Raw Vanilla Ice cream

We ate lunch out on Sunday, so we didn't need a big evening meal too.  Therefore, we ate fruit/veggies for dinner and the boys teamed up to make the family a yummy evening dessert!

The recipe is called "Raw" Vanilla ice cream (from The Raw Foods Detox Diet), although technically the maple syrup and vanilla extract are not raw... still, it's pretty close to being an all raw treat!  The recipe actually called for vanilla beans, but we only had extract and it turned out great.

Matt/Dad (Jeff) made the vanilla ice cream and Tay made the chocolate sauce.

Ingredients:

Ice Cream:

• 3 young thai coconuts-- all flesh and some of the water
• maple syrup (1/2 cup)
• vanilla (1 TBS)
• ice (3-4cups)

Blend them all up together until creamy.  After years and years of getting by with a normal blender, we finally broke down a few years ago and purchased a Vita-Mix blender.  SO.WORTH.IT!  We use it multiple times a day to make smoothies, dressings and now desserts!

Chocolate Sauce: (from The Raw Foods Detox Diet also)

6 TBS Organic Cocoa powder

1 cup maple syrup

Blend in a blender.

Use a cleaver to open the coconuts... carefully! 

Tay smiling because it is SO good!

Matt has dished out the ice cream and now Tay pours on the chocolate sauce





Noah had to get in the picture :)

Matt Meal #1- Whole Wheat Lasagna and Chocolate Shake

So, we've taken a slight deviation of late, in that we have added raw goat's cheese into our food choices.  We won't eat it every day, just occasionally, and I'm finding that it doesn't leave behind symptoms, as cow's cheese does and even soy cheese.  We didn't experience a congestion hang-over, even when this raw cheese is used in a cooked meal.

The ingredients for the lasagna:

• whole wheat noodles (we would have used sprouted grain or spelt if we could have found them)
• spinach
• zuchinni
• raw goat cheese
• organice spaghetti sauce
• garlic

Matt served a salad, lasagna and then finshed off the meal with a chocolate shake, which was made of pure cocoa powder, young thai coconut, stevia, almond milk, vanilla  and ice.  Great way to finish a fantastic meal.

Some ingredients and kitchen tools used in preparation

Matt used a mandelin to thinly slice the zuchinni

Doesn't that look good?

We ate our salads at the table...

Then dug into the lasagna...

Then moved into the living room for a "picnic" while we ate and watched a movie.

Summer of kids Chef Meals begins...

Well, the Seiter family is back at it... except more from a "Julie & Julia" perspective.

Out of all the raw foods and vegan books I've read, this is the one that resonates as the best recipe guide for our perspective on nutrition.

As stated before, we don't really have a label.... we aren't vegan, we aren't vegetarian...we make choices to eat food as close to the way they occur in nature, we eat abundant amount of raw fruits and veggies and try to avoid foods that are de-natured and turn into toxic waste.  We try to eat food combinations that allow for the best digestion and absorption... quick exit foods, as Natalia calls it in this book.

Therefore, we are going to use many of the recipes in this book, as well as some others, and the boys are going into "Chef" mode again this summer.

Some of the recipes they've picked out are "Whole Wheat Lasagna", Raw vanilla ice cream, Chocolate milkshake, Orange sherbert, Gazpacho, Quick Pizza, Coconut Thai soup, Pad Thai and many many more.

We went shopping for some of the initial recipes this weekend and bought ingredients like:  pure maple syrup, raw honey, stevia, nama shoyu, young thai coconuts, cilantro, lemons, limes, salmon, zuchinni, eggplant.

The first recipe of the summer is Matt making the Whole Wheat Lasagna and a chocolate shake for desert.  Yum!  AND, these are recipes that a Mom can feel good about feeding her kids.  AND, Mom doesn't even have to make it!  A Win/Win scenario all the way around!

Mochi

We are always looking for wheat-free alternatives for Matthew, and I found something at our local health food store that I had never heard of before:  Mochi

It is a traditional Japanese food made from short-grain sweet rice that is boiled and then pounded into a dense form.  You must use a very strong knife to cut into 1 inch squares (I used a butcher knife).  Note:  do not bake the Mochi as closely together as I did below or they will merge together as in the second picture below.

Bake at 450 for 8 -10 minutes.

We had a large salad and Mochi for a very filling meal.  I've include a close-up shot of the package below that contains a recipe that we haven't tried yet.

Matthew didn't have a negative reaction after eating this food made from rice, so it's something we'll include again from time to time.

After-school snacks

The boys are hungry for a snack each day after school.  We've discovered a few snacks that have all my favorite elements:  quick/easy, inexpensive and healthy!
Healthier "Banana Split":
Split a banana in half & smother with any of the following ingredients:

• Raw almond butter 
• Cinnamon 
• Coconut flakes 
• Slivered almonds 
• and top off with 100% fruit spread 

Rice Cake Supreme:

• Slather raw almond butter on a rice cake
• Top it off with a dollop of 100% fruit spread

Indian/Thai Lentil Stew

This was another "made-up" dish that may be an actual recipe somewhere, but this meal was a combination of a bunch of things that sounded good together to me.  It got a 10 out of 10 from the boys!

This meal is very hearty, filling, inexpensive and quick to make.  I sent left-overs in addition to the boys salads for school lunches the following day.  Feeds 3 hungry boys, a Mom IN ADDITION TO leftovers for next day!

Recipe:

• 1 28oz can of Organic diced or stewed tomatoes
• 1 can Organic coconut milk (use Light for lower fat content if that is a concern)
• 2 cups dried organic lentils
• 1 cup brown rice
• 3-6 cups of water, depending on your preferred consistency (I start with 3 and add more if needed)
• Several stalks of diced celery (reserve some raw celery for garnish)
• 1 diced onion
• Several diced tomatoes (optional)
• Sea salt to taste
• Cumin or Curry to taste
• Garlic powder or diced garlic to taste
• Garnish with fresh basil, raw celery and/or corn (only raw celery garnish pictured below)

I dumped everything into a pot, brought it to a boil and turned it down to simmer for 45 min to an hour.  Check water level and stir occasionally.

Once cooked, I served over a bed of raw spinach.  The warm stew softens the spinach to a very nice consistency.  The raw spinach and celery provided enough raw green nourishment that I didn't feel it necessary to serve with a salad. 

Sun-dried tomatoes- some ways to use them

Use sun-dried tomatoes to add more nutrients and flavor in your salads and dips.  (For very observant Bloggers:  how many of these pictures do you remember from previous entries?)

Sun-dried olive and tomato salad (look for my all-time favorite food- sun-dried olives- in a future blog entry)

Add a small bowl of miso soup for a light fall or winter dinner that contains a taste of summer!

Add sun-dried tomatoes and dehydrated, Tamari and garlic-soaked mushrooms to turn a plain salad into a delicacy.

Include sun-dried tomatoes in Mexican fiesta night when you can't get garden fresh tomatoes.

No Hummus dipping would be complete without rich, flavor-filled sun-dried tomatoes!