vegan spinach dip

this is so simple, i cant believe i haven't tried it before. next time i'm going to do it with raw spinach and it will be even better!

1-2 cloves garlic
10 oz frozen spinach
3 T mayo (use vegan if you want it to be)
1 avocado chopped up
1/4 c nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

blend the garlic in the food processor first then add the rest of the stuff. serve with corn chips, veggies, or crackers

some talk about kombucha

after a couple years of experimenting i think i'm finally getting the hang of flavoring kombucha. you want to know the secret?? i've read hundreds of posts on making kombucha, looked through every website know to the fermenting world and i never got this recommendation, yet it sat in front of me the whole time. two words, FRESH and PUREE. it's right there on the back of my gt's bottles!

i've been doing lots of experimenting lately with flavors. i got a new scoby from a friend and i have to say it works a hell of a lot better than my homegrown one so i don't know if i can recommend growing your own anymore unless you absolutely cant get anything else. in fact, i will even send you one, just email me, k? anyway, flavors. . .now that i have a faster producing mother. . . i bought all kind of bottled juice and they never seemed to come out right. i made an awesome one with fresh pressed apple juice and ginger last year but i don't have my juicer anymore so i thought . . . how about puree, in fact the strawberry and mango gt"s lists puree on their labels, hmmm . . .
here's some combo's i've tried
-leftover breakfast smoothie: banana, mango, strawberry, with fresh oj. that one rocked.
-grapes blended to a juicy puree
-strawberry/plum puree with a bit of raw honey (and yes it came out just fine with the honey)
-a blend of fresh squeezed oj and lemon juice with grated ginger

all these will be chunky unless you strain them or have one of those super blenders. i suggest you strain them after fermentation because lots of flavor comes out of the pulp while it sits around.

so go experiment! happy fermenting!

fermented salsa

got alot of tomatoes to use up? heres the perfect recipe with lots of good probiotics for you too!

start with my recipe for fresh salsa.

it will probably make a little more than a quart

in each quart of salsa add 4 tablespoons of whey

and 1/2 tablespoon of salt (nourishing traditions says 1 tablespoon, but its too salty for me)

shake it up with the top on tight and put in a dark place for 3 days (less if its really hot).

you'll know it fermenting when you start to see bubbles at the top.

it can then be kept in the fridge for months at least.

these tomatilloes were from our garden and the rest was from our local organic farm - which is almost done for the season :(

the kids helped me peel the tomatillas!

fresh salsa

my dad made this one up and ive changed it a tiny bit. you can also lacto-ferment it with a little whey at room temp for a few days. its so good right away though, especially in the summer when everything is perfectly ripe and fresh. this recipe is very loose and i generally use whatever ratio of tomatoes to tomatillos i have or sometimes just one of the two. so - make sure you do a taste test to see if its right.

2-3 large heirloom tomatoes or 5-6 romas

6 medium tomatillas, more if they're small

one medium onion

jalapeno to taste, i always use at least one but we like it hot!

1 head garlic

juice of one lemon/lime

you could chop it all by hand but i usually use a food processor. start with the garlic, process and scrape into another bowl. then do the same with the pepper, then onion, then tomatillos, then tomatoes. mix it all up and add juice. chill for an hour for the flavors to meld.

raw chocolate strawberry pie

i made up this recipe for a potluck. it came out ok. it tasted awsome, and looked good before i cut it, but it was really hard to cut. i dont know, maybe i should have let it defrost more before i cut it. i whipped the cream thinking it would make it fluffy instead of frozen solid. i think maybe i got too much milk with the cream when i skimmed it bc it didnt get fluffy like whipped cream should. any suggestions would be apreciated!

crust:

1 1/2 c coconut (flaked,no sugar added)

1 1/2 c crispy almonds (soaking nuts with salt neutralizes the phytic acid)

1/2 c ground raw cacao nibs (i used a coffee grinder)

2 Tbsp cold pressed coconut oil

2 Tbsp raw agave (wow, i went to find an article about agave and found out that theres a big debate about whether it can really be raw. i use madhava. you could use honey also)

pinch of salt

put the dry stuff in the food processor until it turns into a coarse meal. you dont want it to turn into butter. add the coconut oil and agave. process till it starts to stick together.

press into a pie plate and put in the freezer.

filling:

4 Tbsp coconut oil

1/2 c raw cacao powder

4 Tbsp raw agave

1 1/2 c raw cream whipped

2 c strawberries, cut up into slices plus some for garnish

melt the coconut oil on super low. just enough to melt it. mix in cacao and agave till theres no lumps. fold in whipped cream and strawberries. pour into crust and freeze till its hard enough to stay together but easy to cut!

all raw ice cream

ive been wanting to try this for a long time. and it came out pretty good! here in new hampshire farmers can sell their milk to who ever they want even if its not pasturized. in many states this is not possible and you have to use loopholes to get raw milk. so we found a great family here with two beautiful gernsey cows who sell the milk that they cant use. we got our first batch last week and it was SO good. the cream is so yellow right now with all the spring growth and gurnseys also produce extra yellow cream.
i think that raw milk, raw eggs, cacao, and raw local honey are all such healthful foods - why not put them together! i havent found any raw cream yet and didnt want to skim my milk but if you have some substitute 1 1/2 c with the milk. it will make it much creamier and more like regular ice cream. the all whole milk version came out damn good though.


RAW CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM:

3 3/4 c whole raw milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 c cacao powder (chocolate that has not been roasted)
1/2 c - 3/4 c raw honey (i used 1/2 c and it was fine. if you tend to like things sweeter add more)
(1 tsp vanilla extract - optional. are vanilla beans roasted? i dont know. oh well its only a teaspoon!)

blend in the blender till the honey is all mixed in. i then put it into my ice cream maker for churning. if you dont have one you could just put it in the freezer and mix it up every once in a while. the more you mix the creamier it will be but you do want it to stay cold too.