For the first time in many years, I have been making holiday treats, giving them to friends and clients. Yes, I have eaten a few as well. Do I feel guilty or do I feel as if I am leading my friends down the sugary road to somewhere bad ? No. There are many many ways to indulge in some holiday cheer. I use nuts, honey, stevia, coconut oil, really good raw cacao, all organic of course.

The internet abounds with recipes and ideas galore! I owe a tip of the hat to Wardeh of GNOWGFLINS for her egg nog recipe which of course I have changed up a bit. Thanks to her commenters, too, who added their own taste.

Egg Nog
raw, real, no sugar, lacto fermented

4 cups of milk ( raw and fresh is best. I used 3 c. raw cow’s milk, 1 cup of heavy cream. You could use goats’ milk, coconut milk, make your own almond milk…)
8 yolks from eggs from pasture raised chickens ( I used 7 as some of the eggs were pretty large) ( As I have commented many times on this blog, when your eggs are fresh, local, from the pasture, there is no problem with eating the yolks raw. The chemistry of the whites is such that they are better for you when cooked)
stevia to taste ( I used the liquid kind and used 3 dropperfuls)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp or so of freshly grated nutmeg
2 T. whey

Combine and mix in your blender. This filled one quart jar and one pint jar with a bit for the cook to taste. Let sit on the counter overnight or 24 hours. Shake well and pour into a beautiful glass. Go ahead and top with whipped cream and/or add a spoonful of alcohol ( rum, whiskey, some sort of liqueur)

Leave for Santa or not. I like to think the old guy might be ready for something lighter so I plan to offer him some fresh made juice. I recently made some for my cooking service, http://healthalchemykitchen.com ( called moving into winter juice, if you Santa Cruz folks would like to order some) I combined, in the blender, purified water, a Mutsu apple, 2 kiwis, 3 stalks of celery, a small amount of peeled celery root, and about an inch knob of ginger. Blend until liquified, strain, and drink.

I found a lovely cookie recipe in the cookbook, Sweet and Natural, by Meredith McCarty. Of course, I switched some things around.

Linzertorte Cookies

2 c. nuts, soaked, then lightly toasted and as finely ground as you can get them. ( I used purchased almond meal) ( can use almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts)
1 c. oatmeal, finely ground
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt ( I probably used a bit more, I didn’t measure!)
1/2 c. melted butter or coconut oil
1 egg
2 T. water
3 droppers of liquid stevia ( or if you want 1/4. cup honey)
1 tsp. orange zest
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. fruit sweetened jam ( raspberry is traditional, I also used ginger jam – NOT fruit sweetened but oh so yummy.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment or brush with oil.

Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients together and add to dry. The dough is not very wet but you should be able to form balls easily. Roll into 1 1/2 in. ( ish) balls. Transfer to baking sheet. Flatten a bit and press thumb in middle. You make have to fix some cracks and form what looks like the caldera of a volcano. Fill indentations with jam.

Bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

Ho, Ho, Ho!! Enjoy a peaceful moment with a healthy beverage and some guilt free cookies . If Santa is lucky, there will be some left for him. Don’t forget the carrots for the reindeer.

First, my camera seems to be out of commission so I have scoured the archives instead of taking pictures at the market today.

Cabrillo Farmer’s Market ( today I went to the downtown Santa Cruz market, but you get the idea)

I have been out of town the last few weeks and eating other peoples’ cooking. Add to that the fact that summer produce is at its peak, I got a bit carried away today at the Farmers’ Market. I had two very full and heavy bags! My refrigerator is full and now I have to be on top of things so that none of it goes to waste. I thought I would go through my purchases with you and my plans for them.

I am hungry for fruit this week. I bought strawberries which honestly will probably just be eaten as is. I am surprised I didn’t eat all of them already! Windmill Farms of Live Oak has the best berries I have ever eaten! Yum.

I bought plums, a new to me variety called Yummy Giants and yes, they are. They are for a cooking trade with a friend and will become hand pies.

I bought lacinato kale, basil, cilantro, and cucumbers from Route 1 Farms. I ate some of the kale tonight with green beans also gotten at the market from Mell-o-dee Ranch, from whom I also got some eggs, corn,  and blackberries. The eggs are going into some homemade mayonnaise amongst some other things. Basil and Cilantro will become pesto, which I have written about here. Cucumbers are being combined with lemons from my tree to become soda. ( a future blog post there) The corn is being pickled tomorrow, based on a variety of recipes I found on the internet. ( also, a future blog post, provided I get my camera working!) Blackberries will be blended with some kefir tomorrow morning for a smoothie.

I treated myself to some raw cream from Claravale Dairy. I am lactose intolerant but occasionally I put raw cream in my coffee substitute drink in the morning and it doesn’t seem to affect me in the same mucus-y way that pasteurized dairy does. We are so lucky here in this part of California to have this dairy . Almost daily, I read on the internet stories of raw milk dairies being raided, shut down by the FDA. Please educate yourself on this subject and support your small local dairies.

I came home with a nice sized newly “processed” pasture raised chicken and a small bag of chicken feet from Fogline Farms in Soquel, Ca. I will roast the chicken and have enough for probably 4 meals. I am likely to eat the legs and thighs as is. I will make some chicken and fig salad from the breast. Then, the carcass and some of the feet will be turned into delicious chicken bone broth. That, in turn, will go in the freezer for future use.

I also got carrots and radishes which will go into salad and just for munching. Thanks, Blue Heron Farm.

A bottle of Mint Cooler from Creative Cultures rounded out my purchases. After momentarily forgetting where my car was parked and having to carry those heavy bags a few more blocks than planned, it gave me a boost for sure!

Please use the comment section to share what you have gotten recently at your farmers’ market.

I was presented with the idea of doing a cleanse/raw food challenge as an opportunity to give my digestive system a break from starchy carbohydrates, heavy meat, cooked food, and as an opportunity to change things up and maybe kickstart some weight loss. I bravely decided to do 10 days of raw food. This is not a vegan raw diet. I am including raw dairy, raw fish, and raw egg yolks. Read about the benefits of eating raw eggs here. I emphasize that they MUST be pastured eggs, local and fresh.

Currently I am at the half way point. So far, so good. I have been face to face with lots of food cravings. I have found myself staring at cookies or at the deli counter in the grocery stores. I have not been hungry and I have eaten some really good and interesting things.

In doing some research on some raw breakfast ideas, I came across a few recipes for Chia seed “pudding”. Chia seeds are an excellent source of amino acids as well as having the interesting quality of turning gelatinous when soaked. Taking what I liked from those recipes, I came up with this delicious pudding that really could be eaten anytime of day.

Chia Seed Pudding

1 cup raw milk ( this could be any kind of nut or seed milk, coconut milk, raw cow’s milk, goat… I used goat’s milk kefir as I wanted the probiotic benefits of the kefir)

1/3 c chia seeds

1/4 c chopped dried figs ( next time, I will leave this out and just mix with fresh fruit)

1 tsp. raw local honey ( or more, depending on your sweet tooth)

the seeds and scrapings from half a vanilla bean ( or if you don’t care about it all being raw, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract)

1 T. flax oil

MIx all the above ingredients in a jar with a good fitting lid. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Shake it a few times, if you have time . In the morning, it will be nice and thick and the seeds will have swollen and softened. Eat as is, or mix with a raw egg yolk or two, and serve on top of a cup or so of fresh fruit of your choice.

( This would be good with some cinnamon or ground ginger added. You could add a few spoonsful of raw cacao or carob powder, too.)

This post is part of GNOWFGLINS  Tuesday Twister. Please head over there and read the other fabulous posts.

]]> http://forlifepersonalchef.com/2010/07/25/raw-food-challenge/feed/ 0 http://forlifepersonalchef.com/2010/06/24/new-usda-food-guidelines/ http://forlifepersonalchef.com/2010/06/24/new-usda-food-guidelines/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 03:34:49 +0000 Charity http://forlifepersonalchef.com/?p=643 Who to believe ?

The USDA recently revised their dietary guidelines once again. And, once again, they are so far off the mark of what constitutes a healthy diet. I have been researching nutrition for a long time and in the last few years discovered the work of Dr. Weston Price. He advocated eating a traditional diet of meat, fats such as butter, lard, coconut oil, raw dairy products, lots of vegetables and fruit, and staying away from grains and any processed foods. I know some of you have issues and your own ideas about the fats but once you read the research and once you start eating that way, you will change your mind.

In a brief summary, the new guidelines advise the reduction of saturated fat even further, the further reduction of salt, advocates increasing the consumption of grains and low fat products and dairy.

As you can imagine there has been much discussion of this in the blogosphere and twitterverse ( this post I especially like).  My comments are that history shows us that obesity rates rose significantly after the introduction of the world of lowfat foods. And that the USDA has many ties to the food industry so the individuals involved in making these decisions benefit greatly financially from encouraging people to eat processed food!

I encourage you to read the new guidelines here and the comments from the Weston Price Foundation here . I also encourage you to leave your comments. We need to be educated and not let the government continue to wreak havoc with our health and with the livelihoods of the small farmers . We all stand to lose from these new guidelines, and I don’t mean weight!

This post is part of the Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.    

oh my goodness! I just ate one of the best things I have made in a very long time. I have been working very hard lately at cleaning up my already pretty clean diet. I am doing this by making sure I get enough seasonal vegetables, and that I get enough “good” fats that I am not tempted by the “bad” ones. This root vegetable gratin satisfies both of those requirements as well as the need for creative deliciousness. Good for both the cook and the eater!

Ever since those darn hippies emerged in the 60′s and began to ask for  healthier food that comes straight from the land, raw milk products have been controversial.  Personally, I have been using raw cream several times a week for the last 6 months. “Regular” milk and cheese cause me much phlegm, not so the raw cream,it being much easier to digest.  I often have a cup of ginger tea with the cream in the evening and it has become a satisfying “dessert”.  Yes, it is expensive but that is because Big Agra keeps it that way.

I have written before about root vegetables and their nutritional values. They are available in the farmers’ markets this time of year and through the winter.

If you are a regular reader ( and if you are not, why not??) you followed my Pantry Challenge progress. In cleaning out my cupboard, I found many unopened packages of various kinds of seaweed. This is another vegetable I have been adding into my diet, though somewhat haphazardly, as evidenced by the products in the cupboard. I wanted to bring in this salty as well as nutritious element into this dish.

Root Vegetable Gratin

serves 4

1 large turnip, 1/2 in. slices ( I didn’t bother to peel it)

1 medium celery root, 1/2 in. slices ( this, I peeled!)

1 medium burdock root, peeled and cut into 1/2 in pieces

2 large carrots, cut on the diagonal in 1/2 in slices

1/2c. dulse

1 c. raw cream

1/4c. raw tahini

1 T herbes de provence 

1 tsp. olive oil

1/2c. grated parmesan cheese

I blanched the vegetables, cooking them in boiling water for a few minutes. Drain. Use the olive oil to coat the bottom of a 9×9 baking pan. Layer the vegetables in the dish. In a small saucepan, heat the cream , tahini, and herbes, letting it simmer and thicken for a few minutes. Pour the sauce over the vegetables. Sprinkle the top with the cheese. Bake in a preheated 350º oven for 15 minutes until sauce is bubbly and the cheese is browned.

I didn’t use any salt because both the cheese and the dulse are salty. You could certainly add pepper and/or other herbs of your choice. So, don’t be afraid of raw milk products, and don’t be afraid of sea vegetables!