Cashew Cream Raw-cipe - Thanks Erin!

Cashew Cream

1 cup raw unsalted cashews
1/2 cup water
2 T lemon juice
1 tsp agave nectar
1/2 rounded tsp salt

Instructions: Soak cashews in water overnight, drain, add all ingredients to the food processor/blender and process until smooth, scraping down the sides periodically. That's it!

This is delicious in place of sour cream. It's not an "exact" match but it is creamy goodness!

Thanks to my friend, Erin Michaud, for this yummy raw-cipe!

CSA share week 6/28 - More Greens My Sweet Pea

This week was the first pick-your-own for our farm share. Three varieties of peas to tickle the senses; sweet peas, field peas, and snow peas. My son and I spent about an hour picking them today. I think he ate more than went in our bag. This was somewhat of a miracle since I don't think he has ever voluntarily eaten a pea in his life. He was really delighted to see how much the plants have grown since we helped to see them in the early spring. He was very enthused to admire his handiwork while munching away. Also in this week's share were the following:

• 2 Chinese cabbage
• 4 heads of lettuce
• 1/2 lb bok choi
• 3 squash
• mustard greens

We're enjoying the greens while they are here. The season will be over soon as things will heat up quickly from here.

Kid-Approved Super Strawberry Applesauce!

The kids and I went strawberry picking last week at a local family farm. It was the perfect spring day. Sunny and seventy degrees. Not a cloud in the sky. I had my one-year old daughter on my back for a while in her Beco carrier. She determined that I could not supply her with strawberries fast enough, however, and demanded to be allowed to wander the rows to pick her own. My son skipped along beside her, protective as always, picking "perfect strawberries" for her to eat. I managed to pick seven pounds of some of the sweetest and juiciest strawberries I've ever tasted before the kids were ready to move onto petting the goats.

I experimented with making strawberry applesauce to great success. As a bonus, I was able to use six apples I had hanging out in the fruit drawer of the refrigerator. (You know, the ones that are are a bit too mealy to be really enjoyed eaten fresh.)  I used this recipe as a base. I doubled it and modified it as follows:

• Added 10 to 15 strawberries
• Cut the sugar in half (While it tastes lovely, I think next time I will skip it altogether or try using agave.)
• Skipped the cinnamon.
• Since my son is very sensitive to texture, I pureed the applesauce after it cooled. I actually think this improved the blend of flavors as well.

I froze two quarts of berries. I can't wait until fall to add them to some batches of applesauce made during apple picking season. That is, if they last that long.

Addictive Gluten Free, Soy Free, Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

On my quest for yummy gluten free, soy free, vegan non-processed foods, I find I'm back to making my own baked goods. I realized that sugar is not a whole or non-processed ingredient. However, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do. I pulled out some of the roasted pumpkin I processed and froze last fall for these muffins. Delicious! I used this recipe as a base.  I applied the following modifications:

• Egg replacer in lieu of the eggs and mixed in last.
• I doubled the amount of spices.
• I used Bob's Red Mill all-purpose gluten free flour mix in place of all-purpose flour.
• I swaped out 1/2 cup of the sugar for brown sugar.
• I swapped 1/4 cup vegetable oil for 1/8 cup coconut oil. (Note: I will try apple sauce on my next batch to see if I can bring the fat content down even more.)
• I only used a 1/4 cup rice milk chocolate chips from Enjoy Life.

The results are really good. I have had two and had to make myself stop! I imagine you could also use this basic recipe for zucchini chocolate chip muffins, which will come in handy this CSA season. I only made one batch as I was trying out the recipe. Next time I will definitlel double the batch and freeze them.

Really? Kale Chips?

Last week I was confronted with the first of what will likely be bushels of kale from my CSA farm. Fourteen stems of dinosaur kale.

I will interject here that it was not until I was in my mid 20's that I willingly tried greens. My only exposure to greens as a child was of the frozen-spinach-boiled-for-about-a-half-an-hour-before-being-unceremoniously-plopped-into-a-serving-bowl variety. (Sorry to out you mom.) At a yoga center I was turned on to kale as an addition to miso and rice soup.

On the drive home I considered my options. I had a vision of my meat-and-cheese loving son relishing the kale. As I started to dismiss the thought a phrase came to the forefront of my conciousness.

"Kale chips."

I'd heard raves about them from several of my friends. The prior week our CSA farm manager sent out a recipe for them. I had never been able to decide if I thought they sounded appealing. Intriging. Weird. Considering they were baked with oil and salt, how bad could they be?

As it turns out, kale chips are illogically delicious. It defies my imagination how placing kale in the oven for ten minutes can transform an astringent yet pleasant tasting leaf into something that is so delectible I can't stop eating it until it is gone. Both my children devoured them. A greens success story!

Searching the internet, I found many recipes for them. Experimenting a bit, I have some recommendations. I worked from this basic kale chips recipe.

• I found that 375 degrees for 10 minutes was a good base to work from.
• Careful rinsing of the kale and spinning it completely dry in the salad spinner is essential.
• Make sure to rip the leaves into small, bite-sized pieces. The first batch I made didn't cook evenly because some of the peices were too big and folded over during the cooking, leaving a portion overcooked and a portion undercooked. By creating the small peices, you can ensure an even layer of leaves on the cooking sheet and thus even cooking.
• The second batch I made I used a spray can of olive oil rather than drizzeling the oil and then mixing the greens. The first batch I followed the drizzel method. I think I was a little heavy-handed with the oil. It left some of the leaves soggy and it took the a long time to cook as a result. The spray, however, allowed for a more even disribution of the oil. I also used much less oil overall. This made for crispy chips in less cooking time.
• Take care to carefully monitor the cooking. Thirty seconds can make the difference between beautiful brown chips crisped and concentrated to perfection and charcoal. I suggest doing a test run to guage the cooking time in your oven.

These chips are best right out of the oven but do keep decently in a sealed bag.

I'm so excited to have this recipe in my aresenal now. This is a great way to enjoy greens and a great alternative when you just want to much. Much healthier than my biggest downfall, potato chips. I won't go so far as to say they are equivalent. However, they are very satisfying. What is more exciting is that my kids love them. How wonderful that they are learning to enjoy whole real food snacks.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we are!

CSA share week 6/22 - Greens Galore!

After an afternoon swim, the kids and I went to pick up this week's share from our CSA farm. My son was so excited to visit his friends and they put him right to work packing flats with soil for the new seedings. This week's share was lush and it is only the third week!

• 1 large bunch of turnips with greens
• 1 large bunch of plain leave kale
• 1/2 lb mixed salad greens
• 1/2 lb arugala
• 1/4 lb "Japanese" salad greens
• 4 heads of lettuce (both romaine and red leaf)
• 1 head cauliflower
• all he curly leaf kale I could carry!

Next week we're looking forward to picking peas in the field.