ROAD // Zucchini Noodle Salad

My first recipe is what inspired this whole series. And you don't need a pricey spiralizer to make it either. Of course, I've seen the ones that attach to KitchenAid mixers, but they come at a premium (may make a nice gift, though -- I doubt my cheapie can make beet noodles). One of the most popular tools on Amazon is around $20; it has a handy handle and makes very neat looking noodles. I, on the other hand, have a bare bones model. You hold it in your hand and twist. It makes large and small noodles and costs around $12.

However you slice it, this is what you want in your life:

RAW ZUCCHINI NOODLE SALAD

What you'll need . . . 

• Half a bell pepper, sliced
• Half a large zucchini, spiralized
• Half an avocado
• Few tablespoons water (or kombucha*)
• Couple tablespoons almond meal
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt, pepper 

* I added some ginger kombucha because I happened to be drinking it when I made this dish. If you use plain water, consider adding a bit of apple cider vinegar just to give the sauce a little extra flavor.

Method . . .

1. Toss your veggies into a medium bowl. You can add more variety of veggies if you like, too. I just happened to have these on hand.
2. Then put your avocado, water or kombucha, garlic, and almond meal in a food processor. You want to get a thick sauce, so play around with the ratios until you reach your desired consistency. Mine was like lowfat yogurt.
3. Toss everything together and top with the salt (I'm loving pink sea salt lately) and black pepper to taste.

This meal took about five minutes to prepare from start to finish. It serves just one person, which is how I'll approach all meals in this series. It's best served fresh or else your avocado sauce may brown.

And if you want to read more about Raw Once A Day, check out yesterday's post.

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The ROAD + Opening Up About Food

For quite some time, I have been spinning my wheels on the blog. I haven't had a direction. I get compelled to share one thought or another idea. But nothing every stays cohesive like back in the good old days. I also haven't shared much in the way of recipes -- at least not consistently, which is what a lot of you came here for in the first place.

Well, today I wanted to open up and share with you about all things food. You know I struggle with sugar. You know I eat lots of desserts and breads and all those "bad" things. In the last several years, it's been worse than ever. That's why I probably haven't shared much. I don't cook as much as I used to. And what I eat is almost embarrassing at times. I hate making excuses. Still, going through what we went through to get and stay pregnant with Eloise took a toll on my mental and physical health in many ways.

For starters, I am struggling to get back into the running shape I was once in . . . not just from pregnancy, but from all the miscarriages and time off I had to take during TTC. My mileage and pace steadily declined, and I'm fine with the reason. She's almost one, and I'm forever thankful for her. But it's SO hard and quite humbling getting back. It makes me less excited to run. It feels like a chore despite how much I love it. I also just lack energy to exercise from my poor diet.

Along with exercise woes, I became a sugar monster beyond my wildest dreams nightmares. I fully admit I used food to cope with my emotions (especially when you can't use alcohol during countless two week waits, amIright?) and haven't looked back until very recently. I tried Weight Watchers earlier this year with some success, but I haven't shared much because it didn't stick. I wasn't mentally ready to clean up my act.


Something about the weather (silly) and -- more -- the passage of time has inspired me to do better. For myself, yes. But with Mother's Day on the horizon, a lot of this has to do with my kids. I look at them and realize that I can do better for them. I want to be around for a long time. I know I don't have total control over it, but I do have control over some aspects of my health. I want to have energy for them. I want to be in a better mood. I want to feel my best. I want them to have good relationships with food, too.

Stephen eats really well. Like, he should have a food blog. You guys would love it. Each night, he bolts through the kitchen in just 10 minutes and makes the most amazing overnight oats, salads, and other healthy eats to take work. He's in the peak of health, and it's quite inspiring. And -- at times -- it can be discouraging to me. Why? I, on the other hand, usually nosh on bread, leftover toaster waffles, candy or desserts, and anything else carb or cheese related during the day. I've barely been cooking. I miss cooking. I miss feeling healthy. I took a look at myself the other day (figuratively) and said out loud:

WHAT has HAPPENED to you?

It was like a swift slap in the face.
Something woke me up.

This isn't my introduction to starting up some program like Beach Body. I'm not going to say I'm going to start replacing my meals with protein smoothies. I have nothing to sell. I'm not doing the Whole30. I'm not going gluten-free. I'm not going vegan. I'm not making any sweeping change to my diet, in fact. You see, I've decided to start small, and I want my blog my way through it for motivation.

I plan to eat Raw Once A Day.


That's where ROAD comes from. I need to eat more raw foods -- veggies, specifically. I hate salads, though. So, I'm on a mission to eat a raw meal just o.n.c.e a day that satisfies and excites me. Salads to fall in love with salads. But there are so many other raw things that can be good. I feel so amazing after eating this way . . . but I know I like my cooked fare, too. So, once a day seems like a great place to start.

I'm sure many of you are like "what's the big deal? I do this anyway!" Eat like an adult, already! And good for you. Right now, this seems like an epic change for me. I'm excited for it. I am hoping eating raw once a day will help inform my other food choices throughout the day, week, month. I am hoping it will shift my mindset a bit. Shake it up.

So, for the time being I'm planning to start sharing three posts a week (REALLY!). Quickie meals that you can make. Raw foods. Easy and hopefully inexpensive ingredients. Maybe many that you can find at Aldi. I'd like to start food blogging again, along with my regular writings, and I feel like taking charge of my health is a wonderful way to get inspired and start. I'll have my first recipe posted for you tomorrow. Spoiler -- it's on Instagram today if you cannot wait!

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All Dried Up: Dehydrator

John Bender: Uh, Dick? Excuse me; Rich. Will milk be made available to us?
Andrew Clark: We're extremely thirsty, sir.
Claire Standish: I have a really low tolerance for dehydration.
Andrew Clark: I've seen her dehydrate, sir. It's pretty gross.

You younger folks out there might not recognize these quotes -- OK, I'm even a tad young to know. But I'm a huge Breakfast Club fan! Anyway, a couple weeks ago, we wrote how we'd be reviewing a food dehydrator courtesy of CSN Stores (they sell everything from dining room furniture to kitchen gadgets, etc.). We've had it for a few weeks now . . . and we're having a ton of fun finding things to dry out.

The dehydrator we went with is a Nesco brand. We liked the square design because it "provides 41% more drying area" and "700 watts of drying power" (so it dries foods faster).


So, why would we want to dehydrate foods? There are many reasons, including our desire to experiment with raw foods. I love dried apples, too, but they're pretty expensive to buy every week at the grocery store. Whole Foods also outlines a number of benefits on their website:

• Almost all of the nutrients are preserved in dehydrated foods.
• Economical way of preserving local seasonal food i.e. buy large amounts of local seasonal produce dehydrate it and store it to use later when items are more expensive and not found locally.
• Warm foods without destroying enzymes. Great way to incorporate foods that have a cooked taste to a raw diet
• Make your own crackers and cookies and always know what’s in them!
• Make your own granola, soup mix and trail mix to always have on hand when you need a snack, quick meal or a gift!

What's cool about the model we bought is: It's super easy to use. Just cut up your fruit (or veggies, etc.), spread out on the handy-dandy trays, and set to dry (there's a cookbook that comes with it with drying times). Apples take around 6 to 8 hours.


Bananas definitely much longer than that: 10 hours.


There are tons of neat recipes and tips in the little cookbook that comes with the machine. My favorite -- and I seriously cannot wait to make this stuff -- is fruit leather. The minute I get some spare time, I'm making fruit leather. The dehydrator even came with a special tray just for that purpose! We searched online for information as well, and we found several resources, including this FAQ (for example, we were nervous about not totally dehydrating our stuff, how long we could store our eats, and if we needed to pre-treat foods with anything specific, etc.).

We're still very new to the entire process. And we're thinking some of you may already know the ins and outs. In fact, when we were trying to figure out which dehydrator to buy, some of our Twitter followers offered their advice. Someone also told us that sprinkling cinnamon on the apples before drying is a good idea. We couldn't agree more. Thanks for all your advice!

But we want to make more than simple dried fruits and veggies. Any raw food gurus out there have recipes to share with us? Or any seasoned dehydrating geniuses have any tips and tricks to offer up? We can use all the help we can get! We have friends who have made raw "bagels" and "cookies" and "crackers" using their trays -- at this point, we don't really know where to start.


A question we have is about the amount of power we're using having this machine on for 8 to 10 hours at a time. It seems like a small fan, but there's a bit of heat. We're planning to look into the energy consumption, but if anyone knows the answer to this question (like, YES -- you're using a TON of power . . . or NO -- the juice needed is negligible), we'd appreciate your input.

Expect to see more dehydrator recipes on the site now. We're definitely hooked. And as the weather gets cooler and we start to stay indoors more on weekends, dehydrating seems like the perfect Sunday afternoon activity!

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Homemade Flax Crackers

Some of you may be familiar with flax seeds, as well as how you can use them mixed with water as a substitute for eggs in baking. Those of you who don't know this trick will be surprised to learn that when you mix flax seeds with water, you get this gelatinous goo -- it's what helps stabilize everything in your cookies and brownies.

Well, you can also use this reaction to your advantage and make extremely easy and healthy crackers -- totally out of flax seeds. And you'll want to snack on 'em with all those B-vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and phytochemicals. Problem is, the seed must be ground for you to enjoy its nutrition. But that's where some baking and chewing come in.

Let's see how it's done . . .





What you'll need . . .

• 1 cup flax seeds
• 1 cup water
• 1/8 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Method . . .

1. Place the flax seeds and water in a medium bowl and mix. Let sit for 1-1/2 hours. The mixture will thicken, but that's good.
2. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a reusable silicone liner (I just snagged one up this weekend).
3. Mix in the soy sauce, garlic and curry powders, and salt, pepper.
4. Pour mixture onto baking sheet, spread into a large rectangle -- about 1/8-inch thick with a spatula.
5. Bake for 40 minutes, then check for firmness. If it's firm, flip and continue baking for another 40 minutes or so. If not, keep baking. This part is kind of difficult for me to judge -- I started my oven off at too low a heat (accidentally turned it off without realizing it). So I just kept checking back until the whole thing was crispy, but no burned. You'll want 'em crispy versus chewy for taste. As well as so you can easily chew out the nutrition.
6. Cut your large cracker into bite-sized squares.
7. NOTE: You can also make these raw. You just need a dehydrator, which we -- obviously -- do not have. Put mixture in the trays of your toy . . . then dehydrate at 110 degrees for 4 to 6 hours. Then flip and repeat.

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Cook the Book: What's on Our Shelf?

Last night I realized I have quite a few cookbooks on top of our fridge. Thought you might all like to know what we use for culinary inspiration. Something else I realized is that two of the books I use the most aren't fancy or written by some famous chef . . . they were bin bargains that I received as gifts a few years ago.

Anyway, here's the list . . . and if you know of any must-have books, leave a comment. We'd love to get your input :) AS WELL, if you want to ask us a question -- any question at all -- head over to the call for FAQs post.

BAKING:

Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and Share (by Martha Stewart)
Martha Stewart's Brownies: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat (by Martha Stewart)
Crazy About Cupcakes (by Kristina Castella)
Babycakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most-Talked-About Bakery (by Erin McKenna)
Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts (by the Moosewood Collective)
Sweetie Pie: The Richard Simmons Private Collection of Dazzling Desserts (by Richard Simmons)
Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook (by Martha Stewart)
Cupcakes, Muffins, and Baked Goods (by Paragon Books)

COOKING:

Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook (by Martha Stewart)
Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home (by the Moosewood Collective)
Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant (by the Moosewood Collective)
The New Vegan Cookbook (by Lorna Sass)
Low-Fat and Fast Asian (by the editors at Vegetarian Times)
Vegetarian (Cook's Library) (by Parragon Publishing)
Better Homes and Gardens Fondue and Tabletop Cooking (by Better Homes and Gardens)
Favorite Brand Name Vegetarian Cooking (by Louis Weber)

A LITTLE OF BOTH:

Deceptively Delicious (by Jessica Seinfeld)
Tassajara Cookbook (by Karla Oliveira)
Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers (by the Moosewood Collective)
Everyday Food: Great Food Fast (by Martha Stewart)

WISH LIST:

How it All Vegan!: Irresistible Recipes for an Animal-Free Diet (by Sarah Kramer and Tara Barnard)
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (by Isa and Terry of PPK)
Really, any of the books by Isa and Terry
Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health (by the Moosewood Collective)
Really, any Moosewood Collective books I don't already have
The Grit Cookbook: World-Wise, Down-Home Recipes (by Jessica Greene and Ted Hafer)
Raw: The Uncook Book (by Juliano Brotman and Erika Lenkert)
Living Raw and Raw Food/Real World (by Sarma Melngailis)
Etc.

Now's your turn. What's on YOUR shelf?

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DETOX: Day 17 -- and I'm Still On It

Ah, the emotional roller coaster! I recently received a not-so nice email from an anonymous person (have no clue who it was -- tried to reply and got some error message saying the address doesn't exist) that basically said the following: "So, I see you've fallen off the detox wagon. It was just a matter of time. Better luck next year . . . hah!"

Right? What'supwiththat? And if you, person, are reading this post . . . seriously, I deal extremely well with (constructive) criticism. I was a writing major for goodness sake! There were days when all I heard were things like: "I don't get it" (referring to a short story I wrote), "this makes no sense" (referring to some kind of reference in an essay), and etc. You can just identify yourself next time and maybe the whole exchange can be more productive for both of us.

ANYWAY, I wasn't going to dignify the person/email with a public response. But since I couldn't write back . . . and then I realized I haven't actually written anything about the "detox" in a while (one week), I thought I'd post. The reason I haven't written about it in a while is simply because I'm eating pretty much the same stuff I've already posted. Didn't want to bore you all with only slight modifications of the energy chunks and healthy crackers :)

(And if you're just joining us, read about where it all began: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, and Day 10.)

• I've kept off those 3 pounds I reported losing in the last post. Might even be closer to four at this point. All this despite eating some (homemade) pizza, cookies, and garlic knots, etc. over the weekend. (recipes to come...)
• The only processed food I've consumed since this all began? Some Peanut Butter Bumpers cereal, wheat pasta, Lesser Evil Black and White Kettle Corn, soy milk, and -- actually -- I think that's it. I've been making pretty much everything from scratch (or just eating whole fruits/veggies/grains) . . . which I think is pretty cool.
• I've been drinking enough water throughout the day. I used to have no problem with this one, but got lazy. My tea consumption has definitely helped (yay! Celestial Seasonings!). My skin is a tad more radiant. And I must be flushing out more toxins this way.
• I'm not craving certain foods I was once addicted to. Nutella? Not really -- at least not the store-bought variety. White ciabatta bread? Not so much. PIZZA?! Ok. Yes. I've been craving pizza, but not the super-cheesy, white bread kind we usually order for pick-up. We made our own wheat-flax crust and topped the pie with a ton of veggies last Friday. It was delish! As well, this isn't to say I don't eat sweets. As you've seen, I most certainly, certainly do. But I control what goes into them from start to finish. And I've been using more natural sweeteners.
• My dairy intake is dramatically lower. I imagine this is the area that is helping me lose weight. I used to eat cheese with most every meal. Now I just eat it on weekends. Tons less saturated fat running through my system. Gotta love that.
• I find myself eating less. Not on purpose, but I'm just fuller from the more nutrient-packed, lower-in-sugar foods we're making.
  
  

I haven't yet posted what we've been eating for dinner. It's not incredibly exciting, but still worth sharing. Most nights: steamed broccoli with brown rice in a sesame-soy sauce. To make the dish is easy. Just prepare brown rice according to the package's directions. Then steam broccoli either on your stove top or in your microwave (I like to leave ours a bit crunchy). Mix together equal amounts of sesame oil and low-sodium soy sauce (we use two tablespoons of each for a meal for two). Toss the broccoli in the sauce . . . serve over the rice . . . and enjoy!

This is a typical day in my eating:

• Wake: Huge mug of Red Zinger tea with 1/2 lemon squeezed into it
• Breakfast: hefty Powerhouse smoothie
• 10AM Snack: Two energy chunks
• 11:30 Lunch #1: Healthy crackers with 1/4 cup homemade hummus
• 1:30 Lunch #2: Two brown rice cakes topped with 1 entire avocado, mashed
• 3PM Snack: Apple or other fruit, sometimes two
• Dinner: Broccoli with brown rice (no portion control, I eat how much I need) and occasionally a beer.
• Dessert: Two (vegan) cookies or so :)
• Lots of herbal tea and water throughout the day.
• Weekends are a different story for a different day!

So that's the detox update. I know some of you are doing your own healthy eating thing right now. Any tips and/or motivation to share with the rest of us? I've heard it takes two weeks to keep up a good habit, and I think I've reached that point with this whole "detox" thing. So, from now on, I won't refer to it as a detox. It's just how I eat. I'm sure I won't be perfect 100% of the time. But that's OK.

One of my secrets to success is to allow myself wiggle room on weekends. Have a beer or two. Go out to eat. What I've found is . . . even when I've gone out to eat, I tend to eat half of what I used to (and can enjoy the other half later). My tastes are changing. I don't just eat mindlessly because I'm making most of my food with higher-quality ingredients and want to savor the flavor. I'd love to hear what the rest of you are doing!

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Oh, hello! And DETOX: Day 1

Good morning! Today is the first day of my full work week off. Jealous? Don't be. It's time off long overdue . . . and with only a few concrete plans, I intend to make the most of it (RELAX). Hope everyone had a great holiday! We certainly did. However, if you're anything like me, you're likely waking up these days in a post-cookie-madness sugar haze (it feels like a hangover to me, though I've had only little to drink if anything). I've decided to do something about that.

Yup -- a detox.

Not really a hard-core one. It's more detox-ish than full on . . . anything is better than subsisting on a diet of cookies alone. I am somewhat following Gwyneth Paltrow's, but with a bit more food . . . need to fuel the running. So today's share is actually something way healthy. I've decided to re-create my favorite chocolate chipper -- chocolate chip-coconut cookies -- into a raw cookie. Now, those of you out there who eat a raw diet (or dabble more than I have) might have some suggestions to make this recipe healthier, more raw -- I imagine the carob chips aren't raw technically, etc.

Please, please, please share your thoughts. I'm new to this whole genre, but most eager to learn.

Coconut & Carob "Cookies" (more like energy chunks)

What you'll need . . .

• 1-3/4 cups raw walnuts
• 3/4 cup steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup agave syrup
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 package vegan carob chips (I used Sunspire)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  

Method . . .

1. In a food processor, blend together the oats and walnuts until well incorporated.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. I first combined the walnut-oat mixture with the agave, almond butter, and vanilla extract. Then I added everything else. Just keep mixing until everything is covered.
3. Line a cookie sheet (or plate) with plastic wrap or wax paper. Drop heaping tablespoons onto the sheet (I found it helpful to really PUSH the ingredients into the tablespoon and then press down on them once on the sheet to flatten slightly).
4. Refrigerate for a few hours to harden. Or just eat like dough.

They're REALLY good. Remind us of these energy chunks we used to buy at our beloved natural foods store in Ithaca. Anyway, stay tuned for more fantastic, detox-friendly recipes all this week as we gear up for the new year. We're also working on our resolutions. One of mine is to spend less time on the couch. But as I type this -- Stephen's on the couch playing our new favorite game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Best game ever. And I plan to join him . . . NOW.

Pssst: Don't forget to submit your FREEKEND to us!!!

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever <3

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