Finding a substitute for bread

When I started making raw food dishes I started with the amazing recipies found in Cafe Gratitude's first recipe book, "I am Greatful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude".

Because this is where I started I find this recipe book to be my favorite. The recipes have a comfort all there own as I can not separate them from the joy I felt discovering such wonderfully delicious ways to prepare raw food.

My biggest transition in moving towards raw food was moving away from all wheat products and most especially breads. So one of the recipes I was most interested in trying was the "I am original" Onion Bread recipe. With onions piling up from my weekly delivered farm fresh organic produce I ventured a try.

On my first attempt the smell of onions coming from my dehydrator was impressive, and overwhelming to say the least. The thin bread was good and held promise but the onion needed taming for sure. I put aside the recipe for a while and continued with the others enjoying the new flavors I was experiencing in each.

Soon, however, the onions began to pile up again on my counter. Onions, most certainly, are not a food that can be readily eaten raw, at least they are not something I enjoy eating raw even in classic greek salad style. But by this point I was armed with Cherie Soria's book, "The Raw Food Revolution Diet: Feast, Lose Weight, Gain Energy, Feel Younger!" and inspiration was on my side.

What resulted is what I have fondly called, "My Perfect Onion Bread". To give credit where credit is due the base recipe comes from "I am original" Onion Bread (pg 61 ~ I Am Grateful), and the culinary trick to working with onions came from "Crispy Sweet Onions" (pg 134 ~ The Raw Food Revolution Diet). Now with a way to tame the onions and a base combination I just doubled the ground flax and sunflower meal to balance the more moist onions and for me the result is perfect!!

So if you are looking for a nice substitute for bread I hope you'll enjoy "My Perfect Onion Bread".

"Perfect Onion Bread"

Ingredients:
PRE-SOAK
2½ lb Sweet Onions, sliced into rings
½ cup Celtic Sea Salt

BLEND IN FOOD PROCESSOR
2 cup Ground Sunflower Seeds
2 cup Ground Golden Flax Seeds
½ cup Olive Oil
3 oz Nama Shoyu
6 Tblsp Agave Nectar
2 tsp garlic, optional

Method:
1. Combine onions, salt, and filtered water; let soak for 1-2 hours.
2. Blend throughly in a water tight 14 cup capacity food processor.
3. Pour out evenly onto 4 teflex sheets.
4. Spread batter to a 1/4 inch thickness.
5. Place sheets into the Excalibur dehydrator and dehydrate at 105° for 18-24 hours.
6. Cut each sheet of dried onion bread into four even sqaures using a pizza cutter.

When at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

When we first made the zucchini bell pepper wraps as a part of "Essentials," at Living Light Culinary Arts Institute, it was a rough day for me. Aside from still feeling quite "fish out of water" I was detoxing on many different levels. My solution to survive the day was to follow the path of least resistance and just watch while other team members did.

The mexican meal we enjoyed with the wraps was my favorite so making the wraps was one of the first things I did upon returning home. Unfortunately I got all the ingredients except for the psyllium powder. Disappointed I didn't want to abandon my plan so I substituted it with flax meal to thicken and bind the ingredients together. Well, to say the very least, it didn't work. I now know that it would have taken far more flax meal to make it work.

Not to be daunted, this last week I made them again. Prepared with all the ingredients on hand they were a perfect success. I did them later in the evening and what I remember enjoying the most this time was being totally relaxed and calm as I carefully shaped each 1/2 cup of mix in to round circles. Below is a picture of my sweet reward... and this week I'll be enjoying spanish cabbage "rice" and my wraps for dinner.

You can see another photo of these successful wraps every time you visit this blog as two of these lovely creations made it to the plate I photographed for the header image for this blog.

Setting a new course..., following my heart!

I went sailing yesterday as part of the amazing week my husband has planned for my birthday this year.

I couldn't help but see the connection between the joy I experienced flying across the open sea and the rewards I've found eating raw. How amazing to see how when everything was aligned perfectly, the boat harnessed the power of the wind. It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful reminder that staying the course of better health will truly harness the power and vitality we are all capable of.

Reorganizing for raw success!!

I realized that the only way for me to be successful at transitioning the majority of my nutrition to a raw food diet was to completely rethink my kitchen.

My kitchen reorganizing is 90% done, largely thanks to my awesome very supportive husband. With each item in it's new place and other items removed for good my spirit has lightened and my energy and excitement grows. Now to restock my pantry with new essentials. I'm making my list tomorrow!!

I'm realizing that the timing has been perfect this year for making a transition to raw food. The season's seems to be in my favor at this time of the year. Early summer fruit is appearing in my weekly organic basket and local farmer's markets. Here's some pictures from this weekends project of preserving local organic strawberries.

And my reward at the end - "strawberry lemonade" made from lemon juice from the myher lemon tree you can see in the picture just outside my kitchen garden window. BTW, dehydrated fresh sweet organic strawberries are insanely good!!

Change is amazing!

My life has changed, is changing, and will continue to change because at the beginning of this year I began to eating "living food". "Living food"? Yes living, because saying I eat raw food just doesn't paint the right picture. The word raw when I first heard it was flat to me, one dimensional. To be honest it sounded limiting and boring. So I'm thrilled to say that raw, organic, living food is the most amazing food you could ever dream of nourishing your body with.  

Welcome to my journey...