Day 80

Banana bread

I don't like to take medication frivolously, but this sinus thing had gotten to a point where it was almost intolerable. A friend suggested to me that I might be suffering from allergies, since hers had been acting up, but I'd never had them in the past, so I dismissed that.

After work on Saturday, I went to Whole Foods to get something holistic that would hopefully help. It seemed that everything I picked up that was clearly meant for sinus pain, though, was also blatantly not vegan with gelatin or lactose. I must have stood there for a while looking very confused because before I knew it, I had a sales girl on either side of me, one of whom was trying to convince me that it was only a little lactose and the other pushing herbs at me that I hadn't researched and had no clue if they would help. And everything was at least $20. I was overwhelmed and I left without buying anything.

On the way home, though, the pain was particularly bad, and I turned into CVS. I found the box of Tylenol labeled "Sinus pain and congestion" and I bought it without hesitating. It's not vegan. It's not natural. But it said that it would work for my symptoms, and it has. Plus it was like $5.

Before I went to bed that night, I went to take another dose and found two boxes in the medicine cabinet where I had previously placed the one. I thought maybe Madeline had picked up some, too, maybe because she was tired of hearing me gripe, so I called to her in the living room:

"Mad! Did you get more sinus meds?"

"No, I saw that you had bought some, and I remembered that you had some from last year when you went through the same thing."

Oh. So maybe it is allergies. At least I can be better prepared next time I need medication and hopefully stock up on something natural in advance.

I made banana bread yesterday that we ate last night. It was my favorite kind of recipe: quick and simple where everything is just thrown together and the hardest part is having to wait until it's dehydrated enough to eat it. I used this recipe ( 1 cup flax meal, 1 cup ground sesame, 5 bananas, 2 T agave, 2 tsp vanilla, cinnamon to taste, saved in the event that the link ceased to work) from the Raw Freedom Community. I added a handful of chopped walnuts, because banana nut bread is so much better. I spread it about 1/4 inch thick on parchment paper and dehydrated for 12 hours, flipping after about 6 and removing the paper.

It was very good when it came out, warm and soft in the middle. It was slightly flaxy, but tasted so similar to the baked breads I remember that I felt a bit bereft without a slather of Earth Balance margarine. Oh well. It was good, but I think I'm over bananas for the time being.

-Eloise

Day 76

It's been a very long week that was capped off with an audition and interview for the role student speaker at commencement. I'm very excited to have been nominated- there are 10 of us auditioning- but it was nerve wracking! I recited the first few minutes of Margaret Chase Smith's famous "Declaration of Conscience," which, by the way, is an amazing speech (you know, if you're in the mood for that sort of thing). I think it went fairly well, but we'll see. I also think it's a funny coincidence that my speech audition and the Day of Silence fell on the same day.

I've finally gotten my sun, but the kind-of-feeling-sick from earlier in the week has blossomed into full blown holy-crap-my-sinuses-are-going-to-explode. So I enjoyed it while I was on campus today, but opted to come home and curl up on the couch with some knitting instead of heading out to the park.

I needed some comfort food when I got home, so I made a banana shake. It was the perfect thing.

Urban Escape
2 pitted dates
1.5 c warm water
2 frozen bananas
splash of vanilla
dash of cinnamon

Soak the dates in the water for 20 minutes ( or as long as you can stand it). Add the dates and water to the blender along with the bananas, vanilla and cinnamon. Blend until creamy.

I was still kind of hungry when I finished it, though, so I made myself another, with the addition of 1.5 T cocoa powder for a chocolate version. Definitely what I needed this afternoon.

-Eloise

Day 75

I came across the above container placed inconspicuously on our bathroom shelf when I was getting ready for bed last night, and it made me burst into laughter. It's tiny, smaller than a quarter. I thought Madeline has been particularly happy because she was finding her new job very fulfilling, but apparently her secret is that she's found inner peace and has bottled it to boot. (Okay, it's actually a sample of hair product from when she'd gotten her hair cut earlier that day, but I prefer my alternative.)

I have recipes to share today. I was very, very happy with the way my cookies came out that I'm going to post the first prototype recipe and another update when I get around to making the date-sweetened alternative. The texture was fantastic, dense and cake-like.

Drama-free cookies*

Ingredients:

pulp from 6 carrots and 3 apples**

3 T flax meal

3 T agave

2 T maple syrup

Cinnamon to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. A dough should form that easily holds together (I did this by hand with a spatula, but a food processor would probably be just as effective, albeit more work to clean). Form into balls and slightly flatten. Dehydrate 12 hours. Make 7 small cookies.

*You know. Cause nothing's nuts. :)

**See yesterday's post for how I juiced with a blender. Also, I used granny smith apples with peel, hence the green flecks.

-

I also made a pudding/custard thing last night. I had soaked some cashews to make a chowder, but as it turned out, I really didn't want chowder for dinner. I wanted a spinach salad with parmesan, instead. I didn't want to let the soaked nuts to sit in the fridge for too long, so dessert it was. (Quick note on the parmesan... we love that stuff. I make huge batches that we keep in the fridge and in lieu of dressings, we frequently opt for giant mixing bowls of dry spinach with a tablespoon or two of parmesan. So good).

Banana custard with mango topping

Ingredients:

1/2 c cashews soaked for 2 hours

2 bananas

1 T agave

3 T water

cinnamon to taste (can you tell, I like cinnamon?)

1 large mango

Combine cashews, bananas, agave, water and cinnamon in a food processor or blender until creamy. Portion into two small bowls. Puree mango until creamy and layer on top of the banana custard. Sprinkle with cinnamon as desired. Chill and serve. Or don't chill. It's still good.

-Elosie

Day 67

Yesterday's flax crackers

I am suppressing my school anxiety into housework, or so Madeline tells me. I happen to disagree (she says while while vacuuming the living room with the hand attachment... it's more effective!). I do admit that I was prolific in the kitchen last night. We ate the crackers, as featured above, and they were delicious. I may have spread them a little thin, so they were more crisp-like, but that was perfectly fine by me. The best part is that the recipe made a huge batch of 6 trays, so we have plenty left over for the next couple days.

I placed a big order with Sprout House last week which I received just the other day. I immediately started soaking a blend of barley, oat groats and buckwheat. It's a really easy combination to work with. They only need to soak for an hour and sprout for 24-36 hours with rinses every 4-8 hours and they're done (well, when you put it that way... honestly it's easy). I used them when they had little tails, because the wheat that I had sprouted last week had gotten increasingly bitter the longer it sprouted. This was just right. They require a little extra rinsing because of all the starchiness they release, but there's no hulling at the end. I have determined that I really like sprouting, I don't mind the rinsing, but I abhor the hulling. There has to be a better way than submersing the sprouts in water and flicking out the hulls with a spoon. If you know if one, please let me know!

So once they were ready, I of course had to make granola. I perused dozens of recipes, most too nut heavy for my taste, and finally put together this batch based around this recipe on Gone Raw. Here were my modifications:

Raw Cinnamon Raisin Granola

Dry Ingredients

3 cups sprouts (I used equal parts barley, oat groats and buckwheat)

1 cup brazil nuts, chopped

1 cup dried coconut

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup flax seeds

1/2 cup raisins

Wet Ingredients

8 dates

3 T raisins

2T agave nectar

1/2 T cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

Set dates and raisins to soak in a small bowl with lukewarm water just covering them. Measure dry ingredients into a large bowl. Measure wet ingredients, including the soak water, into a food processor or blender and mix until fully combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix by hand. Spread on dehydrator trays with parchment paper (or those non-stick sheets) and dehydrate at 115 degrees for 12-14 hours until desired texture. I like my granola a little chewy, so I took it out just before 12 hours.

I had a really hard time not eating this before it dehydrated. In fact, Mad and I ate some for dessert last night (I finished hers... I have a relentless sweet tooth). It reminded me so much of the instant packets of Quaker cinnamon raisin oatmeal that I used to eat as a kid. So good. I was afraid that I had added too much cinnamon because the wet ingredients were overpowerfully cinnamony, but when it's all mixed together, it's pretty mellow. I would even venture to add some more next time. I did not soak my seeds or nuts this time around, but I will for next. I'm also going to try mixing in more sprouts (quinoa, I'm thinking of you) and chia seeds and hemp nuts.

There's other kitchen goodness going on around here, but even I admit that I'm procrastinating now. More to come!

-Eloise

Day 37

Happy, happy raw vegan ice cream... stay tuned!

My new blender is a thing of beauty. It's sleek and sexy with an entirely stainless steel base. It's quiet, yet powerful and has a smoothie button that whips greens into smithereens. In short, I love it (I have briefly paused to consider whether it is natural for a 23 year old to adore a blender so completely when it isn't making margaritas, but I suppose I was never one for convention anyway).

It sits on the counter next to the food processor now, occupying the space where the toaster and waffle maker used to reside. It arrived on Saturday, so after work, I unpacked it and immediately put it to use. So far I've made 4 green smoothies, Kristen's Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce (subbing the hemp with 1/2 c flax meal and adding more nutritional yeast), carrot, apple, ginger juice (pulp included), and butternut squash soup. Later, I'm going to make the ranch dressing from RFMEF1o2P.There probably would have been more blender usage, except Mad's been incredibly sick and really just starting eating a bit today, so I've mostly been cooking for myself.

She has been feeling better, though (and it was definitely a stomach virus), and tonight I orchestrated a delicious collaboration between my blender and food processor: chocolate, strawberry, cherry banana ice cream. Heh. At the end of last week, we had a bunch and a half of perfectly ripe bananas, so I froze them for later use. I also recently discovered Green and Crunchy, the blog of an amazing raw vegan mama of five (5!) raw vegan kids. Taking inspiration from her all fruit ice cream and having just stocked up on frozen fruit for smoothies, I made my own:

Cherry Berry Chocolate Ice Cream
4 frozen bananas
6 frozen strawberries
8 frozen cherries
4 TBS cocoa powder
Toppings (optional)

Pulse in blender until combined. Transfer to food processor and processes until smooth.

It was amazing. Madeline ate hers au naturale and I topped mine with dried coconut (and then I finished Mad's when she couldn't.... thanks, stomach bug!). This raw transition hasn't always been easy, but moments like this, the synergy between gastronomy and nutrition, are pure bliss.

-Eloise