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Pastillas de Coco: Raw Pastillas de Leche

I recently read an e-mail from someone who visited the Philippines.  He wrote: "I now know why so few tourists visit the Philippines.  I will never go there again."  It saddened me because I have so many fond memories of the Philippines: the kind happy people, the beautiful islands and its unique fusion of food with Malay, Chinese and Spanish influences.  

As I think about these negative comments during this holiday season, I have began to yearn for one of my favourite candies from the Philippines called Pastillas de Leche, a candy traditionally made from reduced carabao's (water buffalo) milk and sugar.  So, I have created my own raw candy that I call Pastillas de Coco, because its main ingredient is coconut.  These taste very similar to the carabao milk version .  The recipe is so easy and quick - not to mention dairy free, unprocessed and healthier.

Place in a Vitamix or other high speed blender and blend just until it becomes buttery.  The shredded coconut will first become powdery, then it will become a paste.  The paste is what you want.  Do not over blend as the 'butter' may separate:

6 oz dry shredded coconut

Place in a bowl and mix with:

a pinch of sea salt

3 oz raw honey or agave syrup

Roll into small cylinders and cover with dry shredded coconut or powdered coconut (place dry shredded coconut in Vitamix and process until you have a powder), or even raw cacao powder.  Wrap with wax paper and cellophane, if desired.  You can also just roll them into balls to make Coconut Truffles.  Keep refrigerated.

Raw Bombay Mix

Who can resist Bombay Mix?  I know I can't.  It's absolutely addictive.

The first time I ever tasted Bombay Mix or chevda was in India.  My friend Aashti sent me home packing with a huge 2 foot plastic container filled to the brim with this snack mix.  I looked puzzled at the size of the package upon receiving it, but realised soon after tasting my first handful that it was just the right size.  

My raw version does not contain fried lentils or chickpea flour noodles - but the texture and flavour are all here.  Enjoy!

Mix all together in a bowl:

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon curry

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons honey or agave syrup

1 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons coriander

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup buckwheat groats (soaked overnight, rinsed, drained, dehydrated until dry)

2 cups raw coconut chips

Guess Who Wrote The Latest Raw Mom Club Menu Planner?

Yours truly.

Check it out on RawMom.com!!!

Holiday Smoothies

Our favourites this season:

Pineapple Julius

Delicious! 

1/2 a pineapple, 2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

Pink Smoothie

We were surprised at how yummy this was.  Strain for kids or the texture sensitive.

3 bananas, 3 pomegranates seeds, 1 cup water

Tastes Just Like Honey   

My son says this tastes just like honey.

3 bananas, 2 pears, 2 dates, 4 cups leafy greens, 2 cups water

Apple Almond Yoghurt

I have recently debated adding some raw dairy into my diet. But, I created this yummy breakfast instead! So, why debate further? (For today anyway.)

For yoghurt, puree together:

Pinch sea salt

½ teaspoon probiotics

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup almonds, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained

1 cup water

Mix in:

3-4 apples, diced (you can change the fruit here for different flavors)

Agave nectar or honey, to taste

Vanilla beans or extract, optional

Holiday Pecans

My cousin Ami served her father's Christmas Butter Garlic Pecans a few years ago and it was delicious and addictive. I think I kept pestering her to make it since then because I never knew Pecans could taste so good. In the past few years, I have discovered other recipes for Pecans. Here is a Holiday Raw Pecan recipe with rosemary and cinnamon. People never guess this is raw. Enjoy!

Mix together:

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon chilli powder

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons Bragg’s Amino

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons agave syrup

2 cups pecans

Saffron Spiced Sweet Potato Soup

One thing that my family and I have had difficulty finding is good raw sweet potato soup recipe.  So, I created one.  This is smooth and subtle.  We love it.

Let saffron steep in citrus juices for 10 minutes:

Pinch of saffron

2 limes, juiced

4 oranges, juiced

Puree citrus mix with the rest of ingredients:

4 teaspoons sea salt

1 tablespoons honey

2 cloves garlic

2 scallions, white and green parts

4 fennel stalks (or celery)

1 avocado

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped (around 7 cups)

Garnish with:

Pecans coated in honey

Fennel leaves

Curry In A Hurry

People think going 'raw' is difficult because they often think that prep is going to take more time than cooked food. This is further from the truth. I can whip up a raw meal in 15 minutes and it can look and taste amazing.

If you are craving Indian spices, this is my Raw Curry in a Hurry!

Place all in a bowl and mix with curry sauce:

Cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces

Mung bean sprouts

Pineapple, diced (optional)

Raisins (optional)

Puree together Coconut Curry Sauce:

½ teaspoon coriander

½ teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoon curry

2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil

¼ cup raisins

½ cup macadamia nut

1 coconut, meat and water about 1 ¼ cup

Enjoy!

Now wasn't that so easy and quick?  By the way, my non-raw family ate it all up when I served it at a dinner and my husband thinks it is better than my cooked curry.  That makes me smile. 

Our Hair Tells All... and we eat better because of it

Even if we eat well and exercise regularly, we wanted to know if we are doing a good job at maintaining our health.  Our naturopath suggested we take a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis.  It was easy and simple.  We filled in the form, enclosed a bit of hair from the nape of our necks, mailed the test in and in 2 weeks, got our results.  

We discovered that we all needed to increase our Magnesium, Phosphorus, Chromium, Zinc and Iron intakes to ideal levels. I immediately decided to feed my family the minerals our bodies so needed.  So, I came up with our Healthy Vegan Pesto.  When my son looked at it, he said: "YUCK! Green pasta!"  But after the first bite, he said "Yum!" with a surprised smile on his face and ate everything up. 

I love that we use food as medicine!  Here is our Healthy Vegan Pesto packed with minerals.  It makes 2 cups.

Process in the blender and serve with pasta, veggie noodles or raw crackers:

2 cups of lightly packed basil

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tbspn salt

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast (we need vitamin Bs too!)

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

How I Inspire My Family In My Pursuit of Health

 My son picking blueberries towards the end of summer

My cousin sent me this message today and it made me smile:

"I was just thinking how you may not realize it but your example has changed/influenced a lot of people in our family. I mean my mom headed a wellness retreat (of all people*) and your brother and I always end up talking about raw diets and being healthy.  All that from your roost. Think what you can do if you were full force into it. Don't underestimate the power of the wings of a butterfly fluttering in Costa Rica :)"

* My aunt loves Velveeta, Spam and canned corned beef hash.

My Grandmother's Love For Food

This article was featured in the Holistic Moms Network Magazine, 

The Wise Mom: December 2010 Issue page 30 and 31.

 
As a young girl, I would look forward to seeing the look on my Chinese grandmother's face at meal times.  I could eat seven bowls of salted fish fried rice and one whole order of sweet and sour pork (yes, including the last bits of peppers and pineapples) in one sitting.  'Mama' would beam at me.  That look she gave me made me feel proud because it was the one thing I did that pleased her.  My older cousin Snow White was her favourite, with her white complexion, dark thick hair and red lips.  Her second favourite was my younger brother because he too was fair and well... he is a boy, the favoured gender for the Chinese.  Snow White's younger sister, Tomboy, and I were at the bottom of Mama's fave list - probably because we were the darker ones of the brood.  Still, I did make Mama proud when I ate a meal for three!  And I loved to please her.

Then I went off the college.  I gained my freshman 30, turned vegetarian and while trying to lose weight, I started dreading meal times with Mama.  I dreaded sitting next to her the most because that meant having to eat everything she put on my plate, non-vegetarian items included. She would pile my plate high with food.  And when dessert came and I declined, she would say: "Why?  It's good for you!"   My college I-know-it-all attitude would speak up "THAT is good for me? Are you kidding? I don't think so!  I need to lose weight! Besides, I don't eat meat or fish." Mama wouldn't beam at me anymore.  Her looks across the table (I'd choose to sit far away) would be a contorted grimace my way.  Sigh.  I was definitely at the bottom of her list now.


Recently, my husband, son and I visited my grandmother.  She is quieter and more timid these days, but food still is the most important part of her day.  Food brings her closer to others.  It is during mealtimes that she takes pleasure in sharing experiences and thoughts and feelings with friends and family.  It also pleases her to watch others enjoy food.  During our first dinner together while visiting Mama, my son was sound asleep.  Mama fretted that he wouldn't have enough food to eat afterward.  Then, just as we were about to leave the restaurant, my 3 year old son woke up and devoured the leftover pineapple slices on the table and quickly asked "More please!"  From  the corner of my eye, I saw Mama's body suddenly come alive.  I glanced at her and saw her face transform into that familiar beam.  Was it to me?  Or was that beam for my son?  I'm not sure.  I watched as Mama's smile seemed to grow wider every second as she watched my son eat four more orders of pineapple slices.  She was obviously so proud of watching her great grandson enjoy his food.

Mama and I may have very different views on nutrition.  Although she has accepted that I am a raw foodie, I don't think she would ever agree with my diet choice.  She loves canned Vienna Sausage, candy and fried pork rinds too much.  But when I see my grandmother's eyes sparkle, her cheeks glowing full of pride and her whole body bursting with energy and delight at watching my son eat pineapple, I realize we are more alike than I thought.

(Hmmm, now I wonder if having a son who loves to eat increases my ranking power with Mama?)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Recently, our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) gave us a pound of peanuts.  I don't like raw peanuts, so I cooked them - just the way Mama used to eat peanuts when I was growing up.  She would  sometimes sit at the table in the late afternoon, shelling and eating boiled peanuts.

Although boiled peanuts are clearly not raw, they are a local, in-season, unprocessed and unrefined cooked food.  Yesterday, my son asked to eat cake for breakfast instead of the usual raw fare (we were at a sugar filled birthday party the night before).  He stopped asking for cake as soon as I brought out these boiled peanuts.  I don't know about you, but I would prefer my son to eat this than a piece of  processed cake!  This recipe is simple, easy and truly addictive.  Enjoy!

Place in the slow cooker on high for at least 8 hours until tender:

1 pound raw unshelled peanuts, clean well

1/4 cup sea salt

4 cups water

Keep checking water level to make sure there is enough to just cover the peanuts.  Serve hot or cold.

My Boys will eat up their RAW Avocado, Tomato and Corn

One of the easiest ways to get my husband and son to eat raw is by serving up raw corn and guacamole!

My local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program has sent me fresh corn for the pass few weeks.  My son will eat the fresh raw corn on the cobb.  My husband likes his raw off the cobb with garlic. 

 

Mix together:

corn off the cobb

garlic powder

sea salt

extra virgin olive oil

cilantro, optional

Fresh corn eaten in moderate quantities balances all constitutional types according to Ayurveda. It is a warming food that strengthens the body and aids in kidney and bladder functions.

At the same meal, I will serve a simple guacamole with homemade raw chips.  It is a great way to get younger kids active in the kitchen - especially when they get to mash avocado with a mortar and pestle!

 

Have your child mash with mortar and pestle:
1 garlic clove, first then

2 avocados

Chop and add:

1 tomato, diced
1 jalapeno, diced

1 lime, juiced
1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped 

salt, to taste
scallions, to garnish

Serve with homemade flax seed chips.

Avocados strengthen the body and restore the liver, lungs, plasma and skin.  They are considered a heavy food, however, and therefore must be eaten in small amounts.

What's in our Medicine Cabinet? Essential Oils!

Did you know that essential oils are:

- so potent, you only need a couple of drops

- 70 x more effective than dried?  1 drop of peppermint oil is equivalent to the potency of 28 cups of peppermint tea!

- in their most usable form: 30 seconds after applying them to the bottom of your feet, they are already in your bloodstream doing their 'work'?

I never liked smelling essential oils for the immediate headache I would get. I've since learned that most oils are SYNTHETIC and not all natural (this includes oils that are therapeutic grade!).  So, healing with essential oils never attracted me - until my NAET doctor introduced me to dōTERRA products.  Now they ARE my medicine cabinet (along with food of course!) because of their profound benefits to our health and well being.  dōTERRA essential oils are the highest grade of essential oils available today.  In fact, they have created a new standard of Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils.

As the company explains:

"dōTERRA (CPTG) Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade^® essential oils represent the safest, purest, and most beneficial essential oils available today. They are gently and skillfully distilled from plants that have been patiently harvested at the perfect moment by experienced growers from around the world for ideal extract composition and efficacy. Experienced essential oil users will immediately recognize dōTERRA's superior quality standard for naturally safe, purely effective therapeutic-grade essential oils."

doTERRA essential oils can be diffused aromatically into the air, applied topically on the skin, or taken internally as dietary supplements.  We have the Family Physician Single Kit and the Aroma-Touch kit in our medicine cabinet and we use them mostly as topical 'medicine'.

The 3 most used essential oils for us, a family with a rambunctious little boy, are Lavender, Melaleuca and Peppermint.  Although we use Lavender a lot for relaxation during the night (and sleeping through it), Malaleuca for disinfecting and Peppermint for breathing, they are mostly used for when we get insect bites, wounds and mixed into our Jojoba Oil which we use as our moisturizer.  We  use Lemon for dry skin, I use Frankincense with my facial moisturizer (for wrinkles!), we use Breath-Ease when there is a cough or cold and we drop On Guard in our soap dispensers filled with Dr. Bronner's soap.  Just this week, we used Deep Blue on my husband's aching back and the usual week's  worth of pain was gone in 2 days.  The Aroma-Touch kit can be used with special techniques to rid pains and discomfort.

We love dōTERRA products.  They are high-grade, natural, SAFE, non-toxic for everyone in the family and, very simply and most importantly, they WORK!!!  These essential oils are a MUST everyday resource for a family who wants to take control over their overall health.

Raw Oat & Nut Balls

My son said, "This is so good! I want more!"  Too bad my husband doesn't like chocolate.  He keeps looking inside our sorry looking 'snack' cabinet.  It is almost empty and clearly without ready-to-eat snacks.  He peaks in the fridge next... no snacks in there too but for these yummy bites.  Yikes, I better make some snacks for him before he wastes away.

In the meantime, here's this recipe.  Combine all ingredients and process in a food processor:

2 cups raw cold rolled oats (YES! There's such a thing apparently!)

1/2 cup raw almond butter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup nuts or seeds

1/2 cup raw cacao butter

1/3 cup cranberries

1 tbspn raw cacao powder

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 tsp cinnamon

Roll into balls and drop in more raw cacao powder to cover the ball. Note - raw cacao powder is a little on the bitter side, so don't overdo. Refrigerate.