happy tuesday!

today marks three wonderful years shared with my butternut.=)

 here we are looking our spiffiest at a friends' wedding in '07

this morning john pointed out that it is also national pancake day. i knew what he was getting at...

instead i brought him a bowl of apple buckwheat granola with almond milk. he said he loved it.=)

apple buckwheat granola

1 chopped apple

4 dates, pitted and soaked

1 T soak water (reserved from dates)

1 T maple syrup

1 T agave nectar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 C raw buckwheat groats, soaked

1/2 C raw almonds, soaked, then roughly chopped

1/2 C raw sunflower seeds, soaked

1 C shredded coconut

1/2 tsp salt

1/2-1 tsp cinnamon, to taste

handful of raisins

process first 6 ingredients in a high speed blender until a paste is formed. place remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. add date paste and mix thoroughly. spread onto 2 teflex trays and dehydrate at 115° until dry.

~*~

for dinner we had quinoa veggie sushi with raw nori and salad with sweet lime cilantro dressing.

at home we've been pretty high raw, occasionally eating cooked quinoa.

eating out with family is another story. (working on it... =)

below are asian-style veggies we had again with jicama rice and ginger marinade.  this veggie medley is delicious! mushrooms are a must, as they add the "meatiness" i sometimes miss in my meals.=)

 

it's a pleasure to prepare dinner when it's this bright and colorful!

~*~

raw pizza has been devoured savored a lot here lately. it never fails to satisfy, and the preparation is super quick and easy. the hardest part for me is keeping herb pizza crusts stocked in the freezer!

 

pizza topping:

sliced fennel
button mushrooms
chopped tomato
cilantro or basil

marinate in equal parts olive oil and tamari. (add a splash of agave and chopped garlic for extra zing! =)

the cheeze is carmella's adaptation of kristen suzanne's cheezy nacho sauce (my new favorite nut cheeze!)

~*~

pink lady apples were on sale at my local whole foods for $1.29 a pound (a great deal around here for organic apples). we've been enjoying the pink ladies in granola, smoothies, and chopped up with walnuts, dried cranberries, maple syrup and cinnamon.

to me, pink ladies are the prettiest of the apples. (with too much sun or when i'm embarassed, i become a pink lady! =)

~*~

since the amazing evergreen posted her raw rendition of cherry garcia soft serve, i have been dreaming of a raw chocolate chip cookie dough.

 

the recipe is gena's banana soft serve with chunks of chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chips, and heathy's chocolate sauce. the cookies were warmed in the dehydrator for a few hours before serving. i'm excited to create more raw ice creams!

speaking of... hihorosie is hosting an automatic ice cream maker giveaway! be sure to enter!
=)