raw flaxseed crackers

I've had flaxseed crackers at a few restaurants and decided to try making them myself. I followed this recipe: 2 c. flaxseeds, ~2 c. water, 1/4 c. tamari, and whatever flavorings you like. Mix all ingredients and soak flaxseeds for 2 hours or more, adding additional water as necessary. You'd like the soaked mixture to be a pourable goo, but not too runny. Then spread thinly (~1/8") on plastic dehydrator sheets ("paraflexx" or "teflex") and set to 110ºF. Dehydrate for 4–6 hours, then flip and dehydrate for another 3–4 hours. Our used dehydrator only came with one sheet (fine for a halved recipe), so I had to improvise: I cut parchment paper into circles with holes in the middle.

 
The parchment paper actually ended up working better than the plastic sheet! It allowed the bottom to dry more and made flipping much easier. A doubled recipe (4 c. flaxseed) will fill 5 levels of the dehydrator.

My favorite flavorings to add are lime juice and chili powder. I did one batch with lots of black pepper, liquid smoke, and fennel, and I swear it tasted like beef jerky (or at least tofu jerky).

raw taco salad

Yet another attempt at raw food here. I soaked pistachios and walnuts for a day. Then I ground them up with red onion, carrot, and taco seasoning and made a salad of local greenhouse arugula and non-local red peppers.

I definitely enjoyed this meal. Nuts + taco seasoning = success. Though crunchy tortilla chips would have made it even better...

raw hummus with flax crackers

Since beans are such a cheap source of protein compared to nuts, I decided I would focus my second attempt at raw food preparation on beans. I went with a basic hummus with a few raw modifications. The ingredients were the same - garbonzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt. One difference was that instead of cooking the beans, you sprout them. To do this you soak them overnight and then drain them. Then for 2-3 days you rinse and drain them every 8 hours until they have a little tail. You can buy raw tahini at a store or you can soak sesame seeds in water a couple hours before you blend everything.

My review - the raw hummus was pretty good, but I am going to stick with cooked hummus because it is creamy and delicious. Not having to boil the beans was nice though... I've read that many raw peeps make a "hummus" from zucchini or some other non-bean thing for the creamy goodness, but that sort of skirts my quest for cheap, raw protein.

Oh, the best thing I learned from this experiment was that raw flax crackers are delicious! We bought ours from the store but making them at home is supposed to be super easy - dehydrator, flax seeds, water, flavors. Good thing I just found a dehydrator at the thrift store!

raw gingerbread men

I know, I know, it's a little early to be talking about holiday cookies but ever since the stores started stocking holiday treats a week ago (eggnog, candy canes, holiday chocolates) I've been craving gingerbread men. I felt a little played by the system so I figured I would satisfy my gingerbread craving in a nonstandard way - with raw gingerbread men.

In a food processor, I blended up almonds, dates, honey, oil, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and a pinch of salt. Then I rolled out the mixture and shaped some raw treats!

***side note: I am exploring raw food preparation because it is an entertaining change of pace with different flavors and textures. On a whole, I personally will stick to my rice and beans (and local, seasonal fruits and vegetable) diet because I think it is more affordable, practical, and ethical. From what I can tell, raw foodists rely on a lot of nuts ($$) and non-seasonal produce.

bike trip to fort collins

Over Labor Day weekend we went on a bike vacation to Fort Collins (50 miles each way). We rode Saturday morning, stayed overnight Saturday and Sunday nights, and rode again on Monday morning.

On our way there, as we got closer and closer to downtown Fort Collins, we encountered more and more costumed people on bikes. It turned out that Tour de Fat was going on that very day. We caught the tail end of things but at least we got to see a giant puppet of Tony Danza give the crowd a hug!

In addition to New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins has Odell Brewing Co and Fort Collins Brewery. After checking out Tour de Fat we headed over to Odell's to sample 12 of their beers. Aww yeah!

It would only be a slight exaggeration to say that we ate tempeh for every meal. Avogadro's Number makes their own tempeh which they serve in their restaurant and distribute across town (picture from the Fort Collins Food Co-op).

We ate at many veg friendly restaurants. One of the restaurants we ate at was Tasty Harmony. We were excited by their raw menu items so we got the raw vegan cheeseburger with onion triangles and sprouted chickpea hummus followed by a slice of raw coconut cream pie. We decided it would be fun to start preparing more raw foods so you might be seeing more of that kind of thing around here.

Other than eating and drinking in Fort Collins, we mostly just relaxed and meandered. We happened upon a bike show in an art gallery and a film at Lyric Cinema - an independent movie theater. Maybe someday Boulder will have an independent movie theater...

On our ride home, we slowly approached what at first was a funny little cloud behind a mountain. Later the cloud consumed the entire horizon. It was from the wild fire in the mountains just west of Boulder. So spectacular and solemn!