sunflower Vegetable Burgers