Hummus

I'm new to making my own hummus.  Daft as I always have tins of chickpeas in the cupboard.  But up to now I've always bought it from the supermarket. I did make it years ago and hated it - way too much garlic, and I'm not partial to tahini.  The recipe I tried today had no garlic and just a tad of tahini.  Because the chickpeas came with salt I shouldn't have added so much extra - uh, teach me to taste as I make!

Simple Tahini

1 Tin Chickpeas, drained
1 tbsp Tahini (unhulled, raw if poss)
.25 tsp ground cumin
.25 paprika (optional)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
slug of olive oil
salt

Throw all of the ingredients except the salt into a food processor with S blade attachment.  Process until smooth.  Taste and add salt if required, especially if your chickpeas were not in salty water.

There, said it was easy.  Garnish with paprika, parsley, olives, or your favourite topping.  Experiment with adding sundried tomatoes or other flavourings.  Enjoy with crackers, salad, raw veggies, pitta bread, etc.

I'm afraid I didn't photograph it - I was in too much of a rush this morning, but if I did I would want it to look like this, from Living Without website:

I love this bowl!!  Click the pic to go
to the original photo from Living Without

I've Felt Better!

Not such a good day today - I think my contact lenses were in the wrong way!! I had a feeling of eyestrain but my vision was ok, so I wasn't to sure.  Also I was very bloated and uncomfortable.  I don't know if this was the rice the night before.  Also have some spots.. bad, bad, bad!!  I have read other blogs where reports of feeling rotten just after diet change is quite commone.  I thought a raw diet might not have this side effect.  I don't yet have that rush of energy I keep hearing about either.  Maybe that takes a while to kick in.

I did a good clean out of the kitchen worktops today.  As the kitchen is open plan the breakfast counter is a magnet for all sorts of rubbish, odd and ends, kids stuff etc.  It's now clear and the toaster has been moved out of the food prep area, and the juicer has taken it's place, next to the food processor and kettle.  The breadmaker is still out - I don't want to give up home baked bread.  I might use it to make yeast free breads :).  It's all looking much clearer and fresher, and I'm more inclined to use some of the gadgets that were skulking around in cupboards unused.

Foody wise, totally vegan today, 80% raw :)

• Coffee - oops.. I had two! 
• Raw Cashews - didn't soak these - I tried them soaked and they were horrible... soft and no crunch with no taste, yeugh!  These were sweet and crunchy.  I guess without skins on they shouldn't need soaking.
• Late lunch salad - all raw and mostly pH good - shredded cabbage, sprouted alfalfa, red pepper, grated carrot, tomato, and more cashews, and topped off with some delish olive pate again.  Dressed with a splash of olive oil and apple cider vinegar dressing.  Ace!  Rather late as I had a meeting in the city.  Managed to overcome the temptation to buy a sandwich while there!  My colleague bought a chicken burger and chips and wasn't very impressed.  I just sympathised!! ;)  I never push foodie beliefs on anyone - I laugh when people call my salad 'rabbit food'!
• Leftover Risotto with extra raw pepper, tomato and alfalfa.  I warmed it a little - hope this was ok from a safety point of view!  Had to be quick, my son and I were off to take our Skipper's Ticket theory exam so we can drive a boat (it's a legal requirement in this country!)... eek!

Have a great day x

Start the Week

That was the name of a BBC Radio 4 show in the UK on Monday nights that I remember from my childhood.  I wonder if it's still running?  There was another one on Saturday called Stop the Week. If I remember right one programme was stuffy and all about current affairs, the other was a fun satirical show. I can't remember which was which now without going for a root through the BBC website. Later.

Foody wise, a good-ish start to the week:

• Coffee - can't wake up yet without it - to be worked on. 
• Almonds - ran out of time for proper breakfast, and one's son has snitched all the Avo's :o(  But these were soaked and supposed to be good pH wise and raw wise.
• Large salad for lunch - all raw and mostly pH good - shredded cabbage, brussels and lettuce, cucumber, sprouted alfalfa, red pepper, grated carrot and sultana mix, and topped off with some delish olive pate from the Wray Avenue deli in Fremantle.  Dressed with a splash of olive oil and apple cider vinegar dressing.  Ace!
• Macadamias - a quick snack after work with a glass of lemon water - was this a good combo pH wise... not sure!
• Risotto with raw asparagus, red pepper and shredded brussels sprouts... the rice heated the veggies perfectly.  Very delish, even if the rice wasn't a raw version.  Even the children ate this one, although they topped theirs off with parmesan cheese.

A vegan day for me and a veggie day for the kiddies.  I can live with that

.

75% raw for me and 50% for the kiddies - one had a cheese salad lunch, the other a cheese salad sandwich on wholemeal, plus porridge oats for brekkie.

pH good mostly, except for the coffee and white rice :o( ... does a good brown risotto rice exist?

That's It I'm Going Raw - ish

I found The [amazing] Raw Kitchen snack bar in Fremantle, WA

This is the totally raw, totally delicious pizza I had from the above establishment.

Who knew Raw could be so amazingly tasty?

Not me for one.

I'd been reading about pH balance and introducing more raw foods into

my diet as a weightloss and wellbeing.

I was teetering...

I am now over..

The Edge.

I haven't gone Raw completely... I like warm food, but I shall be leaning towards the majority of my diet being raw... especially as it's going into Summer - YAY!

Happy weekend from Sunny WA :)