Nutritious Valentine's Day Dinner

Yesterday I wrote about loving your Valentine's heart with all your heart. I am pretty sure you all agree with the idea, but it can be difficult to figure out what to do about it. So I thought I'd show photos and share recipes for what I for our Valentine's Day dinner. It is too late for you to do it this year, but really every day should be a day for loving our precious ones, so as long as you have them with you, it isn't too late.

This is a photo of what of what I served each person last night. I pre-loaded the plates in the kitchen so they would be attractive. We enjoyed Corn salsa in purple cabbage bowls, tofu sprout patties (made by Elizabeth Joy), steamed asparagus, hummus and salad. The salad was composed of salad greens spread across the plate, a little pile of match stick carrots, bean sprouts, cucumbers, alfalfa spouts, snap peas and tomatoes. The hummus was on the side in another bowl and not pictured. Also on the side was Yummy Yam Salad, and Lime Parfaits and Acorn Grapes (made by Forest Zoo) for Dessert. The kids and I planned the dinner in the morning, shopped in the afternoon, started cooking around 3:45, and Dinner was served to Daddy around 6:30 p.m.

I will put each recipe in an individual post, following this one.

Corn Salsa in Cabbage Bowls- Vegan and Gluten Free

Corn Salsa in Cabbage Bowls

2 cups frozen or fresh corn kernels
1 - 2 cups jicama diced
1 cup diced red pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 cups diced tomatoes
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
A small red cabbage, whole leaves separated from the cabbage

1. Find a small Red cabbage. Carefully separate cabbage leaves and use ones that stay intact. Save the remaining ones for a different salad.

2.Mix in a bowl, and spoon salad into the cabbage leaves. Serves 4 - 6.

Green Smoothie Recomendation

Emily Rose has just written a post about Green Smoothies with lots of yummy combinations to try. They are really delicious. Click here to go take a look.

Drink Your Greens - Lemon Drop Smoothie

If I don't make a definite effort to keep getting greens into my body every day, it is easy to forget. There are lots of good foods which are fine to eat, but they don't have as many important nutrients as greens. I can really feel it in my body when I eat more greens. And if I start forgetting, I start to suffer. Before I started eating them all the time, I really didn't know how much they could help a person. But now I know they are the most important thing a person could eat.

So, to help us all start eating greens more, I'm going to post a favorite green recipe. It may look green, but it is a fresh vibrant green. And it doesn't taste green at all. My husband has named it "Lemon Drop Smoothie". Because that is what it tastes like.

Lemon Drop Smoothie

2 - 3 large Fuji apples or other sweet apples, washed, cored, cut in large chunks
1 - 2 cups of cold water
1 large handful of washed fresh parsley
3 - 8 leaves of romaine or other dark greens
1/4 of a washed lemon, flesh and skin, minus the seeds (The skin is important. It is what makes it taste like a lemon drop. It is full of nutrients.)

Place it all in your blender jar and whiz it until it is smooth. A Vita Mix can get away with less water. A regular blender will need more water, and it will help if the apples and lemon is cut in smaller pieces. Pour into elegant glasses and enjoy the best breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack you could ever drink. Serves 4

Sir Henry's Birthday Cake

So how do you make a gluten free, dairy free, food as grown, birthday cheese cake? It isn't easy, but we came up with a delicious one for Sir Henry's birthday.


I found the recipe in "The Complete Book of Raw Food: Healthy Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine Made with living Foods" Lori Baird, Editor.

Just Like Cheesecake
By Emily Lee Angell
Makes 24 slivers

I will type out the original recipe for you just as written, but will tell you that I decreased the amount of coconut oil in the cheese like filling to only 1/3 cup. Coconut oil is said to have some good health benefits. Even though it is called a saturated fat, it isn't the same thing as factory processed hydrogenated fats, but it is processed some, so my husband would rather not eat much. Even with the reduced coconut oil it was delicious, and a very satisfying treat. I didn't add the salt and didn't miss it one bit.

One cheese cake I made with lemon juice as suggested, and the second one I made with orange juice, and it was very delicious.

I made the raspberry sauce as suggested, but froze it with the rest of the cake, as the top layer. It turned out very lovely.

Ingredients:
For the crust:

2 cups raw macadamia nuts
1/2 cup dates, pitted
1/4 cup dried coconut

For the cheese:
3 cups chopped cashews, soaked for at least 1 hour
3/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (optional)

For raspberry sauce:
1 bag frozen raspberries
1/2 cup dates

Directions:
To make the crust, process the macadamia nuts and dates in the food processor.
Sprinkle dried coconut onto the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch springform pan. Press crust onto the coconut. this will prevent it from sticking.
To make the cheese, blend the cashews, lemon, honey, gently warmed coconut oil, vanilla, sea salt (if using), and 1/2 cup water. Blend until smooth and adjust to taste.
Pour the mixture onto the crust. Remove air bubbles by tapping the pan on a table.
Place in a freezer until firm. Remove the whole cake from the pan while frozen and place on a serving platter. Defrost in a refrigerator.
To make the raspberry sauce, process raspberries and dates in a food processor until well blended. (Do not use a blender for this or the raspberry seeds will become like sand.)

Happy Birthday, Sir Henry

Last night we had a birthday party for my dear husband, Sir Henry. It wasn't a milestone year we were celebrating, but rather the fact that we are thrilled and thankful that he is here to have a birthday. Some of you may remember that last January, at the age of 46 he experienced a heart attack. You can read about it here. It was a shock to us, because he was having no noticeable symptoms before hand. He is young and active, riding his bike to work every day. We really were eating a good diet. He doesn't smoke or have diabetes.
It wasn't a good thing, but as he says, "It has turned out to be a blessing in disguise." Right after he got out of the hospital, he was able to get into the Coronary Health Improvement Program (CHIP). We were already eating a diet similar or better to what they recommended. My husband felt that they were trying to present a sort of middle of the road diet that would help most people who eat the standard American diet (SAD). But he needed something better, because we were already doing many of the recommended things. So he paid careful attention to the research presented looking not for the comfortable middle of the road, but rather the optimum diet for his life and health.

His final conclusion is simple: Eat no processed foods; foods that you buy in a box or a can. They were optimized for profit and not for health. Eat out of the produce and bulk foods section of the store. Food (fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes), as it is grown, is best for the health of the whole body. It prevents and reverses disease of all kinds.

So for that last nine months that is how we have been trying to eat. It hasn't always been easy, especially when on vacation or eating with other people. Several times I have found my self rebelling and longing for French Fries, Ketchup, and ice cream. And there have been a few times when the kids and I have had something he wouldn't eat. But I don't want to do that all the time and sabotage his success.

I am in whole hearted support of my husband. I am so proud of him for not being like so many other Americans and refusing to change diet and lifestyle. I am so glad he was willing to search out what he needed to do and was willing to give up many of his favorite foods, because they were processed or high in fat. The cardiologist said there was nothing he could do, that he was already doing all the right things. But my husband wasn't going to give up on life and just let himself waste away.

In the last 9 months he has lost quite a bit of excess weight. He says his stamina has increased, because he can ride his bike up a particular steep hill in a higher gear and at a faster speed then ever before.

The kids and I are just so thankful. Life would have been so different now, if things during his heart attack had turned out differently. One out three heart attack victims don't survive. But he did, and because of his determination to do what is needed, I think we are going to have him around for many more years.

Happy Birthday, Sir Henry!
You are loved.

Rosemary Potatoes

Do you have any Rosemary growing in your garden? Have you wondered what to do with it. I picked some recently and the smell was so delicious I knew I had to make some Rosemary Potatoes. We have learned it is delicious even with no free oil added.

It is really easy to make. No exact proportions are needed.

Cut up some potatoes into a baking dish. I like to use the thin skinned type of potatoes such as Yukon Golds or Red Potatoes. It is fun to use those tiny little boiling potatoes that come in a bag, but they are very expensive, and don't taste any better. So I stick with regular sized potatoes cut into cubes. Cut some onion into large chunks and scatter it on top of the potatoes. Use a lot (unless you don't like onions) because it give such a nice flavor. Get a head of garlic, separate the cloves, and them smash each one with a large chef knife. This firm action smashes them just a little bit to release flavor, and loosen the skin. The skin comes off easily now. Scatter the garlic cloves over the potatoes. Lay 3 - 4 sprigs of rosemary on top. Pour in just enough water to cover the bottom of the dish. The put on the lid or cover with foil. My 9 x 13 inch dish full of potatoes took 1 hour to bake at 400 degrees.

When the potatoes are soft, lovely smells with be wafting through the house drawing in your hungry family. Serve the potatoes with a pitcher of cashew gravy , then you don't need any margarine or butter. Complete the meal with a huge Romaine and Vegetable salad, and a bowl of barely cooked (frozen) green peas. Yum!