RAW Living and Learning

(Written on 8/30/2010) Ugly Tomato and Sprouts I found the most awesome deal on Ugly Ripe Tomatoes the other day. It was a 4-pack for a very good price!! I snatched it right up. I've said before that these are my favorite variety of Florida tomato!! And boy was I pleased with this batch. They are so juicy and flavorful. Well I decided to make a salad with my Ugly Tomato as the focal point. I needed some greens and sprouts with it, of course, so I served it on a bed of organic red leaf lettuce, topped it with three types of sprouts and drizzled on a simple dressing. My 4 year old and 2 year old were happy eating thick slices with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. My 6 year old had some bean sprouts with his favorite, simple honey mustard dressing that Mommy makes. Gotta love kids loving veggies!! Here is the easy recipe: Ugly Ripe Tomato Plate 1 large Ugly ripe tomato, cut into thick rounds 4 leaves of organic red leaf lettuce, chopped 1 handful of bean sp...

Today I opened up the refrigerator asking myself what I was going to make for breakfast. Staring back at me were my Brown Turkey Figs, fresh figs that is!! Over in the fruit bowl were my last two bananas. Originally I was going to simply slice them up with the bananas and eat them as is. But then I got the idea of making a hemp kream to serve on top. Well I changed my mind again and started creating this raw soup recipe in the food processor. The combination of the hemp, banana and Lucuma are fantastic. There are even more great components to the recipe so read here and see if you'd like to give it a try. This is by far my favorite raw soup so far! Kreamy Hemp Soup with Figs (makes one serving) by Elizabeth @ Raw Living and Learning 2 large organic bananas squeeze of fresh lemon juice 1 T Lecithin Powder 1 t Lucuma Powder 1 t raw honey (optional) 1 tsp vanilla pinch of sea salt 2 T Hemp Seeds 4 large Brown Turkey Figs, sliced (reserve for topping)...

Well, I am happy to be posting once again after 3 weeks. It has been an action packed three weeks that is for sure. We had a glorious time on our vacation; a ten day escape from reality. We headed up to our favorite spot in the mountains, the southwest corner of North Carolina. A few years back we purchased some acreage there and our goal is to build a log cabin for our vacation home. We took a 3 1/2 hour road trip one day to South Carolina to meet with a log cabin builder. It was a great learning experience for the kids. The man we met with was great. He was so good with the kids. He really took the time to explain things and included them in the whole process. Another day was spent going to the health department filling out paper work for our well permit. Then we headed out to our land to clear out the new growth form our last visit there, so the inspector could see our markings for the propose well site. They called us the next day and said the permit was ready to be picked up. Ho...

I have been enjoying fresh figs!!! Our local market had them on sale, buy one get one free for a 16 oz box. So I got 2 boxes for $5 and some change. I have been eating figs everyday. Here are two recipes that I made over the past week. There are several others but they really weren't that exciting...just simple and good. One of my favorite morning meals is my power pudding. I decided to incorporate fresh figs into it knowing how delicious it is with dried figs. After I took this picture I piled on the rest of the fig slices...the more the better I think. Here is the recipe: Figgy Power Pudding 1 large avocado 2 small organic bananas 4 T carob powder (Raw is best) 1 T Non-GMO Lecithin powder or Sunflower Lecithin powder 1 tsp pure vanilla 2 tsp Lucuma powder pinch of sea salt 6 fresh figs cut in fourths Sprinkle of Hemp Seeds Process the avocado and bananas until smooth. Add the carob, lucuma, sea salt, vanilla, and lecithin. ...

This past week has been all about my children. One can truly be humbled when they put others first. I get such joy caring for my family and having the privilege of teaching our five children at home. This past week was filled with new books arriving daily, lesson plans being written, school work being completed, grading papers, field trips being planned (I am our homeschool groups Field Trip Coordinator this year), running to classes out of the home, and just trying to settle into our new routine. Look at my cute boogers!!! Our oldest (our one and only daughter) wouldn't pose for me so I'll just post her pic that we took for her homeschool ID card. Love yah Mad Dog!!!!                                  Yes, I'm Only One And I Do School This past summer I really tried to relax and have a little bit of time...

My daughter wanted a frozen treat last night. I had bought some organic blackberries on super sale last month and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use them. Wanting to add some creaminess, I added some frozen mango to the raspberries. It turned out wonderful. Here is the ultra easy recipe. Ultra Easy Blackberry Sorbet 2 C frozen organic blackberries 1 C frozen mango Raw sweetener of choice, to taste (optional) Place fruit in food processor. If very hard allow the frozen fruit to only soften a bit. Begin processing fruit until it looks like soft sorbet. Taste fruit, if needed add a raw sweetener of your choice. If sorbet softens too quickly while processing, spoon into a container and allow to freeze 20-30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!                      Madison Enjoying Sorbet Studying for Drivers Ed We decided to start doing some of our schoo...

I am so excited. I have been wanting to make my own Kim Chi and I did it! It was super easy and I can't wait to make my next batch. This first batch was pretty flaming hot, so next time I will tone it down a notch. The recipe called for Napa Cabbage but I used a regular head of green cabbage instead. I also made a few changes to other aspects of the recipe but it all turns out the same in the end. I try not to deviate too far from the original but it is always fun to add your own creativity to a base recipe. I will begin with the recipe and then show you how I put it all together: Kim Chi Base (NOTE: You will need a pair of vinyl gloves) 1 whole head of Napa Cabbage (I used regular green cabbage) 1/4 C sea salt 1/4 C or less of ko choo kah rhoo (red chili powder from Asian markets) 1/4 C warm water Additions to Base 1 clove of pressed garlic 1 T grated ginger 3-4 scallions, sliced on the diagonal, greens too 2 T fish sauce or anchovy paste (I used a curry paste) Sec...