Rawleen

For the Love of Watermelon

My dear husband has been making these delicious watermelon drinks lately that are outrageously delicious. They are so easy. He just cuts up the watermelon, puts it in a blender, then strains out the excess. It's much easier than getting out the big juicer, and soooo tasty.
I recently discovered that watermelon, among its many benefits it a diuretic. Diuretics are what most people think of as prescription drugs, but there are natural diuretics as well as I learned when I was getting my herbalist degree. Some diuretic herbs include parsley and dandelion. The effects of diuretics include removing excess fluids through the body, removing excess salts and impurities.
Here's RawModel doing some watermelon juicing action over o You Tube:

Speaking of watermelon, I was stoked when We Like it Raw gave me a shout out on my Watermelon Mini Cakes, as did Gone Raw, since it was the perfect 4th of July party dessert. I hope you tried it! Thanks everyone for your comments on Gone Raw!
Any way you dish it out, watermelon is the perfect summer treat!

Make Up Your Own Rules

(Green Eggs with Hollandaise Sauce)
Not really what it sounds like. These are avocadoes with a walnut/sunflower seed pate, drizzled with hollandaise sauce (cashews, lemon, garlic, water). Yum!
Don't know what to have for dinner? Throw together what you have on hand, and see what comes out! This is what happened to me. Make up your own rules. This was one of the lines from the new movie Sex and the City. Although I never watched the show, I went to see the movie with Jaime and I really enjoyed it!
Although I was dismayed they had to include the fur part with Kim Katrall. I hope they used a fake in the movie. Anyone know?
Anyways, the point of this post is that I love how they used the phrase, "Make up your own rules." That may have not been the exact wording they used, but it's the line I remember. I've been thinking about that line ever since, and how it challenges me to make up my own rules. All my life, I've always admired people who make up their own rules with a leadership quality that perpetuates fulfillment of goals, destiny, and dreams. They don't care if what they do is different, as long as it makes them happy. I'm also reminded of this when I see someone who doesn't look like the typical American. I love admiring differences among people, which is what makes everyone unique. Wouldn't it be awful if we all had the same kind of hair, eyes, and bodyshape? If we all worked the same job? I also love admiring indie business owners. Entrepreneurs who fuel their business with love and passion.
I think most raw foodies dare to be different on a regular basis and therefore find a lot of enjoyment from turning a raw lifestyle into a passion for life. I hope you are having a great day, making up your own rules, one raw day at a time!

Going Native

I can't stress how much I love native plants. When I first moved to Florida and tried growing my favorite geraniums, i was so disappointed. Now I'm in love with the way native plants thrive and adapt to the conditions here. Recently I did another trade with my friend Kari who owns Naturewise Plants, a native plant nursery in Cocoa, Florida. I got:
Saw Palmetto, Blackberry, Beautyberry, Black Eyed Susans, Boston Fern, Red Maple tree, 3 Magnolia Trees (one sweet bay and two grandifolia), CocoPlum, Necklace Pod, and some grasses. Oh what a delight! Can you believe all of the above are Florida natives? Oh what fun I'm going to have this weekend!!!
We have half of our front yard converted into a native plant habitat with ZERO grass! (oh except for native grasses like Muhly grass) and the other half...well that's hopefully happening this weekend!
Grass (the non-native kind that people mow) takes up too much water and energy such as gas because you have to mow it. I've never been a fan of grass and especially now.
If you haven't yet, go native! It's fun I promise!!!

Raw Chocolate Gourmet

Recently I've been making raw chocolate treats like they are going out of style. I scored these Florida-inspired molds, I guess that's what living in Florida does to you! We have lived here about 3 years now and slowly I have been finding myself owning more things that are relating to the ocean.

I've been playing around with some recipes still doing many different variations. But here are the key ingredients I use in my chocolates:
Coconut Butter (Natural Zing now sells this!!!)
Coconut Oil
Cocoa Powder
Vanilla
Agave

Sometimes I vary it up with some buckwheaties (can't get enough of that stuff) or hemp seeds ground up.

Several months ago, we went walking on the ocean and it was just after a storm. We unexpectedly found hundreds of beautiful conch shells. It was amazing. I had been searching for a conch every since we moved here, never finding one on the beach. Why can't I just find a conch shell? I threw it out to the universe. And what do you know, not soon after that, a trip to the beach found us looking at thousands! Glory be! Ask and you shall receive....

An Eco-friendly Kids B-day Party

If you walked into a party and saw this, what would you think? Would you be searching the room for the vegan? (that would be me!)
Just wondering.....
At my daughter's b-day party on Saturday I was looking around the room - the Animal Rescue corner where we had all the donations (in lieu of presents we opted to donate to the Florida Wildlife Hospital), a Raw Vegan Cake, Vegan Pizza, Raw Vegan Appetizers (fruit, veggie trays, etc).
The photo above is the box where we held all the donations. On the e-invitations we had a link to the list from the Wildlife Hospital so people knew what to bring. The list included things like paper towels, gloves, baby food, cat and dog food, etc.

Being the only vegans at the party, I noticed that everyone in attendance was so positive and enjoying the energy and excitement of something different, not your average joe's b-day party. The vegan pizza (not raw, sorry) was gone in minutes! We had other pizzas (non vegan) there that lasted longer - yay! I munched on fruit and veggies at the party, and when I got home enjoyed a slice of raw pizza I made.
We had such a fun time. We did a double party with Jaime and her two year old son Felipe since our kids b-days were so close and we have all the same friends. We held it at the Kid Zone, a 5,000 square foot building with all kid toys. It was fun, except why did I feel like I had a hangover the next day when I didn't consume a drop of alcohol?

The kids all left with goodie bags that included: homemade playdough, Jaime's homemade fruit rollups, a Diego bandaid, raisins, fruit juice, animal stickers, and other happy prizes. It was cool because instead of filling the goodie bags up with your normally tempting cheap prizes made in China from plastic and lead, we opted to avoid that, and it was very hard to do although we did accomplish just that!

Now on to the good stuff. Here's my homemade raw cake. It was chocolate with vanilla icing and vanilla filling.

I almost went for the traditional, store-bought cake, but then I thought oh, I really need to do it raw. And for her actual b-day on Sunday, I'm making another one, which will be even better I hope with the Raw Cacao Butter from Natural Zing. And, raw of course.


Making handmade playdough in animal shapes with Daddy using our no-fail recipe.

And, my treat when I arrived home after the party, was a raw pizza. I used Rawdorable's recipe for pizza crust and pepperoni. Then I made some cheese by dehydrating some cashew sauce I had on hand, and grating it up as best I could. I enjoyed another one of these delicious pizzas today for lunch.

Happy Prizes!

Happy Prizes: This is my 3-year old daughter's favorite new saying. I have no idea how she picked this up, but it cracks me up everytime she says it, so I totally play along. Usually, she pretends she has behind her back in her hands, then after she yells "Happy Prizes" she shows you that really, there was nothing there.

When I had her give Dad his gifts for Father's Day, guess what she said? "Happy Prizes!!!"
Here was another one of the gifts we made for him

Summer is setting in now, and combine that with my latest craving for pancakes, I decided Father's Day would be the perfect time to throw together some ingredients to try for that perfect pancake texture. These are probably the BEST pancakes I have EVER tried, seriously. Better than any non-raw pancakes. Best of all, they went over great with the girls and hubby too. Thumbs up all around!

Here's the recipe (I made a big batch but you can cut this in half if you want or less):

Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes
10 Bananas
1/2 Cup Flax Seed Meal
1-1/2 Cup Buckwheat Flour
6 Dates
2 tablespoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Salt
After mixing: 1-2 cups Blueberries

Summer Berry Syrup
1 Cup Strawberries
1 Cup Raspberries
1 Cup Agave

To make the buckwheat flour, soak buckwheat overnight in purified water. The next day, place in dehydrator all day. I make a big batch of buckwheaties every few weeks and store them in an air-tight glass container. I use them for parfaits, salads, crunchy chocolate treats, and now this. To make the flour, process dry Buckwheaties in your food processor.
Add bananas to food processor along with rest of the ingredients EXCEPT blueberries. After mixing all ingredients for the pancakes, add the blueberries into the mixture and stir gently with a spoon. Drop with a spoon onto teflex sheets in pancake shapes and thickness. Place in dehydrator for 3 hours. Flip and dehydrate three or more hours, depending on how firm you want them.

To make syrup, place berries and dates in blender and blend until smooth. Drizzle syrup over pancakes and enjoy!

To top off Father's Day, I made a Berry Delicious Cheesecake

It has an Almond Date Crust with a Coconut Berry Filling, two layers. One was a Raspberry Layer and the second was the Blueberry layer. Yum! Here's the recipe:

Berry Delicious Cheesycake

Layer 1
1 C. Cashews, soaked 1 hour
1 C. Strawberries
1/3 C. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
1/3 C. Coconut Butter
1/2 C. Agave
1 Tablespoon Lemon, juiced
1 Dash Salt

Layer 2
1 C. Cashews, soaked 1 hour
1 C. Blueberries
1/3 C. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
1/3 C. Coconut Butter
1/2 C. Agave
1 Tablespoon Lemon, juiced
1 Dash Salt

Use your favorite pie crust to make a pie and form it into a springform pan. I use a combo almonds (soaked overnight) and dates with a dash of salt and vanilla. After forming your crust into the pan, place all Layer 1 ingredients in the food processor and process. Pour over crust, and place directly in freezer.
Place all Layer 2 ingredients in food processor and process. Take cake out of freezer and pour Layer 2 mixture on top. Place back in freezer to set for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

Let me know if you try these out, and what you think!!!

Pancakes and Cheesycake weren't my only Happy Prizes as of late. Look above and see the chalk writing on my dining room table from my 3 year old. Oh, the joys of being a toddler. Good thing it was just chalk! Although it was on my dining room table, I was so proud of how she draws "silly happy faces" lately. They are really one of the cutest things ever - the fact that she is learning how to draw two eyes, a nose, and a mouth and where they go.

Now, what are your happy prizes?

Waiting by the light of the Moon

I had this Melissa Etheridge song in my head, "Come to my Window" as we walked along the beach last night looking for Seaturtles laying their eggs. Although not a full moon, it was close, and therefore very bright along the beach. I was brave enough to get a babysitter for a date night out. Where did we go? After exploring all of our options, we opted for a walk on the beach to look for Sea Turtles. The tours were all full, so we just went on our own.

As soon as we stepped foot on the beach, we spotted a gigantic sea turtle laying it eggs in the sand. It was a beautiful sight I can't put into words. I don't have pictures of course, because that would probably have been illegal since these beauties are protected by law, and bright lights would probably scare them or interrupt them. According to the couple who was there watching with us, it took a long time for the turtle to get itself to the dune from the ocean to dig its hole. We watched as it dug a hole larger than itself and went to work.

I couldn't believe how huge the turtle was. It had to be at least 3 feet in diameter.
Here are some quick facts about Sea Turtles:
* They can live 30-40 years
* They are large air-breathing reptiles that have adapted to life in the sea
* They can weigh up to 1,300 pounds
* A female will usually lay several hundred eggs at one time, and may do so several times in the same year
* Nesting takes up to 3 hours
* Turtles stay in the sand incubating for about two months, then they scurry down back into the sea

I think we got out a little too late (9pm) because we saw lots of tracks along the beach - these beauties are so big and heavy they make very distinct tracks coming in from the ocean. It looks like someone dragged a cooler or something. I hope to go back and see this again. What a magical night!

It was a great way to start off the Father's Day Weekend.
Last week me and the girls made this gift for daddy's special day. We went for the nautical theme, and used their handprints as the "fishies," after painting the background in watercolors.

Then, we framed it, and whalah! I led a craft for my mom's group on Friday so I hope all the dad's enjoyed their little one's art. We sure did!
More Father's Day pics to come, still not uploaded.
I hope you all had a great weekend!
Happy Monday

By the Way, here's an interesting version of Come to My Window from Kimberly Caldwell

A Summer Swap and a list to share...

I just signed up for a summer swap, and am really looking forward to participating. What a neat, fun, creative idea. This is how it works: Everyone gets a "swap partner", and when they are paired up, you send them a new something, a gently used something from home that you would like to share, and something from a thrift, goodwill or yard sale that is lovely and says, "SUMMER". (IF you have time to create, sew, knit or any of the hand-crafted ways of making something, you can, but do not feel you have too.)
Here's the link for more details if you are interested in signing up.

TODAY

Outside My Window ... there is an oak tree I planted on Earth Day that is growing beautifully. You can never have too many trees!

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I am thinking ... about really focusing on homeschooling my daughters
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I am thankful for ... my health, my daughters, my husband, my business, quiet moments, hugs, ballet class for toddlers :-)
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From the kitchen ... very quiet in there right now and very clean
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I am wearing ... jean shorts and a brown ruffle tank top
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I am creating ... mineral makeup, an SPF facial cream, and a natural mascara
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I am going ... make raw lasagna tomorrow with zucchini "noodles"
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I am reading ... Before Five in a Row (homeschooling book), some preschool arts and crafts books, and a new raw food uncookbook

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I am hoping ... me and the hubby can get a date night tomorrow
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I am hearing ... the sound of the musical toy I recently got for my daughter. She pulls the string and it plays a beautiful song
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Around the house ... it is looking very feng shui with the help from my aunt, and very clean!
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One of my favorite things ... just hanging around the house with no plans for the weekend
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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: ... make a batch of Carrot Seed Soap tomorrow, Father's Day is on Sunday, gotta get those presents wrapped and plan a delicious meal.
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Happy Feet

I couldn't resist taking this photo of my 1-year-old daughter's cute little feet! These aren't shoes, they are all-in-one socks! My little future ballerina! Speaking of ballet, my 3 year old started ballet lessons on Wednesday.
Seriously, this was one of the most heart-warming experiences I've ever. Us moms viewed the class through a window where the kids couldn't see us but we could see them. We had the lights off so it looked like we were watching a movie! My daughter accidentally got into the 4-5 year old class to my delight. I hope that the older girls will help influence her well. They do 20 minutes of ballet, 20 min. tap, and 20 min. tumble. Oh, I'm so tickled! I can't wait till next Wednesday! :-)

6 Little Kitchen Gadgets I can't Live Without

What are all those accessories in my kitchen? Well I picked out my most used gadgets and am featuring them today. Please feel free to tag yourself and write about your favorite 5 kitchen gadgets that help you in raw food preparation. Here are mine:
(oh, and I'm not including the big ticket items: e.g. my food processor, juicer, dehydrator, or blender)
1. Garlic Press
2. Handheld Citrus Juicer
3. Burger Patty Flattener
4. Hammer
5.Tea Bag
6. Melon Baller

The garlic press I love for when the garlic has to be really minced. I know Ani Phyo recommends de-veining the garlic (removing the green inside) and if I have time, I do that. But usually I don't!

The handheld juicer I actually picked up at a yard sale when we lived in Colorado. I use it every day for lemons, oranges, and limes.

The Burger Patty Flattener (I don't know if this is the correct name for this gadget). I bought this at Publix, our local grocery store, in the bread aisle by the burger buns. I am always on the lookout for ways to accesorize my raw food preparations. I use this for raw burgers and sometimes cookies too. It gives the burgers that "grilled" look!

Hammer. My daily hammering of coconuts! What would I do without a hammer? I keep it in the kitchen in my utensil drawer.

Tea Bag. I don't always just use these herbal infusions and tea making, but I also find them nifty for making nut mylks. I get them at: www.mountainroseherbs.com

Melon Baller. I don't always use these for melons, but they are great for filling stuffed mushrooms and also for making raw cookies in the dehydrator. I can't wait to see what you depend on in the kitchen too!!! Now here are some recent pics from the garden:
The Great Upside Down Tomato Experiment is going GREAT!!!


My native Elderberry tree loving the Florida sun.


Mango is almost ready to pick!!!
Have a beautiful Monday! TAG ~ YOU'RE IT!!!!