Coooold!

Snow flies again in northern Illinois. Yesterday Tristen went to his school’s spring carnival. Today I remulched the newly planted potatoes and some of the plants that I had uncovered on Thursday because we’re supposed to get 3-6” of snow by Sunday. Hopefully this will be the last snow of the year.

Dorothy Domestic strikes again—or perhaps it’s just spring cleaning fever. I’ve been a crazy cleaning woman lately. Maybe it’s the fasting, I don’t know, but I just need to deep clean everything and can’t seem to stop. Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you.

Rowan’s been seriously cranky today—another tooth perhaps? Or maybe just an off day. Tris worked on his state project. Each student has a state to report about and he chose Michigan, so he’s been on the computer encyclopedia, jotting down info, and talking to grandma who lives in Michigan.

Here’s the kids’ menu for the day:

strawberry flax xrs with cashew butter

brazil nut milk

banana-apple-parsley smoothies

strawberry shortcake-strawberries, dates, brazil nuts, vanilla, agave

cherry tomatoes w/ chia seeds

potatoes

celery with cashew butter

~Sharilyn

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a special Valentine Recipe just for you. Created by Tristen and strait from his book Raw Creations from a Seven-year-old, this Raw Coconut-Strawberry Ice Cream is a treat even non-raw step-dad Rich loves. We hope you'll try it, and know you'll scream for more if you do!

Raw Coconut-Strawberry Ice Cream

Ingredients:
Meat from 2 baby coconuts
1 cup frozen strawberries
½ cup fresh strawberries
1 T. coconut oil, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 T. raw honey
enough coconut water to blend

Directions:
Chop up the 1 cup of the frozen strawberries in the blender until they’re small chunks. Pour in a bowl and set in the freezer. Put the coconut meat, fresh strawberries, oil and vanilla in the blender and blend, adding a verrry small amount of coconut water as you need it. You want it as thick and as smooth as possible. Pour this over the chopped frozen strawberries and stir together. Pour into a sealable container and put it in the freezer. Stir it every couple of hours as it’s freezing to help keep it soft. Serve and enjoy.

O.K., I just can't help myself. Today I threw together a Strawberry Shortcake for breakfast--and again, my non-raw husband chowed down. Here's what I did:

Raw Strawberry Shortcake

1. Grind 2 coffee grinders full of cashews--ground up of course

2. Grind a large handful of dates, ground in the coffee grinder with a little of the cashew "flour" so it wouldn't stick and clump.

3. Pour into a bowl and add a spoonful of honey and a dribble of vanilla and mix. That's the shortcake. You can shape portions into cups/cakes in small bowls.

4. Pulse-blend a couple large handfuls of strawberries and a spoonful of honey. Leave lots-o-chunks!

5. Pour over shortcakes, garnish with a strawberry half, and chow down!

We hope you receive lots of love from yours, and hugs to all who take the time to read our blog!!!

~~Sharilyn, Tristen, and Rowan