Bulgur Breakfast Treat by Jean Johnson

1 Cup Bulgur (medium grind)
2 Cups Water
1 tsp Honey
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 Cup Walnuts
1/2 Cup Raisins
1 Apple (peeled and chopped)

Add bulgur to water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Stir in remaining ingredients until well blended.

Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate.

This dish can be served as a cold cereal with milk or re-heated for a hot hearty breakfast. It also goes well served with vanilla ice cream (unless your in phase 1 or 2. Sorry----no dessert!).

Add variety by using bananas, pineapple, dates, coconut, etc. in place of the apples.

Yeild: 4.5 Cups
Serving Size: 1/2 Cup
Calories per serving: 182

My first CSA experience

For those of you that don't know,as I didn't just last week, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It's where those that do not have a garden can buy organic fruit and vegetables, picked the same day, from a local farm on a weekly basis. In turn our local farmers get supported and a network of community members become more self sufficient. The vendor we are trying out, FA Farms, offers two ways to shop his garden. You can pay for the 20 week season and each week get a box of assorted foods that are available that week or you can buy farm bucks that you can spend on specific foods. Of course everything is dependent on mother nature and the various things that can go right or wrong when farming.

Even though FA Farms is about half way through their season and even though Garin has started a small garden of our own, we decided to sign up and see how it goes.....

• see if it ends up spoiling in the back of the fridge, or if we actually eat what we get

• see if we are stuck with things we don't know what to do with, or if we rise to the challenge of getting familiar with new foods

• see if we feel we are getting our moneys worth

Well, we went to the new Ferndale Farmers Market to meet Walter and Toni, our local farmers, and were able to pick up our first box of veggies. What you see in the picture is what was included minus some snap peas that were eaten on the way home and a bag of salad greens not shown in the picture. I feel we got way more organic produce than what the same $20 would have bought us at the grocery store. So far it's being consumed at a good pace although I did blanch and freeze the different varieties of string beans for later use. I'm also happy to say that putting out a little dip will get the kids to go crazy with whatever veggie they can use to consume it.

The way I see it this is a win win situation. I love knowing the food is pesticide free, fresh and that I'm able to meet the person who grew it. My next adventure is, once school starts up again, to ask how I can work to pay for some of my food in an effort to offset the cost of trying to eat healthier. I'll keep you posted.....

How to Germinate & Sprout Nuts, Beans & Seeds

From The RAW 50 by Carol Alt

One of the reason raw foodists eat so many seeds, beans, and nuts is because they are not only versatile, but also veritable troves of nutrition. Valuable as they may be, Mother Nature has seen to it that they are tightly locked. Fortunately for us, releasing their enzyme inhibitors and freeing their nutrients is simply a matter of immersing them in water, which can be done by germinating or sprouting. Seeds and beans can be germinated, and given more time they can be sprouted. Nuts germinate, but most will not sprout.

Most raw foodists take germinating for granted - It is something they do routinely, and it is essentially a once and your done deal: you soak, walk away, then come back and after rinsing, you can now use what you soaked and what has germinating in your absence. Sprouting takes a little more time, but is still a fairly simple process.

Unless they state otherwise, the recipes in this book assume that you are germinating all seeds, beans, and nuts

Remeber to use only dried, raw, and preferably organic seeds, and nuts. Roasted, canned, jarred, or otherwise processed products (which, by definition, are cooked) will not germinate.

Germinating, Step by Step

To begin the germination process, rinse the beans, nuts, or seeds; place them in a glass bowl or jar with under an inch of purified water; and soak them at room temperature for the amount of time indicated (see separate post for germinating & sprouting times). Cover the glass jar or bowl with cheesecloth or a stocking to keep the bugs out.

After they have soaked for the appropriate amount of time, rinse and drain the germinated beans, nuts, or seeds with purified water a couple of times. They are now ready to eat or use in any recipe. They can also be dehydrated after germination for use in foods such as granola.

The one, two, three of sprouting

To turn germinated seeds or beans into sprouts

1. Put the germinated beans or seeds, such as chickpeas or almonds, in a sprouting container or bowl, making sure that they are well drained and well ventilated. Again, cover the container's open end with a fine mesh stocking or cheesecloth.
2. Set the sprouting container on your counter and allow the beans or seeds to sprout for the required time (see separate post for germinating & sprouting times).
3. Rinse the sprouted nuts or seeds with purified water a couple of times for good measure, and drain well.

You can either eat your sprouts right away or store them for up to 5 or 6 days - after that point they are likely to become bitter. Always store sprouts in an airtight (not vacuum-sealed) container in your refrigerator.

RAW Lemon Cookies

I used less lemon than it called for and was glad I did. The cashews, agave and coconut are a great base for any flavor so if you try this I would encouraging experimentation. I hope it wasnt a mistake to bring these to our meeting last week; I think I just had to prove to myself that RAW could be fun as well as healthy :)


Makes 12 small tart, chewy lemon macaroons type cookies
.
Ingredients

* 1 cup cashews, soaked for 4 hours
* zest of 1 lemon
* ½ cup fresh lemon juice, (approximately 2 lemons)
* 1 cup dry shredded unsweetened coconut
* ¼ cup agave

Preparation

1. Process cashews in food processor until they are pasty in consistency.
2. Mix in all other ingredients.
3. Place 1 tablespoon cookie dollops on a dehydrator sheet.
4. Dehydrate for approximately 12 hours at 105°F (could also dehydrate at 115°F for 8-10 hours with similar result).
5. Enjoy!

Sweetener Substitutions

This list gives amounts for replacing dry granulated sugar in any recipe....

Agave nectar: replace 1 cup sugar with 1/2 cup agave nectar and reduce liquids by 1/4 cup

Brown Rice Syrup: replace 1 cup sugar with 1 to 1 1/4 cups brown rice syrup and reduce liquids by 1/4 cup

Honey: replace 1 cup sugar with 1/2 cup honey and reduce liquids by 1/4 cup

Maple Syrup: replace 1 cup sugar with 1/2 cup maple syrup and reduce liquids by 1/4 cup

Molasses: replace 1 cup sugar with 1/2 cup molasses - no need to reduce liquids

Stevia: replace 1 cup suagr with 1 teaspoon dry stevia - no need to reduce liquids

Notes from Vegetarian Journal Sept/Oct 1999

Grains are the seed bearing fruits of grasses. An inedible husk, also called chaff, is the outermost layer of the grain. When this is removed the resulting product is sometimes labeled "groats" or "berries".

"Steel cut" or "cracked" grains have been cut into smaller bits so they cook faster.

Grain flakes or rolled grains are sliced and then flattened between rollers.

Grain meal has been ground to a gritty consistency

Bolted meal has been sifted to remove bran but not the germ

De germinated meal has had both bran and germ removed.

Grits have been steamed and soaked, have had both hulls and germs removed and have been cut using rollers

All grains are low in fat and contain no cholesterol - Low in sodium (unless salt is added)

Whole grain protects against cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

Notes from Amazing Grains by Jeanne Saltzman

Botanically, "grain" covers around 8000 species of grasses - although we do not eat all of them.

In most cookbooks the term "grain" does not refer exclusively to the grass family - Quinoa, amaranth, wild rice & buckwheat are sometimes called "pseudocereals". They act like grain but are from a different botanical families.

Grain has always had a reputation of being a spiritual food

Grains - whole grains are living foods

Whole grains are valued for carbohydrate, protein, vitamins, minerals, natural fat and fiber - when these are all eaten together they work in balance. ( A refined grain does not have all the nutrients to assist the starch to nurture the body)

Variety
Variety is key to good health - if we vary our diet with many different grains instead of always relying on corn and wheat we are much less apt to develop sensitivity or allergy to the corn and wheat.

Cooking Methods
Preliminary treatments such as dry raosting, sauteing and soaking affect flavor and texture of the grain.

Long Grains
Long grains come out dry, light and fluffy. Short grains are sticky, heavy and chewy if you stick to the most common method of cooking grain (steeping) can change texture in preliminary treatments (dry roasting, sauteing and soaking) The most influential factor in controlling texture with grain is temperature

1. Combining cold liquid with raw grain can result in heavy, sticky & chewy texture
2. Hot liquid with hot grain creates a light, fluffy and individual temperature
3. Hot liquid with cold grain or cold liquid with hot grains makes a somewhat chewy yet individual (not sticky) texture

Cook beans and grains separately to insure beans are well cooked.

5 flavors can be detected by our taste buds; bitter, sweet, sour, salty & pungent. To fix an overpowering flavor in a sauce for a grain......
too bitter - add a sweet or salty flavor
too sour - add a salty sweet or pungent flavor
too salty - add a bitter or sweet flavor
too pungent - add a salty, bitter or sweet ingredient

Do not use vinegar or lemon on greens until just before serving (they will turn a bright green veggie to a drab yellow-brown) So, if your grain has an acidic dressing on it add your greens to it at the last minute.