New Buffalo, Michigan

My pal Alex and I took a spontaneous roadtrip to New Buffalo, Michigan a few weeks back and it was just what the doctor ordered.

More photos here.

Laying in Fresh Grass

If I could only share how good this smelled...imagine.

Morla

So on a nice spring walk in Virginia last month, I came across this:



And without question, it made me think of this:



Which of course made me smile...

Raw Style: Bacon, Bacon, Bacon

I grew up on meats and the one that I miss most, only flavor-wise, is bacon. I enjoy creating recipes that taste as close to my old unhealthy loves as much as possible. After researching this recipe and making my own adjustments and additions, I have been able to bring that salty crunch back into my life. My new obsession is the raw BLT, and I do intend to share that recipe with you all soon too, so stay tuned.

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serving size: makes a casserole dish full o’ bacon
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Tools needed:
Juicer
Dehydrator
Mandoline Slicer

What you need:
3/4-1 cup fresh beet juice (2-3 medium beets or 1-2 large beets)
1 large eggplant
2/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp raw honey (can use raw agave nectar instead)
4 tbsp Ume Plum Vinegar
1/2 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt (can use regular Sea Salt instead)

Let’s get started:
Wash your eggplant and beets well. Run your beets through the juicer and set the juice aside. Don’t forget to admire the amazing color.



Slice your eggplant lengthwise to create 4 long wedges. Then carefully take those wedges and slice your eggplant into long strips with you Mandoline slicer. Achtung! The Mandoline blade is extremely sharp and wants to eat your fingers. Be very careful.



Let’s create the marinade. Place your fresh beet juice, olive oil, sea salt, vinegar and honey into a casserole dish and stir until completely mixed. Please note that the marinade will not look uniform in color because of the oil. Just mix all of the ingredients until they are blended to the best of your ability. You can always add a step if you wish, and blend your marinade on low speed in the blender too.

Now, I have not tried this yet, but I bet if you add a tsp or two of Liquid Smoke to the marinade, you may get somethin' reeeeal special. Of course, Liquid Smoke is not raw, so if you are super strict with your rawness, skip this suggestion.



Pour a little bit of your marinade into a bowl. Dip a slice of eggplant into this bowl, coating both sides with the marinade, and then place your dipped slice eggplant into the casserole dish. Repeat with all strips of eggplant, creating layers of coated eggplant until all slices are nestling in marinade in your casserole dish. Pour the marinade from your dipping bowl on top of the eggplant. Cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap, or a cloth and place in the fridge. Marinate for 8 hours. Every 2-4 hours re-coat the strips with marinade by spooning the marinade from the bottom of the dish onto your strips. You could also flip the pieces in the dish with a spatula as well. Whatever works. Just coat.



After the slices have marinated, place your “bacon” flat on Teflex sheets on your dehydrator trays.



Dehydrate for 4 hours anywhere from 95-110 degrees. After 4 hours, you will want to transfer your “bacon” from the Teflex sheets to the dehydrator screens so the air can get to both sides of the “bacon”. To do this, simply place a dehydrator tray with the screen (shown bottom left) on top of your “bacon” that is already on the teflex sheet and dehydrator tray. Place one hand underneath the Teflex tray and one on top of the screen tray. Quickly flip (see post-flipped position bottom right). Remove the top tray and then peel back the Teflex and your “bacon” should be resting proudly on the screen. Pop the tray back in the dehydrator for another 4 hours.



Keep checking on your “bacon” and when it is super crispy, you are good to go and you can turn off your dehydrator. If you reach the 8-hour mark and your “bacon” is still not crispy enough, keep dehydrating until you reach the crunch-factor that will make you happy. You can keep your “bacon” in a covered glass dish on the counter or in your pantry since it is dried. You can also keep it in the fridge.

Crumble your “bacon” on salads, spread some almond butter on manna bread and top with “bacon”, munch on it plain, make a BLT with your “bacon” (inspiredbyeverything BLT recipe coming soon)...

Please improvise with this recipe if you wish. Try adding the Liquid Smoke. Try raw maple syrup instead of honey or agave. Use less olive oil. Just have fun with it, make it tasty and share your improvisation findings with me!

Virginia

Look how beautiful Virginia can be in the springtime. Entire Flickr set here.

Quiet

If you listen carefully you can hear the monstrous purring...

Raw Style: Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream

This raw, non-dairy ice cream recipe tastes just like a cinnamon bun with vanilla icing. It is so yummy, that didn't last two days in my freezer and I'm not ashamed about that. Why? Because it is super hydrating and full of live, nutrient-rich fats and sugars that my body wants and needs. Plus, no ice cream maker is necessary for this super creamy recipe.

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makes approx. 4 cups
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Tools needed:
Blender

What you need:
4 cups of raw unfrozen Vanilla Ice Cream mixture (recipe is here)
4 tbsp raw maple syrup (can use raw dark agave nectar instead)
1/4 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt (can use regular Sea Salt instead)
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Let’s get started:
Prepare your cinnamon swirl sauce by mixing maple syrup, sea salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Transfer the sauce to a container or tiny pitcher (a container for creamer works well) that makes it easy to pour. Pour your vanilla ice cream mixture into a bowl and carefully pour cinnamon swirl sauce in a—you guessed it—swirly pattern into your vanilla ice cream mixture.



Cover your container, place in freezer and once your creation is frozen, go to town. And be kind, share this recipe with others!

Note: Because there is nothing creepy in this recipe (like monosodiumglutomomaterednofive), depending on your freezer temp, the ice cream could become very hard. Take your container out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes and then get to scooping. After a little time outside of the freezer, that creamy, scoopable consistency that we all love will arrive.

It is Beautiful Here

A video I made last week. Le sigh.