animal-friendly raw-venture: part two

ok, where were we? ah yes...

 Sunday

lasagna day! i'd been looking forward to this since carmi mentioned last time that we'd make it during this stay. her Lasagna Magnifica is out of this world! i think i was dancing in my seat while i ate it. john's not a lasagna fan (i know, an italian who doesn't love lasagna?!?) but he looooved this! 

walnut meat, cashew cheez, pesto, and marinated spinach between layers of thinly sliced zucchini - i'm not sure it gets any better than that!

 

it was fun to watch carmi so carefully and lovingly assemble the lasagna. raw food art at its finest!

 

we had my friend and former vegan cooking class instructor, carol, over for dindin. (two of my food mentors at one table!=) she made a yummy "tuna" salad that went nicely with our salad of greens.

oh yeah, i forgot to mention every dinner started with a delicious,warm raw soup made by carmi and salad made by don. my camera just didn't do the soups justice so i left those pics out, but the recipes can be found on carmi's blog (here's some good ones) and her two wonderful e-books.

 l

dessert was a luscious Lemon Meringue Pie topped with Coconut Meringue, both recipes from Sweet Gratitude. this all-natural version put all other lemon meringue pies i've ever eaten to shame!

carmi taught me how to use irish moss, a key ingredient in the lemon filling. she laid my fears of working with the moss to rest!

Monday

monday was d-day. look at us go!

(d as in dehydration)

 

carmella and don stocked up on some snacks. they made Just Like Ritz Crackers, Cheez-Its (very similar to my version), and Rainbow Flax Crackers. we had every space in the kitch covered, so don resorted to the chair for batter-spreading!

 

these were the veggies for the rainbow crackers. so pretty!

 

and the batter before it went in the d. i love how colorful raw food can be!

 

all the chopping and spreading got us hungry, so we stopped for a quick lunch of crackers and dips. we used the rest of carol's tuna and made carmi's Guacomole Supreme. mmm!

 

monday morning carmi showed me how to make almond milk. then she taught me how to use the almond milk to make a simple yet delightful chia pudding with maple sugar and raisins. we had coconut meringue and chocolate sauce leftover (and don came home that morning with strawberries), so that raw genius carmi said, "let's make parfaits!"...so we did!

while we were enjoying our parfaits i said, "i bet it would taste really good if we added bananas"...so we did! the parfait was perfect with and without the nanners!

ok, back to work. we had more d-work to do plus dinner and dessert to prepare!

here, carmi and i are cutting the nori snacks. these addictive little treats are made with carmi's tasty Sunflower Garlic Spread between layers of nori sheets. super yummy!!! (i'm munching on some as i write this =)

i still have monday night's dinner and dessert (as well as tuesday's lunch) to show you, but i promised john we'd watch Modern Family on hulu and eat another banana split with leftover strawberry ice cream and chocolate sauce =).

part three, coming soon!

have a lovely weekend!

=)