Macaroons, Blonde or Chocolate

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Among my favorite dehydrated goodies are coconut macaroons! They are so yummy and really great for on-the-go snacks. This all goes according to taste, but they go something like this:








1 cup blended young coconut meat (optional)
1/2 cup coconut oil (optional)
1 cup agave nectar or raw honey (more or less to taste)
3 cups dehydrated almond meal (or something of that nature)
3 cups dried coconut (the good stuff, no additives)

These measurements are just approximate.You can use less almond meal, more coconut or vice versa--just go by taste and what you have on hand. You can add vanilla if you want. If you want chocolate, add about 1/2 cup raw cacao powder and increase the sweetener if necessary.

Now, I roll it out (or you can leave it in the fridge a few hours first), using some parchment paper between the dough and the roller to prevent sticking, or pat it out, to a thickness of about 1/3 to 1/2 inch and use a small round cookie cutter to cut. I carefully use a frosting spatula to lift the macaroons up and place them on the dehydrator tray and start dehydrating at a temp of about 105*.

This will take several hours. I check on them every so often, and take out any that seem to be getting done faster than the others. I like to take them out at different stages so I have some that are chewy, some that are crunchy. The chewy ones are wonderful, but the crunchy ones carry better.

Curried Jicama for Something Different

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This is a dish I made a while back and really liked--I had a jicama that I wanted to jazz up, and someone had recently talked about going to a Thai restaurant, so it got me thinking along those lines. I threw in some curry, onion, green onion, and a little cabbage with my diced jicama and it was pretty good and took no time at all!

Almond Hazelnut Crackers

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My dehydrator conked out on me a while back, and I have really been missing it somethin' awful! I keep torturing myself by looking at some of my old dehydrated favorites, while waiting for another dehydrator to arrive. I keep to raw foods a lot better when I have dehydrated goodies that I can take with me on the run--like these almond hazelnut crackers. Very filling, very satisfying!

I started with almond meal (left over from making raw almond milk and then dehydrated), added some raw coconut butter and just a teeny bit of blended soaked dates, some sea salt, and then some coarsely ground hazelnuts. I then spread the mixture in a 9 x13 glass pan, covered it, and put it in the fridge for a day. Then I cut into squares, removed the squares carefully with a rubber spatula, flattened each out individually, and placed on dehydrator trays. I dehydrated them pretty much overnight; they were nice and crispy. I shared them with friends and got some rave reviews.

Yummy Grapefruit Salad!

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Lately Jamie and I have both been craving ruby red grapefruit like crazy! I especially like them when I take a few extra minutes to clean them (remove the skins and membrane). They are so refreshing! But I can't seem to eat a lot of fruit without it doing things to my blood sugar and hydration levels unless I eat it along with some protein and/or something high in good fats. Like....avocados! Well, I wasn't too sure at first, but I decided to try them together and I loved the combination! Then I decided to add some cilantro--Even better!

Start by peeling and sectioning your grapefruit. Then take each section and make a cut along the inside edge, cutting away just a sliver to allow you to pull back the membrane from each side of the section. Pull the membrane back carefully, and slowly continue pulling until the white thick membrane comes loose from the back as well. Once you have your cleaned grapefruit sections, simply arrange with avocado slices as pictured above.

Hot and Sour Soup~A Raw Foods Treat

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Well, before I leave off this little spew about coconuts, I will throw in another delightful raw foods idea that I threw together a week ago or so.

I love hot and sour soup, so I went online looking at some raw foods recipes to make some, but in the end, I wound up just throwing some things together like I always do. I'm not much for recipes - even when I was cooking all the time, I was always one to throw in some of this and some of that.

In this case, I took some red and green peppers, some mild, some hot, and some green cabbage and green onions, and I put them through the food processor to chop, then I added them to some young coconut water and cut some strips from the fairly firm coconut flesh for noodles, tossed in some sea salt and a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar (mostly for a little color), and there it was. (The next day, I had some leftovers and added some little strips of mushrooms, and that was good too.) I was afraid it would taste too "coconut-y", but it was amazingly similar to a light chicken broth.

I ate this at room temperature, but it was still very satisfying. I was amazed at how filling it was! And even a little warming, since the high good fat content of coconuts and coconut water is always very warming to me anyway. I'm sure it will be a favorite of mine in any season.

Amazing Young Coconut Water

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For the past year and a half or so, I have been trying to drink young coconut water as often as I can get it. I have noticed amazing benefits from this refreshing drink. The first time I had it, I wasn't too sure about it's taste, but now I crave it whenever I get away from it for awhile.

Young coconut water is teeming with enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and good fats. It's very hydrating. It also is a good weight loss food, because though it is high in fat, as long as it's raw, it also has proportionately high amounts of the enzymes needed to break down fats.

To open a young coconut, start by shaving the husk off the top (the pointed area) with a sharp knife. Then take a butcher knife and use the corner near the handle to make a crack in the shell. This will take a litte force, so be careful (adults only, please!)

Then use the corner of the butcher knife to pry open the shell, and pour that lovely water into a bowl first, so as to catch all of it, and then into a glass. Enjoy!

I break open a young coconut every morning that I possibly can, and I save the soft meat in a large ziploc bag in the freezer. When I get a bagful, I thaw them out, blend them up, and mix them with raw nut meals and a raw sweetener to make cakes, bars, and cookies. More on those later.