Living Food Journal

The shiny red VitaMixer 5200 came on day 6.



Smoothies for Littleman plus my two new cookbooks equals a strong desire to un-cook. So, I broke the cleanse on day 6 and I haven't looked back.

The VitaMixer is a blender on crack. It even has two containers- one for wet, one for dry (I can now grind my own flour!) The torrent of recipes in the past week has been educational, exciting, experimental and festive. We went to Whole Paycheck and loaded up the cart with bags from the bulk section. Shopping is weird now. Eating is weird. I am learning to do these things all over again, and this time I feel great about what I am fueling myself with.*

*What is a living diet? Eating things that are still alive. This means fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and spices that are either fresh or have been dehydrated and then re-hydrated or sprouted prior to "cooking." Nothing heated above 115 degrees, as heat kills the "alive" part of your food and leaves your body hungry for nutrients. It is not as weird as it sounds, and yes, you get plenty of protein. More so, in fact, than a carnivore.

Had a talk with sissy Em who says she is working toward a living diet. Says sissy Jenna is also walking down that road. Em asked for recipes to start with and Sissy Liza asked to be included. So today is a recipe day- one recipe to share. The email with lots of recipes is going out this weekend. Send me a note if you want to be included...

Fettuccini Alfredo (so rich and creamy you cannot believe it is living):
Serves 4
Time: 2 hours soaking, 40 minutes making, 1 hour warming

Noodles:
4 large (or 8 small) squash (green, yellow, both, whatever).
Peel the skin off, then use your peeler to make 'thick' peels of the squash meat. Finely slice the bits that you cannot peel.
Put the 'noodles' in a big bowl, sprinkle on some salt, mix, and let sit for 30 while you make the sauce.

Sauce:
2 cups raw cashews (first soak them in water for a couple of hours)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional: not technically raw, but it lends a cheesy flavor and is loaded with B-12 and protein)
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 TBS water
1/3 cup of oil (olive, grape seed, whatever cold-pressed stuff you have)
5 chives
small clove of garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
pepper, cayenne (to taste)

But everything in a blender and pureé.
Drain the squash (the salt pulls the water out). Add the sauce to the squash noodles and mix it up. Throw it all in a 9" glass pie round. Top with chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, whatever) and paprica.

Put the dish in your oven (if you do not have a dehydrator), on the LOWEST setting for one hour, to 'warm' it up.

Serve, eat and enjoy. You will want seconds.



So there it is. This Mama J is 99% raw. Daddy Greg has a soft spot for pizza but is learning his lesson, slowly, the hard way. Littleman hates sweet potato soup (it made him cry) but is otherwise a trooper on the living food front. He loves to make new and interesting smoothies for breakfast...

It's been fun, friends.

And just to prove that I am not completely fixated on food (ha ha) here is a little April Fools treat for you to pull on your kids. It's called "T-Rexing." All you need is saran wrap. I highly suggest you find a helper for this prank. Kid arms are surprisingly strong...