Supreme a Grapefruit!

Once I saw how easy it was to supreme a grapefruit, I've never looked back! It works on oranges of all types, lemons and limes, too! A really useful kitchen skill, minimum work, easy technique. Here is how it goes...

Using a SHARP knife, cut both ends off the grapefruit, make sure to get to the "meat". Then holding it sort of on edge, start at the top and cut down around to the bottom. This takes a tiny bit of practice, but isn't difficult.
Continue on around...

...until you have a nekkid grapefruit! If there is still the white rind left on in a few places, it's ok but you can go back and slice that off. Sharp knives are a MUST in the kitchen!!

Pro chefs then slice each segment out, and it's not hard - just loses some of the nice juice. So I separate each segment one at a time, and peel the membrane off - it is pretty easy.

Takes a little longer to peel the membrane than to slice, but the end result is the same...a lovely sparkling bowl of delicious refreshing grapefruit!

Protein Boost

Greens have a surprising amount of available protein - in the form of amino acids, which are protein building blocks. There are times when I want a protein boost and turn to a quality supplement, such as hemp. Sometimes I just use hemp seeds, sprinkled on soup or salads. Since I have a green smoothie daily, hemp powder is usually my go-to for that extra protein.

I really like Manitoba Harvest hemp powders. The processing is done without heat, preserving all the nutrients of powerhouse hemp. Texture is a tiny bit grainy but not really noticable in amidst the greens and fruits.

I order the hemp seeds and powder directly from the source in Canada, although I have found a few "local" (over 50 miles away) healthfood stores or herb stores that do carry Manitoba Harvest products. The small shipping cost more than offsets the price of gas, which is another reason to mail-order!

Explore several types of hemp products (seeds, oil, powders) at http://manitobaharvest.com/. They have really good sales and promotions from time to time. A quality company, great service!

Green Cleaning - with a hint of Yellow

"Green" is all the rage now. Building green, driving green, etc.

I like to EAT green! I use a lot of fresh lemon juice, so there are those nice yellow rinds left over. One can eat only so much grated lemon zest.

Here's the perfect "GREEN" solution: clean the garbage disposal using the lemon rinds!
I cut up the rinds into 1-2" pieces, keep them in a little bowl on the sink. A couple times a day, several go down "George the Gobbler" to keep his gullet clean and smelling like - well, lemons!

Cleaning Green was never so easy. Or so Yellow.

Bless my Bones!

"Becoming Raw" is a wonderful reference book, a text for learning a lot of raw details about nutrition and food facts. The info is scientifically based, with references, footnotes, the whole shebang. A lot of reading and pondering, but well worth the time.

The handful of recipes are balanced, tasty, practical. It's an education just reading the menus and recipes!

Here's one of my latest forays into summery salads using greens fresh (ultimate gourmet!) from our garden:

The recipe is titled: Build-Your-Bones Salad . (I modified the assembly.)

Toss in large bowl: 2-3 c. EACH thinly sliced kale and/or collard greens, chopped napa cabbage, chopped broccoli florets, thinly sliced red cabbage

Put greens mix into one of those green veggie keeper bags to store in frig.

When ready to have a yummy lunch or dinner, put torn romaine into your salad bowl, add big handfuls of the crucifer mix. Top with chopped red peppers, and optionally, some chopped peeled cucumber and tomato. This makes huge salads, filling and oh-so-lovely and nutritious!

By keeping the crucifers and romaine separate, the base mix will last longer, and the lettuce won't get ugly! This makes a pile of greens, you can eat out of the bag all week - a blessing for those who are working and come home famished!

I chose, from the 8 dressing recipes, Liquid Gold dressing.

Blend well: 1/2 c. EACH flaxseed (or hempseed oil), fresh lemon juice, water; 1/3 c. nutritional yeast flakes; 1/4 c. tamari; 1-2 T gound flaxseed; 2 tsp. Dijon mustard; 4 tsp. maple syrup or other sweetener; 1 tsp. cumin.

Store in glass jar in frig for up to 2 weeks.

I also sprinkled on a couple tablespoons of Nama Shoyu Crunchies:

Soak 4-6 hours 2 c. sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or almonds, or a MIX of them. (NOTE: you don't HAVE to soak them, just improves amino acid balance and gives lovely texture.

Drain well. Put in bowl, sprinkle with 1 T. nama shoyu or tamari, stir to mix well. Spread evenly on mesh sheets on dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for about 12 hours, or until crisp. Stored airtight in frig or freezer, they'll keep for about 6 months.

Although why anyone would let 2 little cups of these yummies hang around that long is a mystery to me...

Minty Good Morning!

Not the best photo, but I was in a hurry. In fact I started drinking my greenie before I remembered I wanted to take a snap of it...

I really like this one, have it often right now, because the mint is rampant in the herb pots and borders.

In the VitaMix: 1 banana (frozen or not), 1 c. fresh pineapple (frozen or not), about 2 c. spinach, and the star of the show: 2-4 nice mint leaves depending on your minty taste buds. Blitz smooth, and ENJOY!

Mango Banana Tango

If you've any passion at all for a ripe MANGO, this is one to try. And so simple.

You don't even need an ice cream maker.

Pop 4 ripe (that means FRECKLED SKIN, folks, no greenies here) bananas into the freezer. I usually peel and cut them up first. Some folks freeze with skin on. Run them under some water to defrost the skin, they peel fairly easily then.


Likewise, with a couple of ripe mangos - peeled and cut into chunks, and into the freezer. You want about 2 cups of mango. Or fetch some from the frozen food department at your market.


Question of the day: how can you tell if a mango is ripe? IT WEEPS for you! Truly. Look at the stem end. If you don't see some shiny sticky nectar marks around the stem, sometimes even running down the side, it ain't ripe!

ANYWAY. Back to ice cream. Oh yes, we're making ice cream.

When the fruit is frozen, put it all in your food processor with the S-blade. Blitz until it turns into a frozen ice cream confection. You may have to push it down a few times.

Purty stuff, eh? I borrowed the photos, not to mention the recipe, from one of my fav blogs, http://rawon10.blogspot.com/ .

Those are marigold petals. Yep, you can eat marigolds. Some are tastier than others. Or just use them for garnish to prettify a dish. Won't poison you, and sooo easy!

OK. Thhhhhats all, folks. Go forth and gather you some RIPE bananas and mangos.

Sweetie Balls

Sometimes the tastebuds just want a good hit of SWEET! These yummy little balls are not only raw, made with nuts and dried fruits, they rank about a 12 on the 10 scale of satisfying that clamoring tastebud. Easy to make, the ingredients are all things that reside in my raw pantry.

In a food processor, pulverize:

1/2 c. organic raisins

3/4 c. walnuts

1/2 c. dried pitted dates (Medjool are perfect for this recipe)

1/2 c. dried apricots, unsulphered (OR, use dried FIGS - my preference!)

2 T. fresh squeezed orange juice

zest from one orange (microplane is the tool to reach for...)

Process a few minutes,until the mixture clumps together. If your fruits are especially dry, you may start the processing, let it set for 30 minutes to soak, then continue to process until it gobs up.

Place about 2/3 c. dry unsweetened shredded coconut on a saucer. Roll the fruit/nut mixure into small balls (about a tsp.), roll in the coconut,

Store the balls in one layer in a sealable container.

Just one of these little sweeties is so very satisfying. Chewy, lovely flavor with a zing from the orange zest.

It's not hard to pass up the chocolate bars with this in hand...honest!