Day 18: Nacho Nacho, Man.

After a brisk 4.5 hours of sleep (and 2+ hours snoozing on my boyfriend's lap while pretending to watch a movie) we were up and at 'em today.

First order of the day: put the tex-mex flavoured flax chips into dehydrate for a fancy nacho dinner tonight!

Tex Mex flax chips:

1.5 cups flax meal
1 cup almond milk
1cup water
2 T nutritional yeast
2+T of texmex seasoning (chili, cumin, cayenne, onion powder etc. We like it spicy so I used quite a lot.)

Mix the dry ingredients, add the wet, stir really well, let sit for 10 minutes and pour into teflex dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for 12 hours at 115.

After all this I was HUNGRY, and for breakfast had a swampy smoothie of murky delight. If you make this, you'll see what I mean!

1 c. carrot juice
2 c. spinach
1 c. blueberries
1 c. strawberries.

engage swamp thing powers!! This one gave me a great body rush too. MMmmm. nutrition. I also had a banana to be on the safe side.

A brisk 8.5km bike ride really whetted my appetite, and I spent several hours in the company of good friends constantly snacking on fresh blueberries, strawberries and blackberries, carrots and zucchini hummus, dried figs and some few raw almonds. AND melon. They were nice melons. This was lunch.

another brisk bike ride home, accompanied by another trip to the greengrocer (I filled my knapsack for $12.45!) had me finishing my ride carrying 25lbs of produce. She Hulk!

Of course after all this I was ravenous again as soon as I got home I made a snack of some more canteloupe, some apple pie slices and the last half of the last doughnut hole *sob*. Come back doughnut holes, I love yooouuu....

and then, I made guacamole. And salsa. And cashew cheese. And then we feasted like kings! Full recipe with photos is here. There must be something wrong with me...but I kinda want another smoothie. Mmm, spinach.

Here's what I ate today: I Ate Manhattan! good thing we're about to go on a 9km hike.
I weighed in this morning still at 167.4 lbs.

Because of all the delicious nachos my stats were WAY off today: 67/24/9. I regret nothing.

Raw Vegan Nachos

You will need a dehydrator and a food processor for this recipe. We do use onions and garlic in this recipe. Many raw-foodists choose not to use garlic and onions but we love them so there. Be warned.

First thing you have to do is get your flax crisps dehydrating. These suckers can take over 12 hours. If you can make them to day before, so much the better.

ALSO SOAK 1 CUP OF CASHEWS IN 3 CUPS OF WATER. You'll want them to soak all day, or even overnight. 2 hours minimum, for sure.

FLAX CRISPS, TEX MEX STYLE.
1.5 cups flax meal

1 cup almond milk

1 cup water

2 T nutritional yeast

2+T of texmex seasoning (chili, cumin, cayenne, onion powder etc. We like it spicy so I used quite a lot.)

Mix the dry ingredients, add the wet, stir really well, let sit for 10 minutes and pour into teflex dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for 12 hours at 115. Half way through you'll want to go under it all the way around with a spatula and carefully flip that bad boy, to get the underside nice and crispy too. 

about 2 hours before you want to eat, make the guacamole. It's always better if it gets a chance to sit for a bit. I vary my recipe every time I make it, but this is about standard for what I do. 

GUACAMOLE

into a food processor put: 

3 very ripe avocados

3 + cloves garlic or 1.5 T pre-minced garlic

2T lime juice

1T diced onion or 2tsp onion powder or dehyd. onion, whatever is on hand. 

2 dashes liquid smoke

1tsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt 

1 tsp cayenne or tex mex seasoning. 

puree well to mix all the ingredients, decant into a sealed container and refrigerate until serving. 

OPTIONAL: well diced tomato pieces stirred in after pureeing. 

It's pronounced gwace-mol. GWACE-mol.

RAW SALSA:
Into a food processor put:

6 medium tomatoes, with the centres removed.  This reduces the amount of liquid and makes for a firmer, chunkier salsa.
2 small onions.
2 T garlic (I loves me some garlic. Use less if you're sensitive).
1 T lime juice
1 habanero pepper
1 tsp chipotle powder.

use the pulse setting on the food processor to mix the ingredients well, but to keep some of the texture. You'll also want to let this sit for a while for the flavours to mingle. If you like it to be more tomato heavy, use two more tomatoes and one less onion!

if the spoon stands up in it, you're good to go! *salsa is not poison, regardless of bowl label. OR IS IT. 

RAW CASHEW CHEESE: 

I really liked this, but Johnny wasn't so keen on it. Asking a vegan to reproduce what actual cheese tastes like is pretty silly, now that I come to think of it. Regardless, this was rich and creamy, tangy and I thought it was pretty cheesy. It was good on it's own, and exceptional with a chip full of guac and salsa. 

into your trusty food processor put: 

1 cup soaked cashews

3T nutritional yeast

dash of Braggs

2 spring onions 

2 cloves of garlic

1tsp Himalayan sea salt

1 T lemon juice. 

blend until a gritty cream, and slowly add water until it's the desired consistancy. We went for a thicker cheese- your milage may very. You could also use almond milk, come to think. I'll try that next time. 

It's not cheese? Oh, NUT cheese. Gotcha! 

Break up the flax crisps into nacho chip size bits and serve along side your dips- OR

take the whole round flax crisp as it comes out of the dehydrator and cover it with nut cheese, then guacamole, then salsa. Break pieces off and enjoy!! 

Healthy Apple Pie!

guys! GUYS LISTEN!

I made the greatest thing! Apple Pie Slices.

-slice an apple into 1/8 thick slices (better slice two, these guys area delicious).
-soak the apples in a bowl with 1/4 cup lemon juice 3/4 cup water.
-drain and toss with 1.5 t cinnamon, .5 t nutmeg and 1T raw organic cane sugar until all apples are coated.
-throw in the dehydrator for 6-8 hours.

MY HOUSE SMELLS LIKE PIE.

I am going to buy a major bag of apples and then I will have a HUGE BAG OF PORTABLE PIE.

appley pie slices!