Holiday bliss, blossoms and my raw kitchen

Nothing quite beats the feeling of a relaxed holiday. I love planning for these getaways. Andrews parents live in a lovely coastal town just 6 hours away. I marvel how cold it is here and how they never seem to have a Winter. The children swam every day. Days at the beach have definitely recharged my spirit. Andrews sister came out from Germany and our family gathered for a lovely reunion. On return, we were greeted with our peach tree in bloom. Those signs of Spring are definitely on their way and my heart is happy. I have had a few request to see what I have been up to in my raw country kitchen. Never a dull moment of course. Andrew has managed through all these cold months to keep us in supply with wheat grass and sunflower seedlings. The most powerful healthy energy in those. That is our morning starter. I have been so lucky to find mostly organic fruits and vegetables this Winter. I also have a wonderful few local online shops that I purchase my super foods from. things really seem to be falling into place. My kitchen is a buzz with constant preparation. The smell of fresh live food is a regular here too. Our orchard has been ever so kind to produce just enough greens for us too. I have had garlic hanging from my ceiling for almost a year and I am still using it. I cannot be more grateful for a growing orchard of fruit and vegetables as I am today. Growing your own live food is just such a wonderful blessing.

Here is a list of the raw food books I have in my kitchen. I made the most delicious raw cheese seen in the jar above. That has been made with pine nuts and basil,tomato and onion, then dehydrated. I have come up with some of my own recipes too. The baby marrow and dehydrated brown mushrooms in one of the photographs being one. I dehydrated my mushrooms having soaked them in olive oil and braggs. I then took some of these mushrooms and made a mushroom sauce with cashew nuts and a little warm water. That made a lovely meal. I too have purchased the equipment to help me on this journey and I must say that makes all the difference in preparation.

Book list~

The art of raw living ~Doreen virtue and Jenny Ross
The raw transformation ~Wendy Rudell
Living Cuisine ~Renee Loux Underkoffler
Living in the raw ~ Rose lee Calabro
Ani's Rawfood desserts ~ Ani Phyo
Raw for dessert ~ Jennifer Cornbleet
Sweet gratitude ~ Matthew Rogers and Tiziana Tamborra
Rawlicious (our local South African book) Peter and Beryn Daniel

Its wonderful to be back and in high spirits ready to face a new Season . I hope you are all so very happy and well~!

Lots of love
Suzanne

Country living inspiration

I know you have all been here...Its that time in Winter where you feel you've been pushed a Little too far. I now need my warmth of a new Season. Although it has been pretty cold lately, I have enjoyed this Winter to all others. I prepared myself mentally for the days I would spend at the fire place and moments at my knitting window where the sun rays would gently touch my knitting needles. I have enjoyed our 4 O'clock tea times and our days of baking in the kitchen with the children. I have chosen a few photographs to inspire . For the country living at heart. My dear friend who painted my beautiful blog picture of the meadow, painted my lovely little country wooden village. I long to add light for night time so that it looks like some little fairy's have made a home there. Old lace and home decor inspires me through this time~

I am 3 months into my raw food journey. I have had the most wonderful highs and quite a couple of lows. I have found it difficult eating raw for the first time in Winter but Andrew has really been incredibly supportive and has often prepared side by side with me . Our juicing is our main food source. Andrew has made sure we have a constant supply of wheat grass and sunflower seedlings to juice. We make a super food smoothie every morning for all of us. Lunch is generally a big lovely salad. Most often goodies taken from the garden. Lots of nuts. Coconut oil has become a new friend to me. I make so many things with raw cacao and cacao butter. Cold nights have been tough but we have got by with warming our bowls and heating soups with warmer water. Dehydrating is my new friend too. I have made really nice snacks and raw breads. I have stated previously that I have made some dreadful flops too. I have come to a point in the journey where I feel the need to add a percentage of cooked food. Right now all I am excited to do is a cooked butternut or potato. So what that percentage will be has to be carefully worked out. What I do know, is that we have never felt more healthier and alive. Eating live food is a simple gift given to us with a promise of good health. I for one am hooked~

Keeping Summer Alive

What better way to keep Summer alive Down in our meadow than to bottle it up in a gorgeous jar to brew and brew until all that beautiful perfume fills our air. Little Livy and I spent some time recently picking all the strong scented roses and drying them in our sunny laundry. Once dried, we gathered a cup or two of the perfumed petals and placed them in a jar. We then took 1/2 a cup of Vodka and poured it over the petals. Then comes the brewing time...2 whole weeks. We are a day or two away from opening up the lid to smell and test. If the perfume is not strong enough, you add another cup or two of strong perfumed petals until you get it just right. We have old vintage bottles that we will place our new "remembering Summer" ( yes we even have a name for it) in. I am introducing natural homemade soaps, cleansers, shampoo's and creams into our home. Each child will have a turn to stir and add. That should help us as we wait for our Warmer months again. Our ever faithful 'Pride of India' tree is looking beautiful in its golden glory. Off to sleep she goes....

I too have been busy in my kitchen...I have a lovely raw recipe to share. I have made all my new ingredients visible so that all these good foods can inspire me. I feel I need to add in some exciting recipes as this is all very new to us. I saw a version on this recipe and have added Superfood ingredients to it. You can give and take with this recipe I did add and taste as I went along. Our raw food journey has begun and overall has been positive. The children have been the ones I have been concerned about and have been adding new flavors in slowly. Apart from a few moans and groans, they have been good sports..One thing I do need to add is that I am in the kitchen all day. I am constantly preparing for the next meal. I do know that it does get easier as time goes by. I suppose it is just that I page through my recipe book constantly looking. Nut milks (almond) needs soaking so, that is time...Dehydrating most things is either 6-8 hours or overnight..So I am am kept on my toes~!

Raw oat bars

1 cup of organic rolled oats
1/2 cup of cranberries
1/2 cup of cashew nuts
1/2 cup of goji berries
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup or less of raw cacao chocolate nibs
1 tablespoon or more of maca powder
1 teaspoon or more of cinnamon
3 tablespoons of agave nectar or honey
1/2 a cup of almond/brazil/cashew butter
2 tablespoons of coconut oil.

Add all these ingredients together, mix and place in a Tupperware or Pyrex flat square dish. Place in the freezer to set. Take out and cut into bars. Each bar can be wrapped individually, frozen and eaten for an on the run snack or for a tea time treat.

A happy day to you~

What we seek is also seeking us

What we seek is also seeking us.... is a quote I saw sometime last week. I was struck by the impact it has made on me. Andrew and I completed our first raw food course this weekend and this new found information of unbelievable goodness is swirling around in my head. The course and information received was mind blowing . This is something I have been subconsciously been searching for my family. I feel like a light bulb has been switched on. I have just completed a 2 week "Green smoothie " Challenge and even though we have been smoothie eaters, it has helped to moving in the right direction. Peter and Beryn Daniel are South African. They live in Cape Town and own the company (www.superfoods.co.za) . Peter is a fountain of overflowing knowledge and shared many hours of empowering information. His mentors being David Wolfe and Gabriel Cousens among many others. Apart from the wonderful raw food knowledge they em parted, we got to experience 'Superfoods'..Goji berries ,Green leaves, Maca root powder, spirulina (chlorophyll protein), hemp powder, enzymes, MSM, baobab fruit powder, the miraculous Cacao Butter, coconut oil, the wonders and power of raw chocolate 'the cacao bean'. They travel the World looking for reputable organic sources. The healing powers of these Superfoods are astounding. The amazing benefits of walking bare foot. The energy surrounding raw foods through Kirlian photography. One cannot help but want to put all this into your body after hearing all of this. They have a fantastic recipe book out shown above called 'Rawlicious'. It will soon be available Internationally through Amazon . We got fed Superfoods throughout the course and got shown how to make some delicious raw food meals. Before I went, I had in my mind that there is no way I can do this 100%. I will be adding these meals along with what I cook already. Well, my mind has made a 100% shift and my Journey although recommended a step or two at a time, has begun. We have three willing children waiting to start. One bit of information that Peter spoke about is that 'children have silent knowledge'. They already know. I look forward to sharing some of my family experiences with you. I promise to make them real and honest. Both good and possible low days.. Our days of detoxing and experimenting. What excites me is that I can work out of my organic vegetable garden when things are in Season. I have prepared a super meal smoothie for breakfast. It will be the children's first Superfood smoothie meal. I am holding thumbs....~