Raw Baby

Busy Busy Busy! Rich got his va-ca time that he put in for so we’re gone tonight!! We’re headed down the Mississippi to southern Illinois, camping and hiking. We’ll be back in mid August. Blog ya then!!

~Sharilyn

Tornado

A tornado hit and took out ½ of both of the big maple trees. In the pic the big branches on the ground in front are from the front maple, and the branches in that tree are from the other maple in the back. The big branches on the ground were all twisted around one another. It was exciting watching this big funnel cloud form in the northern sky—which surprised me that it then came over the house because usually storms come from the south or the west. Glad the house didn’t get hit, although the rain blew in sheets and got the fuse box wet, so we had to shut the power off and dry it out. I guess the fuse box circuits will need replacing. Actually, I think it was a blessing in disguise, as apparently water has been coming down the outside pipe and into the main fuse box for quite a while anytime it rained and was causing the electricity to “leak” into the plastic and wood, heating it up. That would have eventually caused a fire. Plus we have all kinds of wood to build seating for the fire and a wigwam. You read me, a wigwam. LOL something Tris and I have been wanting to do for a while.

Tristen is looking healthier. He’s dropped about 10 #s without even trying. He’s been eating all raw—smoothies, nutmilks, fruits, juices, and veggies—until he’s full. He eats whenever he’s hungry, so I’m not worried that the weight is coming off too fast. God, how I wish I could medically document this! At least Tristen won’t be visiting his dad again for any length until winter break. I can relax until then.

Today the kids ate:

bananas

orange juice

green smoothies- OJ, apples, bananas, cucumber, romaine, celery

fresh salsa with garlic-corn-flax crackers

turtle brownies

brazil nut milk

more smoothies

mango-apple-coconut chutney

banana milk

Stayin’ dry,

~Tristen, Rowan, & Sharilyn

Ranting

Before Dad's: about 54 pounds and healthy.


After returning from dad's for 5 weeks: 72 and 1/2 pounds!

Well Tristen is home from his 5 week stay with his dad—over which time his dad fed him junk, junk, junk. He is now 18 pounds heavier than when he left. Holy Mother of God. I am so sad and so sick to think that a parent wouldn’t think that that’s unhealthy—nevermind the whole meat and dairy and cooked everything. Jesus f-ing Christ, that’s a 33% weight increase in 5 short weeks!!! That’s like a 150# adult gaining 50 pounds, or a 200# adult growing to 266#s!!! Tristen went from 54.4#s(fully clothed) to 72.4#s (in underwear). His chin doubled and he has a gut and love handles. Not healthy for an 8 year old boy!

The “best” part is there’s nothing I can do. The courts don’t have a say in what you feed your child—yet I’ve read horror stories about how CPS will jump in and take away your kids because you feed them a healthy, full of vitamins, raw organic fruits and vegetables diet. But feed them McDonalds and Burger King and keep them obese like most of America and you’ll be just fine. That’s fucked up!

I’m done. I’m sick to my stomach and so upset. Time to make juices and smoothies.

Rater,

Sharilyn

In The Kitchen

Today I made a couple things I’ve been wanting to try for a while: herb crackers and blueberry pancakes from Matt Kenney’s book Everyday Raw. Yesterday I made raw chocolate crunch, and a carrot salad from Living Cuisine by Reneé I can’t remember her last name . . . Hoezelkoffer???? . . . and in the next few days I’m planning on making Raspberry Almond Granola and Candied Nuts (Everyday Raw), turtle brownies (my own recipe), Raspberry Almond Thumbprints (Living Cuisine), garlic-corn chips, salsa & sour cream, and more crackers or cookies depending on what kind of nut pulp I have in the next few days. I’ve found that it works perfectly for us to make crackers or cookies with our nutmilk pulp every couple of days. Hopefully when I’m done with everything there’ll be enough snacks and treats to last a while as Tristen is arriving home in a day or two. And I want to use as many raspberries as I can since they’re free and abundant right now. I’ll hopefully have enough extra to store in the fridge or freezer to keep on hand for a while. We’ll see. Two growing kids . . . .

Today Ro-Ro ate:

vanilla hazelnut milk

banana

raisins

pine nuts

pecans

raw pancake batter with blueberries

a small piece of raw chocolate-buckwheat crunch

¼ of a huge watermelon

carrot-walnut-parsley-raisin salad

banana-hazelnut milk

munched some green beans and rosemary in the garden

herb hazelnut crackers—made from the nut pulp this morning

~~~Sharilyn

DID YOU KNOW: Greens like spinach and kale contain more calcium than cow’s milk, which is actually fortified with calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin D since it doesn’t have much on it’s own. (Perhaps the American Dairy Association had a hand in the propaganda supporting the idea that you need to “drink your milk” to get your calcium.)

And: 50% of the calories in spinach come from protein. 50%!!!

Raw Chocolate—Ohh Yea, Baby!

I finally had the ingredients to make completely raw chocolate—so I did! Raw cacao powder, cacao butter, truly raw agave (if it’s not clear, it’s not raw), and vanilla beans. Talk about mouth orgasms! Woo-hoo!!! If you could package love, it would look like raw chocolate. Here’s some info on cacao, courtesy of Naked Chocolate, by David Wolfe and Shazzie:

• a 1.4 ounce of chocolate contains the same amount of caffeine as one cup of decaffeinated coffee; the forasteros bean contains less than 0.1% caffeine.
• dark chocolate’s antioxidant ORAC level is 13,120 compared to say blueberries at 2,400. Raw cacao beans are roughly 10% antioxidant flavonols (10g per 100g)!!
• studies indicate that dairy products specifically block the absorption of all the great antioxidants in chocolate. Just say no to milk chocolate!
• cacao is the number one source of magnesium, the heart mineral.
• cacao contains 106mg calcium per 100g vs. human milk’s 20mg per 100g.
• cacao contains a significant quantity of the essential amino acid tryptophan, a powerful mood-enhancing nutrient, and anandamide, a.k.a. the “bliss chemical.”

Sooooo good, sooooo good for you. Num num num num num.

~~~Sharilyn

Lazy, Rainy Daze

It’s been raining on and off here for the last couple of days and I haven’t felt much like doing anything. Guess it’s the rainy-day blues, although, last evening Ro and I took a beautiful sunset walk between showers in the north pasture by the waterfall. We found a lovely mulberry tree and Rowan cried when I couldn’t reach anymore berries for her! LOL! Poor starved child! ~giggle~ I think not!! The two year old eats more than I do some days!! Then we picked wildflowers and grassheads all the way home and made a beautiful bouquet for the kitchen table. The coyotes have been out in force lately. We’ve started hearing them as early as 7:30pm, so we made sure we were home before then. Wouldn’t want them to have a run-in with mama-me.

Lazy menu included:

bananas

strawberries

grapes

oranges

apples

lots of green smoothie—my one major effort today

macadamia nut milk—Yummy!!!

leftover cookies

frozen raw cheesecake from a couple weeks ago

The majority of the day was spent with a blanket, some books, toys, and a couple elmo movies. Hmmm . . . now all I need is some peppermint tea!

~Rowan & Sharilyn

Holy Mother of Black Raspberry

Pickin’, pickin’, and more pickin’. So the energys came through for us yet again (did I even doubt?) and as always, and interesting story accompanies our lush harvest of black raspberries.

As I was returning home a couple days ago I passed a man on the side of the road, just off the driveway and down from where I helped in the garden after inquiring about the pear tree. I wanted to introduce myself, as I thought this might be a neighbor. It turned out that yes indeed it was a neighbor who was an artist and photographer. After a few minutes of chit-chat I invited him to come photograph the landscape at our 260 acre farm if he wanted, which he gratefully agreed he would like to. More chit-chatting led to discussion about the pear tree, which he did in fact own, and did not eat the pears—I was welcome to them. (Yea!) And would I also like to pick berries, there are tons of them on his property? You bet I would. More chit-chat, oh you used to do landscaping? I’d like to landscape the front here . . . maybe some work down the road?? Or just a helping neighborly hand would be fine with me too!!

I was looking over the flora while I was picking berries today. Trying to avoid the poison ivy made me think of the many poisonous plants that can often be either growing wild or specifically planted in a garden. As I have a two year old who enjoys plucking and eating (she plucks peas and parsley and mint and red clover and nastursium and calendula/ marigolds and one time rhubarb flowers—not good! poisonous!—and before you know it is munching away) I thought I would include here a list of some of the plants to watch out for if you too have young children who like to graze.

Common name Latin name (SPP means ‘species’)

Baneberry Actaea rubra, pachypoda

Bleeding heart Dicentra spectabilis

Buckeye Aesculus californica

Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica

Castorbean Ricinus communis

California poppy Eschscholizia SPP

Crowfoot Ranuculus SPP

Dogbane Apocynum SPP

English Ivy Hedera helix

Foxglove Digitalis purpurea

False hellebore Veretrum

Iris Iris SPP

Japanese Pagoda Tree Sophora japonica

Jimson weed Datura SPP

Larkspur Delphinium SPP

Lupine Lupinus SPP

Monk’s hood Aconitum SPP

Morning glory Ipomoea/ Convolvulus SPP

Mistletoe Phoradendron SPP

Nightshade Solanum nigrum SPP

Oleander Nerium oleander

Poison hemlock Conium maculatum

Poison oak Rhus SPP

Poison ivy Rhus SPP

Sweet pea Lathyrus odoratus

Scotch broom Cytisus scoparius

Steer’s head Dicentra uniflora, pauciflora

Water hemlock Cicuta maculate

Wild tobacco Nicotiana SPP

Wisteria Wisteria SPP

Though not an all inclusive list, these are certainly quite a few to watch out for.

Rowan’s menu for today included:

banana-hemp milk with flax oil

green smoothie—banana, celery, spinach, apple, orange

strawberries

grapes

cookies—almond, hemp seed, coconut, cacao nibs, black sesame, apple, salt and sweetener

tons of black raspberries—Miss Rowan couldn’t keep her patty-paws off them!

more smoothie

vanilla almond milk

brazil nuts and jungle peanuts

Here’s black raspberries to you!! THPLLLLLPPPP!!!!! LOL!

~~Sharilyn and Rowan

How To Make NutMilk

Nut milks are wonderful for your body. Each different nut or seed of course provides different nutrients and attributes. Brazil nuts and almonds are alkaline. Pumpkin seeds are antiparisitic. Sesame seeds are know for their calcium content. Hemp seed is a complete protein, containing all the essential amino acids that your body can’t make. It helps to reduce your “bad” cholesterol and had lots-o antioxidants. Cashews have a high amount of magnesium. The list goes on. I try to vary my milks, but favorites are hazelnut, almond, sesame, hemp, and pumpkin.

It all starts with raw nuts or seeds—about a cup. I use about ½ a cup for sesame seeds. In a pinch I’ll use a raw butter, usually 1/3 to ½ cup. Pictured from top left: Hemp seeds, sesame seeds, Raw cashew butter, raw almond butter. Next from left: Hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews, brazil, pumpkin seeds (green), macadamia, and sunflower (tiny white in bottom right). Toss your nuts into a blender (tee-hee) and add about two cups of water. Blend on high for up to two minutes (in a regular blender).

Strain it in a paint thinner bag and pour it back into the blender. Then add:

1 tablespoon honey or the equivalent. Pictured is: honey, agave, refined stevia, and powdered stevia leaf. I also use maple syrup on occasion.

1 tablespoon cold-pressed oil. Pictured is: coconut, olive, hemp, flax.

A dash of himilayan salt, sea salt, or powdered kelp (my preference).

Blend it baby!

Add enough water to equal 4 cups of milk and your done.

This is how much milk I got from today’s nut/seed (I scooped all the nuts/seeds pictured up top into the blender for today’s milk). I filled one large canning jar, plus about a cup left over. Added some cacao powder and a banana for chocolate banana milk.

What’s left after I filled Rowan’s cup.

Yum!! Drank it all, pausing only to let me refill her cup!

Now you don’t have to add the sweetner, salt, and oil. You could just blend the nuts and strain it. I prefer the fuller, more like milk taste with everything added.

And if you don’t have a milk bag, use a mesh strainer. Better yet, add a little more sweet, some cocoa/cacao/carob, and ice to make it thick like a milkshake. Then you don’t feel the graininess in the back of your throat. A banana helps too.

Hope you try some nut milk, as it’s super yummy as well as beneficial and nourishing to your body. Have a great day!

~Rowan and Sharilyn