RAWCHOS!!!!!

Since I last posted we have been doing a little gardening. A friend said to try some mushroom compost so oldest daughter "M" and myself were out spreading it last night. The package said odorless, I beg to differ.

Anyway I was raking leaves and all of a sudden I see a wad of animal hair. I was puzzled and used the rake to pull away more of the dirt and out popped a baby bunny. The bunny really scared "M" and myself and we both jumped back not realizing initially what we had found. It seems a mommy rabbit thought it would be a good idea to build her nest in my garden. We found another baby, frozen from fear, further down in the shallow hole. I released them into the forest behind our house, but did so sadly, because I know it's unlikely the mom and the babies will be reunited. I couldn't help it, I cried a little bit. I know I am silly that way.


Ok, on to what you came here for.................RAWCHOS!!

Tonight's meal is RAWCHOS! These are so full of flavor and filling it is hard to eat a lot of them! It's actually three recipes in one.

First the Corn Chips:

Raw Corn Chips
This recipe is adapted from Paul Nison's website. His wife Andrea has a video showing you how to make these. He has a wonderful site and is a big inspiration to me. Check it out!! http://healthwatchman.com/

8 cups of organic corn
1 cup of sunflower sheets
1/2 raw onion
1/2 cup of ground flax seed
1 teaspoon of sea salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon of chili powder

Blend till creamy. Spread on teflex dehydrator sheets and dehydrate for 12 hrs. turn over and dehydrate another 12 hrs. This takes total of 24 hrs. or until crispy. (ours took more like 30 hrs. so plan ahead! We have a lot of humidity) When done score into triangles.

Taco Meat
This recipe is a combination of Ani Phyo's Taco Meat and the Nungessors.

In a food processor, using the S blade, combine:

2 cups of soaked walnuts
1 tablespoon of cumin powder
2 tablespoons of Tamari Sauce
Sea Salt to taste (careful not too much!)
1 cup of fresh (organic) corn

Pulse untill it resembles ground beef. You may have to "spoon" ingredients off the side of the processor to help it mix better.

Nacho Sauce

In a blender add:

1 cup of purified water
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup of pine nuts, soaked overnight and drained
1 cup of sunflower seeds, soaked overnight and drained
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 jalapeno pepper
1 teaspoon of sea salt or to taste

Blend till creamy. (This sauce is very versatile. It can be used on pizza, in tacos and as a dip!)

Assemble your nachos! Place chips on plate, then "meat", then cheese. Top with a little fresh salsa and some chopped avocado.

 Rawmometer Rating: Nachos 4.5 , Taco "Meat" 5 , Nacho Sauce 5

Oldest son, "C" "It's good mom, it's a taco."

Oldest daughter, "M" "This is my favorite meal all week!"

Youngest son, "B" "Good!"

Youngest daugter, "C" "5"

Husband, "Very good!"



Raw Corn Chowder

Our family has begun a journey of adding more raw food (fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds) into our vegetarian diet. We are approximately 80% raw at this point. The enzymes, vitamins and minerals gained by eating this way far surpass any other style of eating. Meat, organic and free range, where we are living, is expensive and hard to find not to mention animals are rarely slaughtered in a humane way. So we have opted for this style of eating to keep our bodies as healthy as possible and to feel our best. It is not a judgement on anyone elses way of eating but even carnivores could benefit from eating more raw produce, nuts and seeds. We will try to frequently post our reviews and recipes here for you. You are welcome to take this journey with us if you'd like and we are happy to share what we are learning!

Tonight's meal was raw corn chowder. I adapted it from Ani Phyo's recipe to fit the needs of the size and individual tastes of my family. There are six of us. The corn chowder also had a mound of Jalapeno Lime Kream in the center and is garnished with "Bacon" made from eggplant and a little cilantro for the finishing touch on our Southwestern meal. You will find when you eat raw you do not need to eat as much of a "volume" as you did before eating cooked food. Be aware this is a "cold" soup. It can take a while to get used to eating cold soups, but they are very good when you do. Not only that, they are full of LIFE!!

OK, so here is the recipe. I have homework to get to with kids so I better make this quick!

Corn Chowder
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
6 cups of organic non GMO raw corn kernels
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 cups of purified water
1 recipe of Eggplant Bacon (recipe below), diced
1 recipe of Jalapeno-Lime Kream (recipe below)

Place garlic, corn, thyme, salt, olive oil and water in a blender. Blend till slightly smooth and slightly chunky. Top with a mound of Kream and sprinkle "Bacon" and a sprig of cilantro on top.

Jalapeno-Lime Kream
1 cup of soaked and drained cashews (at least 4 hours)
1 whole jalapeno pepper seeded and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon of lime zest
The juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of purified water, as needed to blend

Blend all ingredients in a blender until creamy.

Eggplant Bacon
(you will need to prepare this a few days ahead of time)
In a bowl, marinate
1 large eggplant, thinly sliced length wise
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons of raw honey (do not feed to children under 1 year)
4 tablespoons of Ume Plum Vinegar (if you can not find raw Apple Cider Vinegar works great)
Marinate for 2 hours, wipe off some of the oil or it will not dehydrate to "crisp", place on teflex sheets in dehydrator (Excalibur works best) and dehydrate for 12 hours. Turn "Bacon" over and dehydrate for another 12 hours without teflex sheets. It should be crispy.

My youngest child, who is the picky one, consumed the entire bowl. A tiny bit of protest about the cilantro but she ate her meal. Everyone else had no problem with it. My oldest son was not present. So we will give Raw Corn Chowder a 4 out of 5 on the Rawmometer.

Many blessings to you from The Raw Mommy