teriyaki sprouted almonds!

good luck trying not to eat these all before you take them out of the dehydrator!

what i did:
sprouted 1 cup of raw almonds (soaked in filtered on counter for 8-12 hours, rinsing a couple times a day and letting sit for another 8 or so hours without soaking water)

i blended the following to marinate the almonds in before dehydrating for a good day or so:
*a nub of ginger
*a splash of braggs (possibly?)
*a spoon of brown rice/soy miso
*a clove of garlic
*a couple dates with probably 2 tablespoons of filtered water (or more?) to soak them a bit - i figure the dehydrator is going to suck all the liquid out anyway, i don't need to stress about too much liquid!

these are uber inspired by the teriyaki sprouted almonds from organic lives - they use a sprouted chickpea miso (swoon!) and i'm sure there are other magical ingredients (*note - upon checking my link to buy them, i see they use lemon juice and himalayan salt also! yum!). but really, start with some garlic and ginger, two "can do no wrong" ingredients, and you won't go wrong! enjoy! ^_^

everyday raw chili success!

twice in the last 5 days, i have broke into my copy of matthew kenney's everyday raw and made his raw chili. after many ani phyo delicious chilis (most recently, but also here, and here). it's been fun to find another yummy chili that is easy to make, uses "normal" ingredients and has universal appeal.

reading the reviews on amazon, there is a "not for the beginner" and a "meh" as some responses. i can slightly relate, i suppose, as some of the recipes in this book have a few too many steps, ie using (one recipe) with (other recipe) and then make ("this" recipe) for on top. i need to try more recipes from everyday raw before i can entirely disagree with the discouraging reviews, but the chili recipe on page 78 is a definite win! super easy ingredients to have on hand and it turned out beautifully!

first sampling of the chili was at lisa's birthday potluck on saturday - the first potluck i have been at in awhile that had non-vegan dishes present. gasp! it was nice that this chili fit in easily as i don't think it looks super granola-vegan-ish or much unlike a "real" chili.

i love trying new recipes for potlucks. they always seem to turn out amazing and then i also get to try other people's food creations! so much fun!

 and now, tonight, at my parents' place, we super enjoyed our delicious chili outside:

my mom cleared off the outside chairs so we could all enjoy the remaining sun of the day sans spiders. thanks mom! ^_^ 

i love that you don't even notice it's "raw". my parents said it tasted like chili and they both really enjoyed it. yay! i tried to explain why i soaked and sprouted the raw almonds but i'm not so good with such details. i figured it was the best way to make the almonds "alive" again. just like it wouldn't be so helpful to eat seeds you want to grow vegetables from and you wait until they have sprouted into plants, you soak the raw nut to make it into something nutritionally dense and easily digested. is that accurate? anyone?

sherry strong! vancouver!

today at organic lives, sherry strong of australia gave an intro talk to everyone at the restaurant about her food philosophy and what her upcoming classes at the restaurant will be about.

i really enjoyed and related to what she had to say. she is so awesome! i wish i was going to be in town while she is teaching.

here are her 3 nutrition tips, at least how i understood them:

1. love - eat with love in mind. love for your body (ie don't treat it like some toxic waste dump) and love for the food and where it came from! i find a lot of raw/vegan food packages mention "love" as an ingredient and however cheesy it can be, it seems to mean something! preparing food for someone with love is definitely felt by the person eating it! and why not put all your love into what you eat? LOVE IT. this reminds me of how a teacher at my school commented to me at lunch time, "your body is your temple, isn't it?". well, shouldn't it be? i love feeling amazing so i can't help but want to keep eating and drinking things that taste and feel amazing!

2. follow nature - think of what you are eating and how you would prepare it and eat it as if you actually did find it in nature. the easiest foods to eat, you can eat the most of! the ones that take some preparation or digging into or whatever, are meant perhaps to be eaten at a lesser volume. think of how food is produced. if you can't think of a way that the food came to your plate or how you would do it yourself, don't eat it! what i loved about this too, is she explained why we need to soak nuts to be able to reap the enzyme benefits of them: generally, we are buying nuts that have already been de-shelled. if we were gathering nuts from nature, we'd be cracking these shells open and the nut would be in that perfect, raw state that is of benefit to us. so soaking the raw nuts we buy from the store brings them back to that state. does that make sense?

3. move your body! don't be a lug. enjoy the sun. bike and walk and run and dance and jump. make sure your limbs are used while you can use them!