Day Five and into Six

Yesterday morning I was inspired to do something with the acorn squash that has been sitting around for a while now. I thought I might try to make something along the lines of a carrot salad or maybe something that would taste reminiscent of candied yams, so I processed the squash with raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg. When I tasted it, it seemed tart -- weird since none of the ingredients alone is tart -- so I decided it needed something creamy to balance it out. Since I didn't have any nut milk handy I thought I'd try adding almonds and water. That did the trick, but the result had been processed so much it seemed more like cookie dough than a salad, so cookies it was: with the help of my daughter I made it into patties and popped them in the dehydrator. The result was yummy! Even my 3 year old enjoyed them, which is the real test. Here's the resulting recipe:

Raw Autumn Squash Cookies In the food processor until doughy: acorn squash or other fall squash raisins nutmeg cinnamon water Add and process until broken up: almonds Form into small cookie-sized patties and dehydrate at around 110 degrees until cookies are chewy but not sticky.

You'll notice I don't really put measurements on my recipes -- that's because raw (un)cooking invites experimentation, which is part of what I love about it. You can taste along the way and be fairly certain what you're tasting will be close to the taste of the end result, so use the quantities that taste right to you.

My chili experiment from yesterday turned out really well -- though I would change a couple things next time: I'd eliminate the sprouted lentils which retained their crunchy state and didn't add the beaniness I'd hoped, and I'd eliminate the broccoli, which my husband said gave it a funny bitterness. My daughter wouldn't try it: the key to getting her to try something is often to make it look like something she already enjoys (ie, cookies) or to call it by the name of something she enjoys (my green smoothies are "juice"). Now if I could just come up with a raw dish that approximated macaroni and cheese!

After exercising at our club in the evening and enjoying a nice steam and jacuzzi soak, I returned home to set up ingredients for cereal in the morning: I put some soaked grains, sprouts and fruit in the dehydrator and put some nuts in water to soak for nut milk:

Raw Buckwheat Granola In the Dehydrator at about 110 degrees: Buckwheat groats, soaked, drained and rinsed Sunflower seed sprouts (not fully sprouted, just enough to split) Chopped organic apple and pear When dry and crispy, remove from dehydrator and mix with: chopped walnuts organic raisins Serve with nut milk.

I ate it the following morning and it was yummy, though next time I might mix the grains with a bit of orange juice (freshly squeezed of course!) to give it a bit more flavor.

Here's what I ate:

Day Five

• 11:30 am: Raw Green Smoothie (1/2 bag organic spinach, 3 organic dates, organic pear and apple, banana, water)
  
• noon: Bowl of raw chili
  
• 3 pm: Avocado with salt
  
• 5:30: 2 dixie cups of Crystal Light at the gym (Ack -- it's such a habit after a workout I forgot I was keeping my body free of artificial sweeteners!)
  
• 6:30: Raw Green Smoothie (1/2 bag organic spinach, 2 organic apples, 1 banana, water) and 3 Raw Autumn Squash Cookies

Day Six

• 7:30 am: Bowl of Raw Buckwheat Granola with Brazil Nut Milk