Whiteley Creek Homestead

To change up today's salad, I made a restaurant-style coleslaw recipe from allrecipes.com. Dick said it is better than any coleslaw he's eaten in a restaurant.

 
My additions to the recipe are apples, raisins, and raw sunflower seeds.

Coleslaw Rstaurant-Style

Makes 8 servings.

1/3 ¼ cup sugar

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

½ tsp celery seed (my addition)

¼ cup milk (I omitted.)

½ cup mayonnaise (I used Follow Your Heart Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise.)

¼ cup buttermilk (or whipping cream for a creamier dressing)

1 ½ tbsp vinegar (I used Bragg Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar.)

2 ½ tbsp lemon juice (I omitted.)

8 cups finely chopped cabbage (I shredded it.)

¼ cup grated carrots

1 apple chopped, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds (my additions)

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, pepper, milk, mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar, and lemon juice until smooth. Add cabbage and carrots and mix until blended with the dressing. Refrigerate at least two hours before serving. (We just dug in.) Note: I make a full recipe of dressing and store half of it in the fridge for another meal. A small head of cabbage makes 4 cups shredded… perfect for half of the dressing.

I have challenged myself to plan my meals around what is growing at the present. This spring's unseasonably warm temperatures aided my efforts by supplying me with an earlier than usual cutting of rhubarb. I dug out my favorite rhubarb almond coffeecake recipe and happily utilized my first gift from the soil.  

Sprouting grains and soaking seeds and nuts…

This morning, I drained the water from the jars that my raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds, and raw almonds had been soaking in overnight. I used them to make a hummus-like spread for bread and crackers. (The sprouting grains are for a different recipe.) Just look at this nutritious goodness…

Sunflower Spread

1 cup hulled raw (unroasted) sunflower seeds

1 cup raw (unroasted) pumpkin seeds

1 cup raw (unroasted) almonds

1 carrot

1 garlic clove, chopped

½ red sweet pepper, chopped (I used a cuke because it’s what I had.)

¼ cup minced fresh parsley (I used 4 tsp dried.)

½ red onion, chopped 

Soak seeds and almonds overnight then drain and rinse. In a food processor with an S blade, a Green Power using the blank and with the least amount of tension, or a Champion Juicer (what I have) with the blank in place, put the seeds, almonds, carrot, and garlic through. Stir in the sweet pepper, parsley, and onion. After spreading on bread or crackers, season with salt and pepper to taste. 

My committment to eating more seasonally-appropriate foods fell by the wayside today. I am digging deep into my freezer to clean out remnants of the past. I can see this raw cobbler being made with fresh summer peaches in August.

Mango Cobbler

Serves 4. (I made smaller servings perfect for little custard cups, so these quantities serve 8.)   

Crumbles:

1 ¼ cups almonds

½ tsp sea salt

1 vanilla bean, scraped (I used ½ tsp vanilla.)

1 cup pitted and packed medjool dates (I would try ½ cup lightly packed so that the mixture is less clumped together and a little more crumbly.)

2 tbsp coconut oil or butter (I used coconut oil which adds just a hint of coconut flavor.)

Fruit:

4 cups mango, pitted and diced (I used frozen chunks.)

¼ cup agave syrup (Try 2 tbsp instead.)

Place almonds and salt in food processor. Lightly process into small pieces. Add vanilla, dates, and coconut oil. Process to mix well. Toss mango with agave nectar. Sprinkle half the crumbles into the bottom of each serving dish. Top with mango then sprinkle with remaining crumbles.

April 12, 2010

Oh, I am so excited! My Excalibur Food Dehydrator was delivered via FedEx yesterday. For this momentous occasion, I chose a "Take-It-with-You Bar" recipe from Rawsome! Maximizing Health, Energy, and Culinary Delight with the Raw Foods Diet by Brigitte Mars.

Take-It-with-You Bar

1 cup almonds, soaked overnight, then rinsed

½ cup raisins, soaked for 20 minutes (Save the soak water for cookies, to sweeten homemade nut or seed milk, or drink it straight up. Yum!)

2 apples, cored and chopped

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and purée. (I left small chunks.) Shape the puree into 10 blocks about the size of traditional granola bars on a solid dehydrator sheet(s) and dehydrate for 6 hours. (I just spread it out evenly in a layer on a dehydrator tray.) Remove the solid dehydrator sheet(s), flip the bars (or layer) over onto the dehydrator tray, and continue dehydrating for another 6 hours or until the bars (or layer) are dry on both sides. (I did not dehydrate the mixture for the second 6 hour stretch. It would be crunchier if you did. After 6 hours, it is chewy. We sprinkled it with cinnamon and devoured it… so very good.) Note: The predehydrated version is wonderfully crunchy, so try some this way, too, before or instead of drying it.