kale salad with olives and bruschetta

sweet baby jane, this kale salad is GOOD! there's just something about the combination of kale and sicilian olives that i'm crazy for. i crave this salad. the best part, it's so easy to throw together! plus it's nutritious, so i don't feel bad eating big bowls of it two nights in a row right before bed.=)

to make this savory delight, start by cleaning and de-stemming a bunch of kale. add a few pinches of salt, a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil, juice from half a lemon, and massage your kale until each piece is saturated. top with bruschetta (chopped tomato, basil and garlic) and sliced olives and you're ready to go! i like to let my salad sit in the fridge a few hours for the best flavor.

to balance the saltiness, add dried figs, currants or raisins (which i was unfortunately out of the third time around.) too bad our fig tree hasn't given us enough for leftovers to dry. but figgy's still a baby, four or five i think.

how do you feel about kale? delicious and nutritious? over it? only in chip form? (that's what john thinks). personally i love kale in all forms, in moderation. i did overdo it a little and got sick of kale for a while. also, greens are high in oxalates, which are no good for cystitis sufferers. i still need to tell you more about that.

happy wednesday!

xoxoxo

chocolate and vanilla kale chips

in my mind i've been calling these his and her kale chips, because he (john) loves chocolate...

and she (me) prefers vanilla.

the sweet kale chips were inspired by jess of cupcakes and kale. with kale chips i don't usually follow measurements - i find it easier to taste as i go. for the chocolate kale i used the same ingredients as jess, subbing vanilla water and adding a bit of maple syrup. with the vanilla chips i used a few tablespoons coconut oil, coconut flakes, chia seeds, agave nectar, a pinch of salt, vanilla water, and the insides of one vanilla bean, which were purchased fairly cheap in bulk here.

after massaging everything really well into my garden kale, i placed the coated pieces onto teflex sheets and dehydrated at 115 degrees overnight. the outcome was a sweet little snack packed with green nutrition that even he (who doesn't care much for kale) can enjoy.=)

today's smoothie and homemade green powder

one of my most favorite summer green smoothies - purslane, kale, cucumber, pear, banana, blueberry and chia seeds.

come winter, we're really going to miss those fresh, local organic greens in our smoothies, so i'm preparing the next best thing - homemade green powder.

carmella introduced us to this brilliant concept last fall - simply wash and dehydrate your surplus of greens, then process into a fine powder.

store in an airtight jar in a cool, dark place. add one or more teaspoons to smoothies, juices or fruit roll-ups for a boost of green nutrition.

four excalibur dehydrator screens of kale yielded about 3/4 cup green powder. my goal is to fill at least two pint-sized jars before winter's sting. we shall see!

my day...

began at 5:40 am when i was woken by a furry paw tapping my face for breakfast. she fell right back to sleep, but by the time i fell back asleep it was time to wake up.

after doing the usual morning stuff, i picked sugar snap peas and basil to go with my lunch. i'm amazed the peas are still producing with the heat we've been having.

something's eating my basil again this year...

breakfast was an apple and plantain tea. the tea helps ease the pain from a bladder condition i have called interstitial cystitis. coffee is one of the main agitators because of its acidity, so i haven't had any since the start of my flare-up about a month ago. grrr.

it was a hot one today... the temperature read 86° at 8 am! coming home it read 104° yowza!

there's my exit... (don't worry, i was very careful taking photos in my car - just pointed and clicked.)

(i like how these folks re-purposed automobile chairs.=)

oscar greeted me when i got to the porch. he's so sweet.

the kids and i played outside, took a walk around the neighborhood, painted, blew bubbles...

then made peanut butter and fruit sandwiches for lunch.

i had leftover raw pizza and salad. the pizza was so yummy, the kids kept asking me for more bites!

after babysitting, i made a pit-stop to pick up biggles' favorite coconut oil.

they were all out but i grabbed some other things on sale. i also had a 20 percent off coupon.=)

when i got home i found my csa newsletter in the mail. the season starts monday - woohoo!

using the roasted pepper hummus i had just picked up, i made john and myself a snack.

then i laid down in bed to unwind and fell asleep.

when i awoke from my nap it was time to water the thirsty plants.

our zucchini has taken off and is starting to produce fruit.

the echinacea will soon be blossoming, finally. i started the seeds in april of 2010!

john watered the home garden with the hose since our rain barrel has been empty for over a week now. we're supposed to get rain this weekend *fingers crossed*.

i rode my bike to water our plots at the community garden.

most plants are doing well, except the nasturtiums. this is my third year trying to grow nasturtium with no luck. hmph.

on the bright side, this is my first year with pole beans and they are starting to vine.

when all the watering was done i picked veggies to go with our dinner - sugar snap peas, kale and sweet peas.

din-din was a scrumptious stir-fry over quinoa. i don't like to use my stove often so i made enough quinoa for veggie sushi to have another night.

my day tomorrow will look pretty similar, except i'll be going swimming after babysitting. it's supposed to be even hotter. ugh. two heatwaves and it's not even summer yet!

flax-less raw thin pizza crust

good news, flax-avoiders - you can make raw pizza crusts without it! (personally, i don't avoid flaxseeds, just forgot to add them.) the crusts are on the thin side and may crack a bit when frozen, so please be gentle.

flax-less raw pizza crusts
(fits one excalibur deydrator tray and yields 9 crusts)

ingredients:

1 1/4 cup raw buckwheat groats
2/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup summer squash, chopped
1/4 cup water
1 T olive oil (more for a softer crust, less for a crunchier crust)
1 tsp herbs of choice (oregano, basil, thyme, parsley...)
1 tsp fresh garlic
1 tsp sea salt
love


preparation:

• soak buckwheat groats and sunflower seeds in filtered water.
(buckwheat groats 30 minutes, sunflower seeds 4 hours)

• rinse soaked groats and seeds thoroughly.

• chop squash (i use zucchini or yellow squash).


procedure:

• in a food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth.

• spread onto teflex sheet and score into 9 crusts.

• dehydrate at 145° for one hour, then turn down to 115°.

• after a few hours the batter will peel nicely from the tray. at this point, flip batter onto mesh screen and dehydrate at 115° until dry.

crusts may be stored in the fridge a few weeks or frozen for months. they thaw quickly at room temperature.

•

quick and easy cashew cheezy topped the crusts, with walnuts subbing half the cashews in the recipe. it added a nice, rich flavor and made for an interesting color - before tasting john asked if i added blueberries! he's grown to expect the unexpected in our kitchen.=)

kale and mushrooms lightly coated and massaged in olive oil and balsamic vinegar went on last, and the pizza was dehydrated about an hour prior to serving.

the lemon love dressing recipe is robyn's from girl on raw. though a bit tart (as to be expected with lemons) i found it to be quite tasty. i did use less local raw honey and blended the dressing with about one tablespoon of irish moss gel for added nutrition.

spirulina was sprinkled on the salad, another superfood from the sea.

here's an interesting comment i found while researching sea vegetables:

Edible sea vegetables have many useful benefits. Besides the benefits you mentioned, they are loaded with fiber too. When my daughter was a baby, we made her gentle laxatives out of agar-agar. We mixed the dried seaweed flakes with hot cherry juice (the all-natural stuff, not the cocktail) to make a sort of seaweed gelatin. We poured the liquid into ice cube trays and let them set in the refrigerator. We would give her a couple pieces a day, and she would be her regular self in no time. The agar-agar has no taste and it is low in sodium, so it is totally safe for a baby. Adding the cherry juice made it tasty enough for the baby to nibble on, and it was able to be mushed up with just her gums, so it wasn't a choking hazard.

agar-agar was also used by barbara to make a fascinating onion, dill and horseradish uncheeze in this video featured at the sunny raw kitchen. (barbara got off her high blood pressure, high cholesterol, auto-immune, constipation and retinal vein inclusion medications and released a lot of weight eating vegan food. yay barbara!) i've yet to work with agar-agar. have you?

artichoke hearts•pickles•kraut•kale salad with hemp seeds

banana soft serve with raspberries

•

banana soft serve with raspberries

+

peanut butter
=

heaven

=)

coconutty sweets

ahhh, this picture's got me thinking of summer. john and i have a lot of fun thinking of names for our creations, and we both agreed tropical bliss-ard is fitting for this sweet, frosty beverage we enjoyed on a cold, january night! (i know the umbrella is a bit much, but i couldn't resist! =)

tropical bliss-ard

3 C. tropical fruit, chopped and frozen (i used 2 bananas and one mango)
1/2 C. coconut meat
1/2 C. coconut water

add a handful of ice cubes and blend all ingredients until smooth. yields about two 12 oz. glasses. tastes great topped with granola or shredded coconut!

~*~

these coconut kale chips are my new favorite snack. so sweet and crunchy! 

coconut kale chips

a bunch of kale

1 Tbsp agave nectar

1 Tbsp coconut oil

shredded coconut (optional)

few pinches of salt, to taste

trim off the tough stems and break kale into chip-size pieces. place in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with agave and coconut oil. (you may need more or less than 1 tbsp of each, depending on how much kale you're working with.) massage kale a few minutes, making sure each piece is saturated. if desired, add shredded coconut. allow to marinate (i marinate my kale overnight in the fridge, but a half hour or so should do). spread kale in a single layer on teflex sheet and dehydrate at 115° until dry and crispy.

~*~

have a sweet weekend!!!

=)

sunny bread, kale chips, and buckwheat granola

this was breakfast today. 

sunny bread sandwich with sliced avocado, tomatoes, carrot, and lettuce.

served with a crunchy side of kale chips.

 

and this was lunch.

 

buckwheat granola cereal topped with almond milk.

sometimes my belly can be very strange! =)

~*~

i created the sunny bread recipe using matthew kenney's cumin bread recipe as a guide. i call it sunny bread because 1) its got sunflower seeds in the recipe and 2) it was a nice, warm(er) sunny day here yesterday when i made it. =)

Sunny Bread

1 C. golden flax meal

3/4 C. sunflower seeds, soaked

3/4 C. walnuts, soaked

2 small squash, roughly chopped

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 Tbsp agave nectar

1/2 tsp salt

1 clove garlic

place flax in mixing bowl. process remaining ingredients in food processor until smooth. add to bowl with flax and stir until well combined. spread batter on one teflex sheet, score bread into 9 (or more) slices, and dehydrate for about one hour at 145°. turn temperature down to 115°, and dehydrate until top feels dry. transfer to screen and dehydrate a few more hours, until bread is dry but still pliable.

~*~

john came into the kitchen yesterday saying "i want chipsss" (meaning tortilla or potato chips). i felt a little sorry for him because we had neither, but then i remembered we had kale chips in the dehydrator! we gobbled those chippies until our tongues turned green!

(you may remember this dish from the salem county arts festival post. i love the way the kale chips look on the orangey plate!)

 

Kale Chippies

a bunch of kale

1 Tbsp agave nectar

1 Tbsp olive oil

1-2 garlic clove

few pinches of salt, to taste

trim off the tough stems and break kale into chip-size pieces. place in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with agave and olive oil. (you may need more or less than 1 tbsp of each, depending on how much kale you're working with.) massage kale a few minutes, making sure each piece is saturated. allow to marinate (i marinate my kale overnight in the fridge, but a half hour or so should do). spread kale in a single layer on teflex sheet and dehydrate at 115° until dry and crispy.

~*~

after trying many different raw granola recipes, i've finally come up with one i absolutely love! it's tasty as a dry snack or topped with milk for a yummy cereal.

the main ingredient of this granola is buckwheat. despite its name, buckwheat is a gluten-free fruit seed, so it should be safe for those with wheat allergies.

"o-tay!"

Buckwheat Granola

6 dates, pitted and soaked

1 Tbsp soak water (reserved from dates)

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp agave nectar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 C. raw buckwheat groats, soaked

1/2 C. almonds, soaked, then roughly chopped

1/2 C. sunflower seeds, soaked

1 C. shredded coconut

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp hemp seed

handful of raisins or dried cranberries

process first 5 ingredients in a high speed blender until a paste is formed. place remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. add date paste and mix thoroughly. spread onto 2 teflex trays and dehydrate at 115° until dry.

i'm not much of a recipe writer, so if you have any questions, just ask! i'm happy to help! =)

fall arts festival

today we headed 45 minutes south to a fall arts festival in salem county. little did we know it was a tour of shops, galleries, and artists' homes! in one cute little shop i bought a brown sugar and fig soy candle....mmm...so nice and fall-y. we were also given free apples and pumpkins with our purchases. gotta love free produce! =)

next stop was klayhorse studios, which was actual part of the sculptor's home that she and her husband designed right along the delaware river. i forgot to take a pic inside Deborah Waddington Smith's studio but here are some pics inside her amazing home.

spiral staircases are cool, but i'd imagine they make it a bit difficult to carry the laundry basket up and down. i should have asked! :p

this wall featured Deborah's mother (Mary Waddington's) photography.

to the left are Amanda McCutcheon's portraits of "The Boardroom".

Ms. McCutcheon explained that these portraits were done in the recent year to show her anger towards the fraudulent actions of the banksters. (i need a creative outlet for my angst!)

on a lighter note, this house had some happy cats lounging around.

 

"why don't you take a picture...it'll last longer..."

he then proceeded to roll his eyes but was happy when john pet him. =)

final stop was Linda Levie's studio/house...located right next to a huge soy bean farm!

her home featured the work of Brigitte O'Dowd-Carr.

we brought along sammies and snacks with the intention to have a picnic lunch somewhere, but we ended up saving them for dinner. (we had too many goodies at the stops along the way...cupcake, cookies, pumpkin soup...sinful! why can't i say nooo?!)

can you spot the little heart sprout?

it's funny how we went from one extreme of eating to another in one day! hey, i say better to eat healthy most of the time then none of the time!

i followed this recipe to make a hearty raw bread, then topped it with sliced avocado, garden tomatoes, kale massaged with olive oil, and alfalfa sprouts. served with a side of baked kale chips.

*i'd use the bread recipe again but will leave out the pumpkin seeds and use more sunflower seeds.

have a wonderful week, my lovely readers!

(all 3 of you ;)