Lambchiladas with a side of RAW

About 2 years ago, my husband and I decided to go RAW...this means that we were striving for a diet that was mostly raw vegetables, fruit, and nuts.  However, since we enjoy the abundance of the meat and dairy products off of our farm, we needed a way to strike a balance.  At first, it was a struggle to know how to go about doing that, but after 2 years and 75lbs. of lost weight between the 2 of us,  I think we've finally got the hang of it.  There are times that we slip back into the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet), but then we'll read some good RAW recipe books and we're back on the RAW wagon!  This winter has been particularly challenging - my "fat" jeans were getting snug and I needed inspiration to get back to the energy-producing way of life we've enjoyed in the recent past.  My inspiration came last week in the form of a phone call from our daughter who is away at college.  "Mom, guess what!?  My friends and I have decided to eat a RAW diet for the next 30 days.  I told them that you would send us recipes and ideas to help us along.  Can you do that?"  It's just what I needed to hear to get motivated.  So, in an effort to help these young, aspiring college students conquer the offerings of the S.A.D. college cafeteria, I'll be posting several RAW recipes over the next few blog posts.  YOU GO GIRLS!!!!

Today, I started the day with a green smoothie.  It's basically just a spinach salad whipped in the blender.  Why not just eat a salad? you ask.  Well, you could do that, but it's much easier to throw chunks of veggies in the blender.  This one is a layering of cucumber, carrots, red peppers, lemon, and spinach.

It's ready to go with you or be stored for a few days in the fridge.  Just remember that the nutrition of the fresh veggies breaks down the longer you wait to consume it.  This packs a punch of energy to help you get through the day!

Tonight for dinner, I'm making "Lambchiladas".  This is basically just enchiladas with roast lamb meat.  I'll be sure to include that recipe soon.  But for today, I'll just give you a run-down of easy RAW recipes that we'll have to accompany our meal.  The menu looks like this:

Lambchiladas

Spanish RAWice

Pico De Gallo  (aka: cabbage salad)

Stuffed Peppers with Kream Cheeze topped with enchiladraw sauce

Almond Joy and Carob Coconut Truffles

At the beginning of the day, I get any nuts, seeds or dried fruit/veggies soaking in filtered water that I may need later.

These are dehydrated tomatoes from last summer's harvest, cashews, and sunflower seeds.  I won't be using the sunflower seeds today, but I'm soaking them to sprout in the next couple of days (I'll write about sprouted bread and crackers in another blog post).

For the Spanish RAWice, break-up one head of cauliflower into the food processor.

Process until the cauliflower resembles rice.  A few more spins and this will be ready.

Put the cauliflower in a big bowl and add:

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped (more if you like)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 avacodo, cubed

1/2 lemon, squeezed

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. cumin (optional)

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika (optional)

1/2 tsp. taco seasoning (optional)

You can put more "heat" in it if you like, just add more jalapeños or red pepper flakes.

Next, we'll make the Pico De Gallo.  We've always called it this, however I've been corrected numerous times that true Pico De Gallo has cucumbers and fruit in it.  That would be good too...so we'll just call this "cabbage salad".

Recipe:

1 head shredded cabbage

1 onion finely chopped

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

4 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped

2 lemons - juiced

1 tsp. sea salt

Mix all in a gigantic bowl,  crunching the cabbage to get the juices flowing.  This will keep in the fridge for a week or more.  This is a favorite that we keep in the fridge at all times.  It keeps better than salad and makes a nice base for soups (more on that later).

What is Mexican food without sour cream?  I've found a delicious recipe that is better than the real thing, using raw cashews.

Whip in the food processor or blender:

2 cups soaked cashews (soak for a few hours to soften)

Juice from 1 lemon

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/4 cup water or more to get the right consistency.

These are sweet peppers with the seeds removed and topped with enchiladraw sauce.  The sauce itself is sooo yummy and is good on salads or for dipping veggies. 

Here's the Enchilad-raw Sauce recipe:

2 cups chopped tomatoes

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 pitted dates

1/4 tsp. smoked paprika

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. cumin

2 Tbsp. carob powder

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. garlic powder or 1 clove garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

filtered water as needed to blend

Whip it all together in the blender, scraping sides throughout.

 For dessert, we have 2 options.  The first is a simple "Almond Joy": take a pitted date (medjool are the best) and stuff the inside with almonds and coconut.

These will tackle any sweet tooth!

 The other dessert we keep in the freezer and nibble on when we need something a bit more substantial and with a chocolate-kick to it.  Okay, so it's carob, but I can't tell the difference.

Carob Coconut Truffles

1 cup almonds

1 cup shredded coconut

1 1/2 cup pitted dates, soaked in warm water for a few minutes to soften

2 Tbsp. carob

1 Tbsp. coconut oil (virgin cold pressed)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. sea salt

Whip these ingredient in a food processor.  Using a cookie-scoop, roll balls into carob powder, shredded coconut, or press almond in center.  Freeze on plate until solid, store in freezer until ready to eat.  I've also ran these through the dehydrator to make cookies-to-go.  YUM!

I've gotta' get busy assembling the lambchiladas, but I wanted to be sure our daughter had these recipes for the weekend.  I'll post other raw recipes in the next couple of days.  Hope this helps for now!