Elisha Drinks Wheatgrass!

The past month we have been growing and drinking wheatgrass. My husband finally got down the magic formula. Everyone has been sick around us and we have been fortunate enough to sail through the holidays without 'catching' anything. To help us along we are drinking E3Live each morning along with wheatgrass and Rainbow Juice. We are fueling our bodies with Rawket Fuel!

My son is 5 years old and it is hard sometimes to get all the vegetables he needs in a day so he consumes 1 oz of wheatgrass each day. Somedays he loves to drink it and others, like today, he needed a little coaching! If you are a mom and are concerned about your child(ren) not getting enough veges in the day you might want to try wheatgrass.

Track Santa on Norad!

Ho! Ho! Ho! 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house every creature was stirring and we were rawkin' the house!

Our home is a buzz since we are hurrying to get everything in order for our guests tonight, making a raw Rudolph Cherry Cobbler (recipe from my friend Kristen. See additional photo at KristensRaw.com/photos) and getting last minute gifts wrapped and under the tree. We have stopped off at many folks houses today to drop off the rest of our raw goodie baskets and other gifts.

Last night we had lots of fun making mistletoe gifts and selling them around the neighborhood for $1. The kids had a blast and our niece made some money to go towards her trip to San Francisco in March.

Below is how I made this cherry cobbler. You won't be disappointed. It is soooo good.

Kristen's Rudolph Cherry Cobbler
Yield 8 x 8 glass baking dish

The Crumble
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 1/2 cups pecans
1/2 cup dried coconut
dash of Himalayan salt
1/2 cup dried cherries
6 Medjool dates, pitted
1 Tablespoon raw cacao powder (optional)
2 Tablespoons raw cacao nibs (optional)

The Cherry Filling
3 bags frozen cherries, thawed
1/2 cup dried cherries, packed
1 1/2 Tablespoons raw agave nectar
1 teaspoon cherry extract
1 Tablespoon raw cacao powder (optional)

The Crumble:
Using a food processor, fitted with the 'S' blade, process the nuts, coconut, and salt until coarsely ground. Add dried cherries, cacao powder, cacao nibs and dates and process until the mixture begins to barely stick together. Then press 2/3 into an 8x8 glass baking dish firmly.

The Filling
Place two of the three bags of thawed cherries in a bowl. Blend the third bag of cherries with the remaining ingredients. Pour the blended cherry mixture into the bowl with the whole cherries and stir to mix.
Pour the cherry filling on top of the crumble. Sprinkle the rest of the cobbler crumble on top of the filling.
To serve warm, place into dehydrator for 45 minutes at 125 degrees.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve and for those of you who still believe in Santa...don't forget to check him out at http://www.norad.com/!

Cookie Monster!

My family loves cookies. My little daughter is a big Cookie Monster and she is always sneaking them into her room and having a tea part with her brother.

Making raw cookies is a great way to get the kids in the kitchen with you and they get to learn 'hands on' about eating healthy.

Here is another one of those cookie recipes. Remember you can alter this any way you wish to your own families taste buds or whatever you may have on hand. This recipe was also taken from Ani Phyo and altered to what I had in my cupboards:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup pitted Medjool dates
2 1/4 cups quinoa flakes
2 Tablespoons of honey
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of Himalyan Crystal Salt
1/4 cup cacao nibs

Process dates and raisins in your food processor into small pieces. Add quinoa flakes, honey, cinnamon and salt. Process to mix well. Place into a mixing bowl and add cacao nibs. Mix well. Use a 2 tablespoon scooper to portion cookies. You can enjoy them now or place them in the fridge to get firmer...which is what I did.

Rawkin' Raw Treats

I hope you have enjoyed your Rawkin' Raw Treats! I have picked up a few recipes here and there. These two are from Ani Phyo. She Rawks! As usual, I alter every recipe to my families taste buds and you can do the same. I always use organic ingredients unless I am unable to find them such as Thai coconuts.

Strawberry Macaroons

1/3 cup pitted Medjool dates
2 cup strawberries, frozen and thawed (out of season right now) (you can use ANY berry)
1/4 cup Madhava Raw Agave
1 Tablespoon organic alcohol-free vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean scraped
2 cups shredded coconut

Process dates, strawberries, vanilla and agave into a puree. Add coconut and process to mix well. I used a 2 Tablespoon scooper to portion batter onto dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 105 for 4 hours or until they reach they consistency you like. I dried mine much longer because of the weather.

Brownie Bites

2 1/2 cups almond meal, ground up in your food processor or Blendtec
1 1/2 cups cacao powder (you could use cocoa powder but it isn't raw)
1 cup raw honey
1/2 cup of water, or more if needed
1/2 cup cacao nibs (or carob if you like)
dash of sea salt

Mix almond meal, cacao and a dash of sea salt in mixing bowl. Mix in honey and water. Stir in Cacao nibs. Use a 2 Tablespoon scooper to portion onto dehydrator trays. Dehydrate for 6 to 7 hours.....if you can make to that step!

The Gift of Life

'Tis the Season of Giving! This year I decided to give the gift of life. The gift of live, vegan, organic, raw tasty treats to family, neighbors, teachers, bus drivers and friends. For those of you who are my neighbors and are asking, "What the heck does live and raw mean?" The box of goodies you received has NO sugar, NO dairy (yup...no milk, no butter, no eggs), NO baking powder, NO baking sodas, NO artifical colors or flavors, NO preservatives and absolutely NOTHING pasturized. Nothing heated over 115. Everything in that goodie box is 100% organic, 100% vegan and raw. It's yummy and good for you.

This is what you recieved in your box that are nut free: Strawberry Macaroons, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cranberry Groat Granola. This is what you recieved in your box that contain unpasturized* raw almonds: Brownie Bites, Almond Haystacks. You may have also received some Spiced Nuts in place of the Cranberry Groat Granola. For my neighbors who have peanut allergies I did not use peanuts.

I hope all of you enjoy your goodies. You are all precious to me and I am thankful for each and every one of you.

I will be posting the recipes tomorrow so click back tomorrow!

Tonya

*I was fortunate enough to aquire unpasturized raw almonds for a co-op earlier this month. Our group ordered around 40,000 lbs of unpasturized raw almonds from a California grower. Those of you who bought some know how good they taste! I still have about 75 lbs left for any of you who may be interested. You can check out the link at http://www.rawketfood.etsy.com/.

Tree Planting Time!

April showers bring May flowers and in our case...brings fruit trees. We are planting fruit trees this week. My children each have claimed their trees. My daughter loves mangos and my son loves apples. We have planted a Mango tree, an Apple tree, a Peach tree, a Fig tree and are getting ready to plant a Blackberry bush. We are so happy that our city allows us 5 free trees a year and fruit trees count. We get one free from the nursery, pay for the other 4 and they reimburse us through our utility bill. How exciting! For all of those who own a home you should check into what your city is doing and how to benefit from this!