Raw30: Day 26, 27, & 28

The last few days have been so hectic and wild, I've been amazed if I managed to eat, let alone if I managed to eat something raw. Days like the last three would be ideal days to have a lot of things waiting for me... dehydrated crackers and snack bars and lots of raw dressings that I only need to throw handfuls of greens and sprouts in a bowl to complement.

Instead, I haven't had time to do much of anything. So it was a huge relief tonight to go to the Raw Meetup that happens once a month in Oklahoma City.



It's a great time with great people, and it gives the Husbeast and I a chance to have some really good, gourmet raw food without having to spend a ton. It's basically a raw potluck - everyone brings a dish, and we all sample each others' foods. We're supposed to bring along recipes, just so anyone who really likes the dish can make it themselves.



It was a delight to be there. Everything from salad to raw chocolate pie to a raw enchilada demonstration by one of the guests.




I made something I knew I loved (and hoped others would): Stuffed Portobella Mushroom Caps

We took the Baby Beast with us. Since I've started working, he's been especially needy and clingy, and (for the most part) I haven't minded being clung to. After all, when you spend four or five hours away from someone you're used to spending 23 hours a day with, it's kind of a shock.



He sampled most of the raw foods (he's still a cracker fiend; he went after the raw crackers on my plate and took off with one in his hand, munching away) and charmed most of the people there. I got a lot of comments on what a "good baby" he was. He's just a securely attached baby, I think. He knows everything is going to be okay, so he's comfortable in social situations (usually).



So, after eating a huge variety of really flippin' delicious raw foods, I'm feeling pretty happy. And reinvigorated! I am looking forward to making Berry Bars tomorrow, and may actually get the ingredients to make a Lentil Cup Salad again... because that was one delicious salad.



So, while the 30 days of compulsive raw are nearly done, I am still looking forward to eating a wide variety of yummy raw things. So I would call the experiment a success.

Raw30: Day 25

Occasionally, I am blown away by one of the raw recipes. Today's did just that.

Strawberry Crêpes*. The filling tastes like cream cheese. The outer shell is so chewy and delicious. And the strawberry topping is so sweet, but not CANDY sweet.



I had a hard day. My MommyJob was tiring, and then I had to go to the job that pays money... and it's still a slog. You see, the Pet Trainer who was working there before me left in the middle of the classes. Everything is an unholy mess. Trying to make sense of her old classes and all the paperwork is going to give me an ulcer, seriously.

So to come home and be able to whip together something really tasty (and really healthy!) is incredibly nice. I can't even tell you how wonderful it is.

And, hey, we even have enough for breakfast tomorrow!

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Strawberry Crêpes

Crêpe Shells
5-6 RIPE bananas

Filling
1 c macadamia nuts
1 c cashews
1 large lemon, juiced
4 tsp honey
2 tsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp water

Strawberry Sauce
1 1/2 c strawberries
1-2 Tblsp raw honey

For crêpe shells:
1. Place bananas in a food processor and blend until smooth
2. Remove from processor and spread about 1/8 inch thick onto a Teflex sheet on top of a dehydrator screen.
3. Dehydrate for 14 hours** or fewer. (Begin checking the bananas a few hours before to make sure they are formed, pliable, and solid in texture, but not getting crispy)
4. Remove from dehydrator and slice into strips (about 4"x2").

For filling:
1. Place filling ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

For strawberry sauce:
Combine strawberries and honey in a good processor and blend until smooth.

To assemble:
1. Pour strawberry sauce onto plate in a thin layer so as to cover bottom of plate.
2. Place scoops of filling onto banana fruit leather strips and roll up. Place on plate with enough room in between so each crêpe is not touching.
3. Pour strawberry sauce over the rolled up crêpes.

Note: It's important to let the crêpes sit for at least a couple of hours with the strawberry sauce on top. The sauce will soften the fruit leather and make it "crêpe-like" instead of hard and chewy***. These are also great the next day!

** Mine went for about 8-9hr and they were ready to go.

*** We liked the chewy texture, although I'm sure they're just as awesome when softened by the strawberry sauce.

Raw30: Day 24

The crackers came out fantastic! I enjoyed having them... when I finally could. Today we had a regional meeting for Pet Trainers, so I had to be somewhere at 8am. What, that's not so bad? It is when you've been up nursing a baby all night!

Baby Beast had a bad night, waking me up throughout to nurse for a minute or two, just long enough to feel 'better' and doze back off (thank god we co-sleep; if i was having to go to another room for this, i wouldn't take it nearly so amicably). I think it was the small amount of dairy I had a couple days ago. While he doesn't seem to be having a full-blown reaction, he has been just a little more clingy... but then again, that might just be having me be at work for four hours.

Regardless, we had a night of poor sleep, then I had to be up and getting ready at 6:45am, a full hour before Baby Beast and I normally roll out of the family bed.

And then the clothes dryer broke. THE HITS, THEY JUST KEEP ON COMIN'!

So today was spent running from one side of the city to the other and back again, trying to accomplish all the things that needed to be accomplished.

At least I had some nummy crackers to take with me. And I ended up with three baggies full, so I might have them for several days! Now I just need to make some raw nut cheese to put on them...

Raw30: Day 23

Today was too busy to accomplish much, but I did get the Vegetable Flax Crackers mixed and into the dehydrator, and according to their schedule of readiness, we ought to be able to dig in sometime tomorrow morning.

Otherwise, I spent the day in a huff trying to deal with a lot of inner emotional turmoil. Everything that caused the huff has been cleared up, and I feel much better now... but I have a really early morning tomorrow (roughly two hours earlier than the Baby Beast and I usually rise) so I'm not even going to bother trying to do more than say, "Look, y'all, the crackers are dehydrating!"


Waiting to be broken into cracker-sized pieces tomorrow

Raw30: Day 22

Somehow, this weekend was just insane enough (thanks to the surprise-first-day-of-spring snow) that we never managed to get out of the house and shop for this week's groceries, so that was left to today. Because of the massive amount of rushing around I have to do to get everything bought (five different stores today), it left me no real time to MAKE anything. But I did set up some flax seeds and sun-dried tomatoes to soak, for use in veggie flax crackers tomorrow!


The bag contains "Pizza" Flax Snax, a flax seed cracker I was
munching on. Pretty dang delicious, especially when you haven't
had pizza in about four months.

Today was my mom's birthday, so once the Husbeast, Baby Beast and I were done shopping, we took her to a local German restaurant, Ingrid's Kitchen. If you're in Oklahoma and you've never been, you absolutely have to go. It's very authentic, the food is amazing and the pastries even better. And it was lovely to get out of the house and go to a nice restaurant, sit down to a delicious meal that I didn't have to make, and enjoy some adult company (namely my mom and kinda-sister-in-law, michelle; the husbeast doesn't count, because i talk to him all the time and he's only semi-adult company).

And Mondays are our days to go to The Little Gym with the Baby Beast. He absolutely loves it, running back and forth and crowing and clapping his hands. I think he probably enjoys The Little Gym more for the extra freedom we give him (never pulling him away from something 'dangerous,' as we have to do around the house despite baby-proofing) than for the organized activities. In fact, during the organized activities, he does he best to wiggle free so he can wander around doing his own thing.

So, with everything going on today, we only managed a semi-raw day. Smoothie for breakfast, and lots of raw snacks for "dinner." Tomorrow, I'm aiming at making the flax crackers and some Strawberry Crepes.... but I have to work tomorrow evening, so it's kind of up in the air on just how productive I'll be able to be.

Raw30: Day 21

Today was my day of rest... but who cares?! Health Care Reform passed!

I've been following that since I first heard about it. I've known since I was diagnosed with Lupus (when I was 15) that I had to have insurance, because if it ever, ever lapsed, I would become "uninsurable," which meant I went from my parents' insurance into COBRA, and then into insurance with my job, then into COBRA again, then into my husband's insurance, making sure I never reached the point where I did not have insurance.

Because of the House and Senate democrats, I will no longer be "uninsurable."

I'm so happy. It overwhelms everything else, even the salad I had for breakfast (which was delicious). I'm going to go snuggle the Baby Beast (who can no longer have a pre-existing condition and won't even know what that is in his lifetime) and rejoice.

Raw30: Day 20

I was called into work today - suprise! - to be introduced to the students I will soon be taking over, to meet&greet both them and their dogs. I agreed readily, and then Oklahoma got a surprise 6" of snow dumped on it (on the first day of spring. it is to laugh).

So I drove the 25min drive from my home to PetSmart with white-knuckles and enough adrenaline running through my veins that I probably could have jogged there, 28-degree weather and blowing snow be damned. Especially when an idiot in a pick-up truck whipped out of his lane and into my lane just ahead of me, fishtailed, smashed out one of his rear lights, fishtailed some more, and then continued forward. Oklahoma drivers, for the most part, get their licenses out of gumball machines.

Of course, the snowstorm caused everyone to huddle in their homes and refuse to come out, so PetSmart wound up having to cancel the training classes scheduled for today. So, instead of meet&greet, I did new hire paperwork and made up a schedule for training classes for the next three months.

As for food, I started off with a smoothie, but after freezing my tuchus off in blasting wind and ice, I microwaved another vegan meal and shared it with the Baby Beast. Then we took a nap, dozing off while nursing. Aaah, bliss. Warm baby body is the best way to feel better after being cold outside.

For dinner tonight, GrandmaBeast dived in and made a salad (to go along with the short-grain brown rice, pan-seared salmon, green beans, black-eyed peas, and beets i made). It was a wonderful dinner, the Baby Beast ate a taste of everything, and the world is a good place to be. And I had double-helpings of the salad, because it was delicious.