July 1, 2012

Breakfast
Soft Serve with Apples
serves 2 ~ $1.08 per serving
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon agave ($.20)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 apples, peeled and chopped ($1.20)
4 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.60)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla ($.05)
2 tablespoons walnuts ($.10)
My love affair with banana soft serve has been rekindled.
In a small bowl, whish together the lemon juice, agave, and pumpkin pie
spice. Add the peeled the chopped apples and toss to coat. Pour onto a
line dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for about an hour. This is an
optional step. The dehydrating softens the apples a bit, but they still
taste fine without it.
To make the soft serve, put the frozen banana slices in a food processor
fitted with an “S” blade and process until thick and creamy.
Top with the apples and walnuts.

Tat Soi and Arugula with Mustard Dressing
1 tablespoon olive oil ($.10)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar ($.10)
1 tablespoon agave ($.10)
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tablespoon dijon mustard ($.15)
This is a pretty simple salad. Toss together the greens and onion, and
carrot. Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over salad.

Mushroom Pasta with Kristen’s Tuscan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
serves 3 ~ $3.32 per serving
pesto
$1.28 per serving
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 2 hours in enough water to just cover, reserve soak water ($1.50)
1/2 cup fresh basil ($.50)
1/4 cup pine nuts ($1.00)
1 teaspoon garlic, pressed ($.10)
1 teaspoon himalayan crystal salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice ($.25)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil ($.50)
“In
a food processor, fitted with an “S” blade, combine all of the
ingredients except the olive oil, adding a little of the sun-dried
tomato “soak” water, if necessary. While the mixture is pureeing, add
the olive oil. Enjoy!”
is a repost of a Kristen Suzanne recipe I several months ago. All her
recipes are awesome and Kristen has her own raw holiday recipe book as
well as other raw recipe books. You can get them on her website or at Amazon.
marinated mushrooms
$1.45 per serving
12 ounces small button mushrooms ($2.99)
1 onion ($.25)
2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
2 tablespoons agave ($.40)
1 clove garlic, pressed ($.10)
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Clean the mushrooms, but leave them
whole. Finely chop the onion. Mix together the oil, agave, garlic,
basil, salt and pepper and pour over the mushrooms and onions. I do
this in a zip lock type box, but a glass bowl would work was well.
Allow to marinate for a few hours or overnight. Then, to warm, place in
the dehydrator for an hour or so. Serve the pesto and mushrooms over
zucchini noodles, using one small zucchini ($.59) per serving.
Also, I’ve used agave as the sweetener
here. I’m currently in search of the perfect raw sweetener because I
have ethical concerns about honey. But I react to agave a bit like I do
to corn syrup. And that is not a good thing. Stevia has given me
stomach aches in the past and is linked to possible liver damage in
some people. Maple syrup isn’t raw and has such a strong flavor. I’m
thinking of just using evaporated cane juice, although it’s not raw. Any
thoughts? What’s your favorite raw and/or non-raw sweetener?
nut parmesan
$.10 per teaspoon
To make these even more tasty, and for about $.10 a teaspoon, top with a teaspoon or two of this nut Parmesan.
1 cup nuts (I used walnuts and brazil nuts)
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
Grind to a fine powder in the food
processor. Avoid over processing as it will cause the nuts to become
oily. This will keep for a couple weeks in the fridge.
fat: 41 gr
carbs: 29 gr
protein: 9 gr
Kristen has some further tips on raw budgeting:
“… might substitute the
pine nuts for hemp or cashews or walnuts. Your reader can make their
own sun-dried tomatoes to save money, too, if they have a dehydrator.
This can be served on spiralized zucchini pasta.”

Dessert
Nut Butter Cups
makes about 8 cups ~ $.96 per cup
1/2 cup almond butter ($.50)
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast ($.05)
2 tablespoons agave ($.40)
pinch salt
1/2 cup cacao butter or coconut oil ($3.00)
3/4 cup cacao powder ($2.50)
6 tablespoons agave ($1.20)
pinch salt
This is a very basic version of the nut butter cup. Mix together the
almond butter, nutritional yeast, agave, and salt. Form into round disks
that will fit inside your chosen mold (I used a cupcake pan with paper
liners) and place on waxed or parchment paper. Stick in the freezer for
about a half hour, until the mix is chilled well and firm. You can even
let it freeze.
In a double boiler, melt the cacao butter or coconut oil. Add the
rest of the ingredients and stir. Into your mold, pour a thin layer of
chocolate and then put in the freezer to chill to harden. Put the nut
butter disk on top in the center and pour on another layer of chocolate.
Freeze this for about a half hour and remove from molds.

Yum, dinner especially looks fabulous. As for sweetener, I tend to go down the date route. Just blending them into dressings and sauces. I know they're not practical for everything but I love the caramel flavour they bring too. Lucuma is great too but again not for everything. I still haven't tried coconut nectar…
YUM…AGAIN! You really have a great website, Lisa! Please keep all of this coming–we're loving it!
have you tried coconut palm sugar? i love it and have used it in a few of your recipes with great success.
Looks so good! I will be giving this a try. I made something like this once before minus the mushrooms but I love mushrooms so I will give this a go! Love your blog!
Had sunflower seeds so I used those to make pesto plus threw in some tomatoes I had on hand it was delicious