Raw Food Treat: Cashew Fudge

Image by Ian Fuller via FlickrThis recipe is a huge hit at potlucks and parties. It really hits the spot when you want a sweet chocolate munchie that's full of nutrition.

Wind's Raw Cashew Fudge

• 2 cups raw cashew pieces
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla

Grind first three ingredients together in a food processor until fine. Add wet ingredients to dry and blend until a dough ball forms. Roll into balls or spread in a pan and refrigerate until very firm. Don't eat them all at once!

This recipe is healthier than probably 90% of the food out there, even though it's sweet and fatty and chocolate-y. All of those ingredients are on the lists of superfoods (well, maybe not salt or vanilla). We choose all organically grown and minimally processed ingredients, and we buy in bulk to save packaging and to get exactly what we need.

For those that follow the 80/10/10 Diet of Dr. Douglas Graham, there's probably enough oil in there for a whole day's consumption. For the Sunfood Diet Success System of David Wolfe, balance it out with plenty of greens. For those following the Natural Father Diet to End All Diets, eat up! It's simple homemade nutritious food that best fuels your active life.

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Sprouting, Part 3: Wheat and Oats

High energy snacks that are healthy and cheap to make are great to have available for hungry kids and parents alike. Sprouted grains make quick, simple meals that are as nutritious as they are delicious.

One easy breakfast is sprouted wheat cereal with sunflower seed "milk".

• Soak a cup of whole wheat berries in plenty of water overnight
• In a second container, soak a cup of raw hulled sunflower seeds in two cups of water.
• In the morning, drain the wheat and blend in a food processor or blender until well chopped (you can eat them whole, but if your kids don't chew thoroughly, they just come out the other end still whole).
  
• Drain the sunnies, add two cups of water and blend until smooth
• You can either strain the sunflower seed milk, or use it as is (I like it unstrained.)
• Add raisins, coconut, chopped apples, whatever you like, to the wheat, and cover with the sunflower milk
• You can add honey or maple syrup if you want it sweeter, but I find the sprouted wheat to be sweet enough as is
• Try adding the wheat berries to your regular cereal or granola, or put them in yogurt

Sprouted oatmeal is another super energy food. Be sure to get whole oats (groats), not rolled oats (flakes). Your local co-op or natural foods store will have them.

• Soak 2 cups of oat groats overnight in plenty of water
• Soak 3/4 of a cup (a handful) of pitted dates in water overnight
• Blend oats, dates, and enough water to make it "oatmeal" consistency
• Add coconut flakes and hemp seeds to taste
• Sprinkle with cinnamon
  
• Enjoy

Buy in bulk for the best prices and freshest grains. Most co-ops and natural foods stores will special order 25 or 50 pound bags for you, usually at a cheaper price than the shelf price. The grains will keep for a long time if they are kept cool and dark, and a 25 pound bag of wheat will fit nicely in a 5 gallon bucket. Most 5 gallon buckets will stack on top of each other neatly and only take up a small amount of room. Bulk purchasing is a cheaper way to provide your children with nutritious meals, and having lots of the staple foods around makes it easy to improvise .

peace

10 Quick and Easy Natural Snack Ideas for Kids

Feeding your kids natural snacks that are fast and easy to prepare can be a challenge for fathers that aren't so natural in the kitchen. Here are 10 ideas from the Natural Father:

1. Keep a bowl full of fresh organic fruit within reach of your children, washed and ready to eat. Fruit is a great hit with most kids, and a blood sugar boost may be just what they need for a natural attitude adjustment.
   
2. Raisins and sunflower seeds are cheap, available just about anywhere, and taste great together. Buy in bulk and keep some in a container for easy access. Try some other combinations: raisins/peanuts, dried cranberries/walnuts, goji berries/sunnies.
3. Is plain old fruit not exciting enough for them? Try blending a banana with water. Now you've got Banana Milk. Goes great with anything. Add raisins after blending, and it's "Chunky-style Banana Milk". Add a teaspoon of cocoa powder and it becomes "The Amazing Chunky-style Chocolate Banana Milk". Get creative and think of a silly name, and you can get them to eat just about anything.
4. Sheets of nori spread with tahini or peanut butter or whatever you've got. Roll them up and watch them disappear.
5. When making banana milk or smoothies or other liquid treats, put some in popsicle trays or tupperware for the next "I'm hungry." If they are offered "ice cream" or "popsicles", they'll go for it.
6. Popcorn sprinkled with nutritional yeast and salt is super easy if you've got an air-popper (I see them at the thrift stores all the time - cheap). You can do it in a pan on the stove just as easy, but you can't walk away until you're done. Spirulina makes an extra-tasty super green snack and gives plenty of material for funny pictures as well. For a sweet treat, mix some sugar and cinnamon, drizzle the popcorn with alternative butter of choice, and mix in the cinnamon mix. I wouldn't recommend using honey or maple syrup with this unless you can hose them down afterwards. Trust me.
7. Two words: peanut butter. On anything.
8. If you're a sprouter, chop a little onion, grate a carrot, or a zucchini, or an apple over a bowl of sprouts, maybe add a shot of soy sauce or ketchup (or peanut butter), and serve with crackers.
9. Romaine lettuce leaves make excellent wraps, and can be filled with leftovers or sprouted seed spreads (I'll post some recipes for these soon), or your favorite pseudo-cheese product. Ours is jalapeno jack almond cheese. Fill one with a banana and raisins and yes, peanut butter. They'll probably go for it.
10. Oatmeal takes maybe 10 minutes to cook, and you can add any dried fruit or nuts (coconut flakes are tasty) and they'll be fueled up until mealtime. Why do we only eat oatmeal for breakfast? Some sort of food stereotyping conspiracy, I'm sure. If you make a big batch, keep the rest in the fridge and make fried oatmeal with it. Make cookie sized patties and fry in a hot skillet until slightly browned.

The most commonly heard question in my house? "I'm hungry. What can I have to eat?"


peace

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A quick and easy vegan cookie pie recipe

We eat a predominantly vegan diet- no meat, fish, fowl, dairy or eggs. We do use honey. The fundamentalist vegan would be right in arguing that some bees are killed through the regular maintenance and "harvesting" of the honey. Well, worms die every time we dig a carrot or potato out of our garden, and we probably inhale or step on many beings with each move. What we try to do is minimize the suffering our food choices create, while eating a nutritious, energizing, diverse diet.

Some books that have inspired us:

• Conscious Eating - Gabriel Cousens
• Sunfood Diet Success System - David Wolfe
• Diet For A New America - John Robbins
• The 80/10/10 Diet - Dr. Douglas Graham

Food is a big deal at our house. It's our health plan and our insurance and our future. We feel very strongly that food is the foundation for all the body's needs, and our kids deserve to eat real, whole, natural foods. Not from a box or a can or an aluminum tray, with all sorts of dubious substances added. It's a very cool thing to hear our 2 year old ask "this organic food?", or "this vegan?".

This is a great basic cookie recipe that you can tweak to your tastes. We usually have the ingredients on hand, so it's the default sweet treat around here. Makes a small batch, so if your family's like mine, double it. If the kids are already in bed, one batch'll probably do ya...

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
(vegan)

preheat oven to 350

1 cup quick oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon water
1/2 cup olive oil (or your choice)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
shredded coconut to taste
1 cup chocolate chips
(or whatever you need to get your fix)

Mix all dry ingredients, then mix in liquids, then add chocolate chips. Sure, you could make cookies on a baking sheet, but I just usually put it in a pie pan (no oiling necessary), put in the oven, and call it cookie pie. Bake until browned on the bottom, 15 - 20 minutes for cookies, and 25 or so for cookie pie.

This is a vegan recipe, though you can't tell a difference in the taste (omnivores eat them up just as fast). Honey can be substituted for the maple syrup if you wish, and you can add hemp seeds or walnuts or whatever you dig. I like to put in about 1/2 cup of peanut butter and reduce the oil to maybe a tablespoon or so. When you add dry ingredients, be sure to put a bit more water to compensate.
These are so good you'll hurt yourself by eating the whole thing. Not that that's ever happened to me.

If you want more great vegan propaganda for yourself or a friend, try the Vegan Freak Radio podcast. Some of the language is not for little ears, but it's funny.

peace