So while on our trip I did bring lots of fruit and veggies and nuts and seeds, I also ate lots of cooked foods too. I ate and tasted lots of stuff I wouldn’t usually eat or make  here at home and I didn’t get sick or feel terrible like I thought I would. It was fun, it tasted great and now I’m home and back to eating healthy.  I know in the long run I would feel bad and while at home I don’t walk nearly as much as we did while visiting these big cities, which I think made a huge difference in the food not just sitting in my belly.  All things in moderation!

I had really wanted to go here on our way into to Philly , but it was a bit out of our way. While in New York I scrolled through the list of raw restaurants (-yes I said list-there are several, and unfortunately here in Ohio there is only one), to find one conveniently located. I was really excited about possibly going to Sarma’s Pure Food and Wine,  but after reading the reviews of the cost decided on Quintessesnce.

The menu was full of salads, soups, smoothies and lots of raw entrees and appetizers. We decided to try a few desserts.

Ginger had a coconut cream pie with a carmel sauce-It was really light and tasty.

Molly had a strawberry-banana smoothie

I had a chocolate fudge cake with ice cream. One bite of the cake and it was way too rich for me. Too many nuts and coconut oil. But the ice cream-OMG. If you are local and you have ever had Jeni’s salty carmel real ice cream-let me tell you this tastes just like it! It was too die for! I wish I would have gotten just a bigger scoop of ice cream.

It was a cute little place. We ate outside. Makes me wish we had more raw food choices and a more walkable city here in Columbus.

If you have a raw recipe to share this week, please add the link to your raw post in the comments.

I see lots of recipes that use young coconuts. I have bought one before, but it spoiled before I could use it-(like it sat in my fridge for 3 months!)   So I bought another recently without a plan in mind. I had some left over fresh pineapple and thought it would go really well with the young coconut. That was if I could get the darn thing open!!!!  Several knives later I remembered seeing directions in a cook book for opening young coconuts.

By the way, this is the first raw cook book I ever bought-at least 3 years ago. And do you want to know why I bought it-because who wouldn’t want to look like Sarma and Matthew! I thought if I ate raw food I would look just like them. Call me gullible or stupid. But marketing works.

Finally I was able to open the coconut and pour about 2 cups of water out of it!

Into the vita-mix it went along with the cocnut meat I was able to scrape out of the inside. This is fresh not dried coconut-so it’s a little different.

About 2 cups diced pinapple

1 orange-with the white still intact

2 frozen bananas

6 dates-which you may want to add less. I think my blades need sharpening so most of the dates are still in a clump at the bottom of my vita mix

1 cup frozen blueberries

splash of vanilla

The taste was like summer!  It didn’t have a super strong coconut taste and it wasn’t too sweet. I froze what was left for a sorbet for later.

If you have a raw recipe to share add the link to your raw recipe blog post in the comments or just type the recipe out in the comments. Thanks for playing along!

I have Matthew Kenney’s book EVERYDAY RAW checked out from the library, with many recipes bookmarked. Baked Macaroni and Cheese is one that I marked.  I like a recipe book with pictures-so much more appealing! So I am sure I picked this recipe because it looked so good. And it was good, while I was eating it. But after a small bowl full I was finished. This dish is way too rich for me. I felt heavy and full and sort of sick after eating it. The recipe makes a lot of sauce and I thinned it out some with water too.

But I think I have come to the conclusion that there are no substitutions for cooked food. Just like fake meat is sort of bad if you are expecting it to taste like meat, same with cheese and dairy alternatives. I think fom now on I am going to stick with fresh raw foods that aren’t trying to mimic a cooked food.

Here is the Oh so easy Mac and Cheese recipe.

Cashew Cheese Sauce

Blend or process the following until smooth

1 3/4 c cashews soaked for 1-2 hours

2 T lemon juice

2 T water (or more to thin)

1/2 c olive oil

1 t sea salt

1/4 c nutritional yeast

1/4 med shallot

1/2 t chili powder

pinch of cayenne and turmeric

1/2 clove garlic

black pepper to taste

Process 4-5 yellow squash through spiral slicer. I used a peeler to make long strips. Roughly chop and lightly salt and set aside for 30 to 45 mins.

Pour sauce over “noodles” and spread into casserole pan

Top with finely chopped walnuts and sprinkle with chili powder and paprika

You could definitely add something green to this dish-chopped spinach, kale or broccoli.

If you have a raw recipe to share leave a link in your comment to your raw recipe post or if you don’t have a blog simply add the recipe to the comments! Thanks for sharing!!

Last week when we went to The Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering we stayed in a room with a full kitchen, so we were able to bring all of our own food-and too much of it! Two of the many things I brought that traveled really well were these Figgy Nut’ins

and this raw ranch dip

I loved them both so much I made more today!

The ranch dip is super easy and definitely tastes better the longer it sits. This recipe comes from The Complete Book of Raw Food

1 1/2 cups raw cashews

4 teaspoons lemon juice or 2 1/2 teaspoons raw apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dill weed

1 teaspoon italian seasoning

1 basil leaf minced

Blend the cashews, lemon juice, sea salt, onion and garlic powder with 1 cup water (less if you want it more like a spread or more if you want it like a dressing) until smooth and creamy.You may need to add more lemon juice or vineger-the cashews are pretty sweet. I also added more of the spices. pour into a bowl.

Add the dill, italian seasoning and basil leaf by hand. Store in fridge up to 2 weeks.

The Figgie Nut’ins recipe is from The Raw Revolution Diet

2 cups of almonds soaked for 8 hours, rinsed and drained

3 cups dried figs, stems removed, chopped, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes and well drained

1 1/2 cups walnuts soaked for 8 hours, rinsed and drained.

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

My additions were godji berries and raw cocoa nibs and some dates because I didn’t have enough figs (I used black mission)

Process almonds into meal, add figs, walnuts and orange zest and any other additions you choose. Process until well combined. Mixture should stick together when pressed into palm.

Form into balls

store in fridge for 1 month and up to 4 months in the freezer.

If you posted a raw recipe on your blog this week and want to share it here please leave a link in the comments to your recipe post or if you don’t have a blog just share your recipe in the comments. Thanks!

Sometimes a quick trip way from the everyday is a little cure for what ails you.  Even the ailments you didn’t know you had!   Especially in the gray days of Winter and the too long month of Feburary.

This is the second year that we have gone to the Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering (UWWG) held at Kalahari waterpark. I am not sure of the number of attendees but families came from all over the US and Canada.  Again a good time was had by all. It is always so nice to be around so many like minded people.  And it serves as such a great reminder to me to really accept, trust and love my children unconditionally.  It doesn’t matter what other people are doing, how they are homeschooling / unschooling or how we look or how they percieve us. What matters most is that I stay true to what is good for my family and reevaluating what works for us and what doesn’t work.

It is reaffirming to hear other families that have worried about the unschooling path they have chosen and have grown kids who are happy and successful. With happiness really being the ultimate success. Not all kids are college material, some will end up in a trade, some with a job, others have the entrpreneurial spirit. And some will go on to higher education. But taking away societies assumptions and expectations and living for what makes better sense for your family is not always an easy road to follow. It certainly helps to be around like minded people.  We are really lucky that here in Columbus not only is there a large homeschooling community but a large unschooling community also.

I attended a couple of discussions on unschooling led by some veteran unschoolers and a raw food demo. Bethany is a 17 year old who has found medical healing through her raw food diet. Her story was very inspiring and again re-affirming that a raw food diet is so healthy. Check out her story here.

But I found so much inspiration from her Mom’s discussion of living through her families crisis while homeschooling and realizing what was important in their lives and what wasn’t. Together,finding their way to a real life, hands on education and not one through school books was so wonderful to hear.

Our kids showed off some of their break dancing moves at the talent show.

There as lots of hanging out with both old and new friends!

And a rockin dance the last night of the conference.

I can’t wait until next year!!

Let’s talk about food shall we?! I meant to post this yesterday to coincide with my Thursday Quarter Recipe theme, but well, it didn’t happen. I have been all obsessed with raw food and healthy eating these past few weeks. I have been looking through several recipe books from the library   COMPLETE IDIOTS GUIDE TO EATING RAW, THE COMPLETE BOOK OF RAW FOOD and ALIVE IN 5.  Not that these are the best out there, they are just what I have at the moment. My favorite book that I own is RAWSOME. I look through it so often to reaffirm specifically how good for me certain foods are.   I ordered a few back issues of PURELY DELICIOUS and really like this magazine too. They even sent me a RAW sticker for my van! Bonus!

I want to branch out a bit farther than salads. I LOVE salad and eat it just about every night. It is easy and can be changed up really easily. It is quick-which is important since I prepare a cooked meal for my family and then need to make something for myself too. But if I actually plan ahead and make a menu for myself just like I do for my family I should be able to eat a wider variety of foods  and food combonations. And left overs or pre-made salads are even better when I am hungry and want to grab something quick.

Some friends are also trying to add more raw foods into their diets. We even tried to go to a raw food meet-up but had an older meeting schedule, Next time! So I am going to switch up my Thursday Quarter recipe theme to be RAW. I would love for others to continue to share there recipes here too.  On Thursdays (or Friday in this weeks case) post a raw recipe on your blog and come here and leave a comment with a link to your post containing your raw recipe.

I don’t really have measurements for this but it tasted like sunshine. And god knows here in Columbus, Ohio we need more of that!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of celery and mung bean sprouts (that I sprouted myself!!) and onions. Some olive oil, alot of lemon juice, salt, citrus pepper, celery seeds and dill. Really crispy and fresh tasting.

Here are a few websites too if you are interested……..

The Sunny Raw Kitchen

Raw Food Right Now-a list of lots of raw blogs-most of which I have not checked out yet

We Like It Raw- There is a link to Sarmas blog and I am a big fan of hers. Hers is the first raw cook book I ever read and I thought if I ate raw I would look just like her!! I am still trying!

Do you have any raw blogs or web sites to share???

One of the things I love about this time of year is picking out and purchasing a new planner, a 2009 calendar and filling it in. Making lists, organizing and planning. None of my “resolutions” are groundbreaking or new ideas for me. They are things I know full well how to do..it’s just a time of re commitment to some important things that will make me a better me, mom and wife. One of the things that I have let slip away is my diet. And for me, that effects how I feel and all the other aspects of my life. If I don’t feel good, I am crabby…and If I’m crabby everybody is crabby!! There was once a time when I ate mostly all raw foods and exercised daily. I remember how great I felt and how healthy I was..What happened? I can’t exactly say but I know I needed something drastic to get me back to taking better care of myself.

The Master Cleanse

So last night before bed I drank a cup of Smooth Move Tea and this morning I drank a quart of luke warm salt water. Today I will drink lots of water and a lemonade drink with cayenne pepper. My goal is to make it 3 days, if I can make it 5 that would be great! Although one of the things they reccomend is not doing this if you are under stress…my kids are so over tired and over sugared from this long vacation we have been on that I might just…….take a nap and escape today!!