Made with Love

This is a non-gluten, non-dairy, non-sugar strawberry "cheesecake." You may wonder how something can be at all good without flour, dairy or sugar, but the universal review is that it is. Just try it. It's easier than it sounds.

"cheesecake"
1 pound raw cashews, soaked for 12 hours (put in a bowl with water 1-2 inches over the nuts)
1 cup raw coconut oil
20 ripe strawberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 pinches sea salt
4 tbsp agave nector or honey
1/2 cup almond milk (made fresh) or 1 cup coconut water (what I used)

Rinse and drain cashews. Place teh cashews in the food processor until the batch turns to butter. Place one cup of coconut water into blender, then the topped strawberries, followed by the salt, honey, coconut oil, then the cashews - blending along the way, stirring towards the end, until it forms a creamy thick blend.

Original Crust
1/4 pound each of golden flax seeds, buckwheat and a nut of your choice
15 medjool pitted dates
Place all in a food processor for four minutes. Press into pan.

Velma's crust
Enough ground nut flour to cover the bottom of the pan, pressed in with about a 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil.

Pour the "cheesecake" into the pan over the crust. Cover and freeze for five hours. Serve with fresh cut fruit on the side.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Kristi-Sue Boone of Bloom Cafe in Yogi Times July 2007.

It's raw vegan bliss.


Really.

What's for dinner

Every time I experience a period during which I can't cook, such as before, during and after a vacation, or during the few weeks before the annual meeting, immediately following said period, I do an immense bit of cooking. We just got back from vacation on Monday, so here's my last 24 hours or so.

Thursday evening
Massive grocery shopping trip

Friday after work
Make dinner - pork chops, sauteed zucchini, and corn on the cob
Put dishes away
Put laundry in the dryer
Make 3 quarts* (six servings) of fruit smoothies for next week, complete with green algae and protein powder, three bananas, most of one cantelope, a pound of blueberries, and 1 apple.
Make a better than pumpkin (butternut squash) pie
Make carrot cupcakes
Wash the dishes
Pet the cat
Soak beans*
Soak rice*
Soak nuts*

Saturday
Try my smoothie, adding flax seed, cod liver oil and multi-vitamin powder*
Slow roast nuts*
Cook beans in crock pot with a dried chili pepper
Roast beets
Bake bacon
Talk to Grandma
Talk to Dad
Fold laundry
Type up recipes for library cook book
Make burger patties to freeze
Make cream cheese icing
Whip cream
Make hot cereal for lunch
Make kale chips*
Make kale salad*
Ice cupcakes
Put laundry away
Cat Nap with cat
Harvest potatoes - 1 gallon!
Pick green beans - a handful
Dig up garlic - six heads
Pick lettace - a big bowl full
Trim garden
Pick and compost plums (They're ornamental.)
Shower
Have a cup of tea
Eat some sliced turkey
Make rice
Hard Boil a dozen eggs*
Have beans, rice, eggs and kale salad for dinner
Read two magazines
Make a cup of cocoa (from my own mix)
Watch Babette's Feast, a movie starring food
Enjoy a piece of pie with whipped cream
Post on blog.
Pet the cat.

It's now 9pm, and I'm sure I'll be in bed by 10.

Tomorrow I'm going to put a beef roast and potatoes in the crock pot, make salsa, and maybe sew. Oh, and I still need to unpack.

You may wonder why I made so much food. Well, I like to eat, and I like to eat good food, and I eat a lot. I also like to make dinner when I get home for work during the week, which is way easier, when I have a base of supplies in the fridge to start with.

*I went to see a nutritionist this week. She gave me some good suggestions for eating better (more protein), some cooking tips, and some yummy recipes.

Soaking nuts and grains helps dissolve an outer layer of something that makes them easier to digest.
The smoothie was actually quite good and filling.

Kale Chips
Surprisingly good
Cut up a bunch of kale into small strips.
Bake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees F.
They turn into crispy little things that even Mark will eat.

Kale Salad
Cut up a bunch of kale into small strips.
Toss with two cloves chopped garlic and 1-3 tbsp each of olive oil, bragg's amino acids (tastes like soy sauce but better for you), and rice vinegar.
The longer it marinates, the better it tastes.