linda’s holistic health journey

I had the ingredients for this so I figured I’d make it on Friday.  I was going to make the raw enchiladas for our Thanksgiving dinner but we were invited over at a friend’s house so I didn’t have to make a lot of food after all! (I still ended up making enough: raw cauliflower whip, raw parsnip whip, raw stuffing, spinach/fennel/orange salad with a mustard vinaigrette, delicious and the best cranberry sauce ever, and a coconut raw ice cream with cranberry persimmon sauce and ginger orange crisp topping. I found various recipes online and then modified the hell out of them. I’m sorry to say that I hardly ever follow a recipe just the way it is. Everything was delicious and very flavorful.

anyway, onto the enchilada recipe…

the enchilada tortilla shell part
• 5 cups corn (corn from the summer that has been shaved off and frozen)
• 3/4 cup golden flax, ground into a fine meal
• 1 tsp cumin
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 1/2 oranges, peeled
• 1 tsp Celtic or Himalayan salt
• a good pinch of cayenne pepper
• 3/4 cup fresh water

First grind the whole flax in the Vitamix to turn into flax meal and pour into a bowl. You have to make sure the pitcher is dry and the flax is dry in order for it to grind well and not stick on the side of the pitcher. Then put the remaining ingredients into the Vitamix and blend until smooth. (The Vitamix VS is great for everything but especially when grinding nuts/seeds into flours and meals. The variable speed setting makes it so you ease into the grinding. Very nice.)

Pour into the bowl and stir around, mixing well. Pour onto a paraflexx sheet and spread evenly onto one sheet/tray. Cut in half and dehydrate at 105º for about 4 hours.

spread evenly on a paraflexx or parchment paper dehydrator sheet. cut in half so you have 2 enchilada shells

While that is dehydrating, you can making the filling:
• 1 small container of crimini mushrooms
• 1 small-medium zucchini
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 cup packed baby spinach
• 1 tsp cumin
• a pinch tsp salt (optional)
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
• a good pinch of cayenne

Add the veggies in the food processor and pulse chop until finely cut. The spinach doesn’t have to be added if you don’t want to. Scrape into a big bowl and add remaining spices and vinegar. Stir and let stand. The spices and vinegar/lemon juice will start to really soften the veggies and they will reduce in size. Adjust the cumin and the cayenne to your liking. Feel free to add chipotle or other mexican seasonings that you like. You can pick whatever vegetable filling you prefer.

Assembling the enchiladas:

Flip the trays of the enchiladas and gently pull off the paraflexx sheets. The bottom part of the enchilada will be somewhat stiff and the side you just flipped will be sticky.

Add half of the filling down the center of the enchilada, long ways. Carefully fold up the two sides and pinch them together. Repeat with the other enchilada.

fill them with your favorite veggies

Stick back in the dehydrator and dehydrate for several more hours. If dehydrating overnight, put on a very low temperature so that it doesn’t over dry.  When you come back to it it will be ready to eat!

after they are stuffed, place them back in the dehydrator

feel free to check them after a couple hours

enchiladas are done! They were taste tested. :-)

I served this on a bed of red leaf lettuce and made a tomato/almond cheesy sauce to drizzle a bit on top (like sour creme) and then made a simple salsa to add to the top.

hella yummliness

Everyone loved this meal and devoured it pretty quickly! The corn is sweet, the veggies have nice spice, the onions in the cheesy sauce and salsa tasted great together. YAY! I love when everyone loves their raw meals!

serve on your favorite dish and enjoy!

Tip: Just because something is raw and made from whole food doesn’t mean that you can’t overdo it when you are eating it. So many places say it’s ok to eat whatever you want whenever you want it because it’s raw and that is just not so. To fill yourself up, add lots of greens to your plate and enjoy all the flavors. Chew slowly and think grateful thoughts while you eat. Enjoy!

I received a request for some cinnamon bun recipes.

I found two online that look very interesting so I’m adding them here. Please try them and tell me what you think. Which turns out to be your favorite? I should say that I haven’t tried either of these recipes and so I am not adding much of anything or changing them. I’ve got the links to where I obtained the recipes. If I ever get a free moment to make these, I’ll post on what I did, etc.

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Raw Gooey Cinnamon Buns
by Anne Marie Gianni (if you click on her name, you’ll be taken to her recipe)
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup almond meal
1 cup ground flax seed
1 1/4 cup soft pitted dates
1/4 cup water or more if needed
1/4 cup softened coconut oil
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon coconut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pinch sea salt

Preparation:
Fold the almond meal, ground flax seed, 1 Tbsp. cinnamon, pinch sea salt, and pinch of vanilla in a bowl. Set aside.

Process dates, 1/2 of the raisins, water and vanilla into a paste in a food processor. Then remove half of that paste mixture and add it to the dry ingredients, along with the coconut oil.

Mix these ingredients with your hands until it forms a dough. You may need to add a little water or oil if it is too dry.

Spread the dough out on a piece of parchment paper, and shape it into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle.

Take the rest of the date paste left in your food processor add the remaining raisins, 1 Tbsp. of cinnamon and coconut butter. Process until smooth. Then, spread a thin layer of the paste onto the dough.
Using the parchment paper to help hold everything together, carefully roll the dough into a log. Chill in the refrigerator, and then slice into about 1-inch thick rounds.

These cinnamon rolls can be eaten right away or warmed in a dehydrator.

Optional:
Cashew Whipped Cream

By Nomi Shannon

1 cup cashews, soaked at least 2 hours
4 dates – soaked at least 2 hours
vanilla bean
water (enough to yield a light fluffy mixture)
Blend in the vitamix blender and drizzle over the top of the cinnamon buns.

Wanted to post an email exchange from this morning… If anyone has made oat milk, please send the recipe!

SHE: I did try making oat milk the other week (remember you said if I came up w/a winner you’d post it – well… ) the pulverized oat/water mix when squeezed through the bag produced a rather slimy-ish thick-ish liquid…so I need to play around w/it to try to come up w/a better consistency…however the little bit of raw “porridge” left in the hemp bag was Very delicious…still a work in progress

ME: Hmm.. keep trying on the oat milk! Did you rinse the oats before using them?

SHE: Yes, I sure did – both just before I mixed them up and a few times while soaking/sprouting the oat groats…having only made almond milk I really squeezed the mixture quite thoroughly to extract the liquid from the bag and what was oozing out was a lot more slippery/pasty than how the almond milk comes through the bag

How do you enjoy cashew milk?  (ever tried making rice milk?)  Do you have any personal fav’s other than almond?

I’m having more fun playing around – but I must confess one of the only things I have not tried yet is dehydrating as there are SO many hours involved – my oven has a dehydrating setting but I’ve never given it a go…buying the dehydrator sheets from you was the 1st step…but have not gotten off the bench and into the game w/this yet.

ME: how long did you soak the oats for? Perhaps less soaking - maybe 1/2 hour to an hour. ‘Tis a good experiment!

I do enjoy cashew milk, hazelnut milk, brazil nut milk, almond milk, sunflower seed milk, sesame seed milk, hemp milk. I used to make my own soy milk back in the day. Never made rice milk.

RE: the dehydrator. I know what you are saying about the hours involved but honestly, it’s not like you have to stand over it like you would an oven/stove. If something says to flip in 8 hours, make the recipe/put it in the dehydrator before bed. Flip when you get up in the morning. It’s about creating a new habit and trust me, I know how difficult that can be at times (or the thought of it can be difficult) But it’s pretty easy. At 105º, nothing is going to burn. The worst that will happen is that your crackers will come out crispier if you leave them in longer. Try something simple, like making a fruit leather. Blend up and pour onto paraflexx sheets on the dehydrator trays. Smooth it out and then put it into the dehydrator. Go to bed. In the morning, peel off of the fruit leather. You’ll have a success under your belt and will get more into the dehydrating thing.

And know that you aren’t alone with your confession! I had a class with a woman who had her dehydrator for YEARS before she ever used it. These are all new things, new habits, new appliances and when one reads a recipe that says, “Dehydrate for 18 hours,” the mind goes, “What??! There’s so much planning and steps and involvement here!” But once you develop this new habit, you’ll see how much easier and faster this is to cooking AND you’ve made it all from scratch. Minimally-processed foods that have as many ingredients that YOU yourself put in (that you can pronounce! and weren’t made in a lab near the Jersey turnpike!) There’s so many pros here.

It’s great that you are having fun with your experimenting and keep it up! The more fun it is, the more you’re likely to do it. And how easy! Soak some oats, blend with water, squeeze through a nut milk bag. Wow. If I mess up on the milk, I still have a tasty porridge at the other end to eat! Bravo!

keep up the great work!
Linda