Alissa and Annie - NOT Julie and Julia

[anniez]

I've been really inspired by Renee and her 60 Days commitment, and now by Greenie and her 90 Days (on the Diet area of Raw Food Talk). So, I've decided to un-cook my way through Alissa's book! I intend to try at least one recipe a day. I know there will be days when I won't be able to do it (life has a way of interfering with my plans sometimes), but that's the intention.

I won't be starting with the first recipe and working through, because I want to be sure I don't have too many nut recipes in a row. I'm used to eating pretty simply, and don't want to sabotage my weight loss. Also, I like to use chia and hemp because they are such "super" foods, and Alissa doesn't use either of those - or at least not that I've seen.

I will post the recipe I intend to make for the day, and then will give my evaluation of it the next day. Unfortunately, I can't post photos. (At age 66 I can't bear the thought of trying to master a digital camera.....I have enough trouble making my way around this forum!) Anybody with camera skills who will join me and post photos?

I am certainly open to suggestions for a recipe of the day, so if there's something you've been wanting to try, speak up.

OK, for today:

Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms - Pg 289
Almond Milk - Pg 535 (need this for the next recipe)
Waldorf Salad - Pg 449

Well, if I'm going to do this, I better get myself to the supermarket and get busy!

Hope you'll join me!

Annie

[Aleesha Sattva]

great idea Annie... I look forward to reading about your journey!

[revdrcyn]

Awesome idea! Btw, do you have children or grandchildren who might help with the photos?

[Moretta]

So excited and can't wait to follow your journey.

[soulstar]

Hi Annie,

I also think this is a great idea. There was something so special and amazingly inspiring about Renee's 60 Day shared journey of uncooking from ALissa's Living on Live Foods book. It brought so many of the recipes to life. Now when I look through her book, the recipes jump off of the page, because I have heard so much more about them from Renee. Her photos were fabulous, too.;)

It's funny how easy it is to get stuck in a rut and make the same handful of recipes over and over and over....

I have already made several recipes from ALissa's book, thanks to Renee's inspiration, that I had always thought would be way too complex for my simple uncooking style. I can't wait to be inspired by your experience as well.

Have a great time, I know you will!
Elena

[ReneeH]

Thanks you guys so much for the compliments!!!

Annie, I'm gonna hop on your wagon too!!! The recipes that you make that I HAVEN'T made, I'll make and post a photo for you!!! I'll let you lead, though... I'll just follow behind you!!! :)

I've made the Pesto Mushrooms and Almond Milk before. But, I haven't made the Waldorf Salad!!! So, I'll plan to make that today!!!

[anniez]

Thanks you guys so much for the compliments!!!

Annie, I'm gonna hop on your wagon too!!! The recipes that you make that I HAVEN'T made, I'll make and post a photo for you!!! I'll let you lead, though... I'll just follow behind you!!! :)

I've made the Pesto Mushrooms and Almond Milk before. But, I haven't made the Waldorf Salad!!! So, I'll plan to make that today!!!

Hey, Renee! We were both posting at the same time, so I just saw your post. Hooray! Photos. A collaborative effort!

You will love the Waldorf Salad! So will your kids.

Thanks for coming along with me!

Annie

[anniez]

First, no, the kids and grands are too far away to help with photos.

OK, yesterday was an amazing success. BTW: I am halving all of the recipes.

I made the Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms, pg 289 first because they had to spend some time in the dehyd. Quick and easy and really good. Didn't look so great, but tasted good. I had some left and will pop them in dehyd to warm up. Also, I will use less oil next time because the stuffing was pretty oily and a lot of it pooled in the bottom of the bowl and I left it there.

Waldorf Salad Pg 449, Almond Milk, Pg 535, Mayo Pg 323
Renee mentioned in one of her posts that she made several recipes without washing the blender, and I decided to plan ahead for this recipe.

Because I was going to be processing a lot of almonds, I started off making almond butter in the blender. I will need the almond butter for some recipes later. Then I made the almond milk. (I dehydrated the almond meal to use later.) I left enough almond milk in the blender to make the mayo, then left enough mayo in the blender to make the dressing. Whew! By the time I got to this point, the blender was a whiz to clean!

I chopped up the salad ingredients, added the dressing, and wow, this is seriously good stuff!

I have mushrooms and salad left, so today I am only making the Rolled Nori Crackers on Pg 349.

I have some almond milk, and mayo left, so today I will find ways to use them and will let you know what I've done.

I'm having a lots of fun planning, prepping and eating! Anybody along for the ride?

Thanks, Renee and Greenie, for the inspiration.

Annie

[anniez]

Day 10
Is anybody there? Have you all abandoned me?

Well, after yesterday I have the first dishes for my Raw Thanksgiving menu: Mashed Potatoes and Mushrom Gravy. Used portobellos and this dish is amazing! I thought the cauliflower would taste like cauliflower, but it has just a hint of a cauliflower taste, and the gravy looks deep and rich and tastes as rich as it looks!

I’m very tired and I really have no appetite today – I think it’s from all these days of fixing lots of recipes, some of which are pretty rich. So, I am doing a fruit fast today. My body is telling me something, because nothing but fruit sounds good to me. But I can do a fruit fast and make:

Recipe #21 Apple Sauce

I’ll still only make a half recipe, but if I want more I’ll make another half.

I hope somebody is out there!

Annie

[ReneeH]

Day 10
Is anybody there? Have you all abandoned me?

I hope somebody is out there!

Annie....BREATHE!!!!! We're still here!!! I had a busy day, with Service and all...

Here's my pix of Alissa's Apple Sauce:



This really is GREAT!!! And, so simple to make!!! I wish that I had this recipe when my kids were little!!! I wish that I had never given them cooked food!!! But, alas...gotta work with what I'm given! I'm just glad I found RAW NOW...!!!

Don't worry Annie!!! I'm still here for you... But, on days that I work, I will have to post later in the day...

[anniez]

Thanks for checking in, Renee, and thanks for the photo. I, too, wish I had discovered living food long ago. But probably the time wasn’t right then, and now it is. It sounds like you are doing a great job of getting your kids into more raw food. By the time they’re teen-agers I bet they’ll be high raw, if not 100%. You are setting an excellent example for them. My family is a bummer for me, though, because in spite of all my progress health-wise and weight-wise, no one is at all interested! So, I continue to cook SAD for hubby, but am making sure he gets some fresh fruit every day and a salad every evening! Baby steps!

I’m feeling better today. I did only have fruit yesterday, and loved the applesauce. But I was feeling really lazy, so I just ate some more apples instead of making more sauce. My problem with fruit recipes is that I just love fresh fruit – unadulterated!

Today I need to be using some leftovers – portobellos and jicima. So I am making:

Recipe 22 Marinated Portobellos in Ginger Vinaigrette P 295

Recipe 23 Spicy Fries Pg 302

Recipe 24 Tomato Mushroom Basil Salad Pg 450 (I still have some basil in the garden!)

I’m going start some buckwheat sprouting so I can make a buckwheat recipe. Any suggestions as to which one to do first? C’mon, let me have some input.

Also, I’m going to dehydrate some tomatoes and maybe make some more marinara to freeze – if I don’t run out of time! I am getting beautiful tomatoes for really cheap right now, so I want to take advantage of them. One of my favorite things with tomato is to slice a couple and slice an avo and sprinkle with a little Pink Himalayan salt. Yum! Quick, easy, and satisfying. The avo makes it stick with me!

Well, off to make my smoothie.

Annie

[smasty]

I'm here! Keep up the good work! I've got to go pull out my book and look at the recipes you're making! I do remember making the potatoes/gravy and they were really good.

[anniez]

Thanks for checking in, Smasty. Let us know what you think of any recipes you try!

Yesterday was fun and full of scrumptious food!

Marinated Portobellas in Ginger Vinaigrette. The Ginger Vinaigrette is also given in the dressing section of the book as a separate recipe, so that was recipe 25. These were really, really good. The Ginger Vinaigrette is also delicious on its own. The recipe says to put the mushrooms on the mesh sheet, but they were really wet and I didn’t want to wipe the vinaigrette off, so I put them on the teflex sheet. It seemed a good move, because the teflex sheet was pretty wet. I have a couple of salad dressing hints. First, if you don’t have things like onion, garlic, ginger, etc. that need to be blended, a great thing to do is just shake it up in a glass jar. You can then store it in that jar. Second, if you do have onion, garlic, ginger, etc., put everything in a wide-mouth canning jar and use an immersion blender. Same deal: store the dressing in the jar. Voila: nothing to wash except the blender which easily rinses off!

Spicy Fries. These were really good but the only resemblance to fries was the look. I would call them something else. I thought the marinade was too oily. Next time I make this I will use half the oil and rather than the chili and cayenne I will try it with some Herbamare. Jicima is kind of sweet anyway, and the honey made it really sweet. Rather than the spicy, I want to try salty. A tip: measure the oil first and then the honey. With the oil coating the measuring cup the honey slips right out.

Tomato, Mushroom, and Basil Salad. I suspected I would love this, and I was right! I deviated the directions a little: I mixed up the dressing in a bowl, and then added the tomatoes and mushrooms . Saved dirtying that extra bowl! This is my kind of food – quick, light, and delicious! This will become a staple because it’s so easy and doesn’t call for any exotic ingredients!
I didn’t get the buckwheat started yesterday, so it is soaking now. I intend to make Burger Buns and Calzone crust with it, but that won’t be until tomorrow or Thursday. Will have to see how long it takes to sprout.

Today:

Recipe 26 – Blueberry Pie Pg 484

Recipe 27 – Whipped Cream Pg 324 the grape juice variation

Recipe 28 – Sweet Apple Nori Rolls Pg 405

Looks like a sweet day, doesn’t it?

Annie

[anniez]

I just read in another thread that someone thought this thread is about trying the same recipes at the same time. I didn't mean to give that impression. I am just telling you which recipes I am making and talking about them, but I'd love to hear from you which recipes you've made and your comments about them! I also love to hear your tips. I want to learn from all of you!

Annie

[Veganforlife]

I just read in another thread that someone thought this thread is about trying the same recipes at the same time. I didn't mean to give that impression. I am just telling you which recipes I am making and talking about them, but I'd love to hear from you which recipes you've made and your comments about them! I also love to hear your tips. I want to learn from all of you!

Annie

Hey, the more recipes we post of Alissa's - well, how can that be a bad thing? I think hers RAWk!!!!

And she has over what? 300 recipes?

::falls backwards off chair::