Marlene told me, after my class in Kennewick, Washington, that she makes chia pudding for her diabetic husband as a meal or dessert. (Cinnamon is a great blood-sugar controller—note that she adds lots of cinnamon to his pudding.) It’s a great idea, since chia is a power food, and high in protein as well. (It’s pure fallacy that you can’t get enough protein eating a plant-based diet! You don’t have to go out of your way to find protein—greens, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes average about 10%, which is perfect. But chia is particularly high, at 23%.)

I asked for the recipe, and here it is. Thank you, Marlene!

MARLENE’S CHIA SEED PUDDING

Stir together

1 TBSP chia seed 

about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of any milk alternative or water (hubby uses unsweetened chocolate almond milk, I use regular or coconut milk)

As much cinnamon as you enjoy (Hubby is diabetic so he gets about 1 tsp, I use less)

Let those two soak while you are busy for about 20 minutes.

Add any seed that you like:

1/2 TBSP sesame seed

!/2 TBSP sunflower seed 

1/2 TBSP pumpkin seed

Stir above together and add more liquid if needed

1 TBS nuts

1/2 TBSP unsweetened flaked coconut 

Sprinkle of hemp seed powder

Stir all together and then add whatever fruit you enjoy. We enjoy it with no added sweetener, just frozen berries in the winter or fresh fruit in the summer. I usually do not add the fruit till he is ready to eat, it can sit in the fridge for a couple of days if he gets too busy.  When I add the fruit, I mix in a little more liquid.  

This gives hubby a nice breakfast or dessert and does not raise his blood sugar as other breakfasts and desserts do.  He likes the energy he gets from eating it. It is usually a daily meal for him. Quantities can be increased for a family (our kids are gone and raised).

“Going off sugar” has always been hard for me, because the way I eat really healthy even in the face of temptation, is to tell myself, “I could have that if I wanted to. I choose not to.” (I list reasons in my head, if I’m tempted.) Or, occasionally, I say yes rather than no, and I eat chocolate! I “went off” junk food years ago, but I have never stayed completely away from sugar for more than a few months at a time.

So to tell myself, “You can’t have that” does a weird number on me psychologically, brings out my demonic inner rebel. However, I’m up for the challenge. And having things to eat, that you love, that contain no sugar or chemical sweeteners, is key! Here are some ideas I came back from CHI with.

Joyce Oliveto’s Favorite Dessert

Joyce puts a 1 quart fresh blueberries in the blender, with 3 Tbsp. date paste (you can make this with dates and a little water), and a pinch of cinnamon and vanilla powder. Layer it with soaked, chopped raw almonds. (I made this for Matthew, on my YouTube video posted yesterday!)

Chef Madeline

As I told you, Madeline is 67. Here she is in a photo with director Bobby Morgan and raw-food book author Hiawatha Cromer. When I found out how old Madeline was, I shrieked, “SHUT! UP!” (It’s a really dumb thing to say, but I live with three teenagers and stuff like that comes out of my mouth.) I finally have the picture of what I want to be when I am a full generation ahead of where I am now! She golfs competitively. She’s organized and ego-free and constantly learning and an articulate teacher. She’s just a positive-energy dynamo, and she’s sexy as heck, too. Her husband is almost 80 and is the same way!

For her recipes, there are some superfoods you might not recognize. Research them if you want—but they’re cool foods with a David Wolfe-like twist: that in the modern age, the privileged and the educated can leverage all the powerful nutrition secrets from all over the globe. (I stick to the basics because I consider my audience the Average “Jo” who needs to get more simple and cheap spinach, apples, and flax in the diet FIRST.

But maca is the best libido-enhancer I know, lucuma is a low-glycemic sweetener from a Peruvian fruit that makes caramelly-tasting raw desserts, and mesquite is from a pod in North American trees, high in protein and minerals, that regulates blood sugar and sweetens with a molasses-like caramel note.)

Madeline loves to buy stuff on Vitacost.com—so much so that she had a laminated page she’d hold up at CHI every time there was an ingredient…in response to the question “Where do I buy that?” I just ordered some lucuma and toffee-flavored stevia there, myself, and am making this shake today. I’ve added my own twist of freezing some of it so it’s a frozen shake rather than a thinner drink like Madeline makes it.

Choca-Laca-Maca Shake

2 cups sweetened almond milk (see tomorrow’s blog)

1 frozen banana

1 Tbsp lacuma

1 Tbsp raw cacao nibs (optional)

8-10 drops toffee-flavored stevia (vitacost.com)

2 tsp maca

1 Tbsp. mesquite

½ tsp vanilla

Freeze half the almond milk in ice cube trays. Blend frozen cubes with all remaining ingredients till smooth in BlendTec and drink immediately!

This is a delicious way to use your RAW almonds from our annual group buy, which we will kick off on approx. Oct. 1. (Almonds you buy in the store have been pasteurized, killing enzymes and making soaking them overnight mostly pointless because life, or germination, cannot occur.)

When were in Cali, we bought lots of snacks at health food stores to stock the SunWarrior Party House. (I know, I know—I said I’d never do it again, but Tony Ricco and his water balloons weren’t there.) We bought these fabulous little things called Nori Nachos. So of course we saved the package with the ingredients, and we came home and duplicated it. It’s a great recipe if you like cheesy chips, and it’s a great way to get iodine-rich nutritional support for your thyroid. Here it is, ENJOY!

Nori Nachos

6 nori sheets (raw are the most nutritious, toasted have the mildest flavor)

1 tomato

1 carrot

2 Tbsp. raw apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

¼ cup cashews

½ cup macadamia nuts

¼ cup sunflower seeds

1 tsp. sea salt

Puree tomato, carrot, vinegar and lemon juice until smooth in high-speed blender, about 60 seconds. Then add remaining ingredients except nori sheets and blend again until smooth, about 60 seconds.

Spread mixture in a thin layer on nori sheets. Cut sheets into desired shapes and place on racks in dehydrator. Dry below 115 degrees, for approximately 24 hours until crispy. Keep at room temperature in a paper sack.

The more you eat raw food, the simpler it becomes. When I’m by myself, what I eat at home tends to be bare-bones, if I’m not in restaurants with friends. But when I have a Sunday dinner for my family, or a special occasion, I make it fancier. I’m not always the greatest at planning ahead, so sometimes I open the fridge and make something up, based on one ingredient I’d like to use.

Yesterday my two youngest kids made a lovely Mother’s Day dinner. I had a quick brainstorm about how to make the two pints of blueberries (currently in season) in the fridge into a dessert.

I put some young Thai coconut meat (1/2 cup?) and coconut liquid (1/2 cup?) into my BlendTec, with a little lemon juice (1 Tbsp?) and agave (2 Tbsp?), plus some cashews (1/3 cup?) and 6 frozen strawberries. I whizzed it up into a cream sauce and served it with ½ cup blueberries in each of five crystal glasses as a parfait. Yum, everyone gobbled it up.

(I put question marks after the measurements because I didn’t measure, so these are guesses—don’t hold me to them!)

My beautiful cousin Quinn is the middle child of my uncle I speak of often, in my books and lectures. (My 32-year old Uncle Gerald chose the medical route when diagnosed with cancer, at the same time my grandmother chose a 100% raw diet.) Just three years ago, Quinn’s husband was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 32, just like her father was. She unflinchingly supported him through a very mild round of chemo.

Then she showed up at my house, learned a bunch of stuff, and implemented it in a committed way. She dug into the green-smoothie, whole-foods lifestyle with tenacity and grace. When I grow up, I want to be Quinn. Her husband Jon, an orthodontist, is in good health now and enjoying his three small children.

Every few months Quinn invites me, my sister, Quinn’s sister, and one of our other cousins (there are 49 of us Romney first cousins!) to her home for breakfast or lunch. I was just there last week, and she served this fabulous version of “Russian Cream,” adapted to be infinitely healthier (and I’ve added a slight improvement or two myself).

Merry Christmas—hope you enjoy this!

Quinn’s Russian Cream and Berries
Serves 6-8

2 envelopes gelatin (you can get a vegan variety, no horses hooves, at health food stores)
2 c. water

Combine in sauce pan and simmer 5 minutes.

Combine and mix well until all lumps are incorporated:

3 c. plain yogurt or kefir (learn to make it yourself in Ch. 8 of 12 Steps to Whole Foods)
1 can coconut milk
2 t. vanilla
2 t. alcohol-free almond extract
1 t. stevia
1/4 c. agave (or to taste)

Add gelatin mixture to yogurt mixture. Fold and mix with whisk until smooth. Do not beat. Pour into small dishes or large bowl. Chill several hours or overnight. Serve with berry sauce and fresh berries.

Berry sauce

Combine 2 cups fresh or frozen mixed berries (or just one type of berry). When berries are thawed and broken up, add 1/2 t. stevia and 1 T. orange juice concentrate. Thicken by adding a little cornstarch and water. Boil for a few minutes stirring until sauce is no longer chalky looking and is a little thickened. Add to the top of yogurt mixture.

This is great as a dessert, or add some granola and serve as breakfast parfait.

Jenni, my customer support lead, is gluten intolerant and taught me how to make coconut milk.

Here’s my video on how to replace dairy milk with yummy and nutritious milks from sesame, almond, cashew, or even your shredded coconut from the group buy.

Jenni makes coconut milk, and then, with the pulp left over in the nut milk bag, she makes coconut macaroons:

Coconut Macaroons

6 egg whites (organic, free range eggs)

¼ tsp. Original Crystal Himalayan Salt

½ cup maple syrup

2 tsp. of no-alcohol vanilla

1 cup coconut pulp (from making coconut milk)

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

Blend egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Fold in vanilla, maple syrup, and coconut with a spoon until just mixed. Drop batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet by rounded tablespoons. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

What is the best sprouts to sprout and put in your smoothies?  I need to figure out what sprout seeds to buy and start sprouting with….

So my Breakfast class at the Zermatt Resort last week was great fun. Just one strange thing, I discovered after class when I went to sample the food: the chef apparently made my Pumpkin Waffles . . . without pumpkin!

Weird. But my newsletter with these recipes went out, and one reader immediately went out to find canned pumpkin and said “crop damage” means no canned pumpkin right now. Maybe that’s why! (I keep it in my food storage, so I didn’t know.) If you can’t get it in the store, hang onto this recipe, perfect for fall. Or used cooked pureed carrots, or your own winter squash or pumpkin, baked, outer peel removed, pureed.

Anyway, we love these dense, delicious waffles with raw applesauce from the apples coming out of our tree now (see the photo below of Tennyson picking them), and a little real maple syrup.

To redeem myself, here’s the recipe. It makes a big batch so you have leftovers, which you can freeze if you want.

Remember (read Ch. 9 all about this) that if you soak the liquids in the grains overnight, you neutralize phytic acids that may bind to minerals, making them unavailable to you. You also break down the proteins, making grains easier to digest.

PUMPKIN WAFFLES

2 cups whole-wheat flour (finely ground, soft white is my favorite for this)

2 cups regular rolled oats

1 (30 oz.) can pumpkin

¼ cup coconut oil (liquid)

3 Tbsp. Sucanat or unrefined coconut sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. sea salt

1 ½ tsp. baking powder (no aluminum), reduce by ½ tsp. if you soaked grains overnight

1 cup yogurt or kefir

2 ½ cups water

2 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs (organic, free range) or 3 Tbsp. chia soaked in 9 Tbsp. water

Mix rolled oats in your high-power blender to break them down to a coarse meal. Mix the whole-wheat flour, oats, yogurt, and water together, then cover and let sit overnight (optionally). In the morning, add the remaining ingredients and mix by hand, but don’t overmix. Batter is dense, and baking time usually must be longer than waffle timer indicates. Top with Quick Raw Applesauce or plain yogurt, and real maple syrup.

Quick Raw Applesauce

4 large Jonathan or Fuji apples, washed/cored/quartered

1 cup water

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

1/3 cup (or more, to taste) maple syrup

Pulse all ingredients in high-power blender for a chunky sauce.

Some people have a holiday season. I have that, plus Birthday Season. As I’ve mentioned, all four of my kids were born within a couple of weeks of each other. A primetime TV show made hay about me having a combined birthday party. (The producers cooked up something about an obsession I supposedly have with efficiency.)

Unfortunately they failed to mention the proximity of the birthdays, and the fact that they get an individual “friend” party. They just get a combined party for my very large extended family who has to drive 45 – 90 minutes to get to my house.

Here’s what I did this year. I made whole-grain, naturally sweetened Chocolate Beet Cake for my kids and me. I made the usual stuff for everyone else. At the family party, I served my kids the healthy stuff. Then I put that cake in the fridge, serving everybody else cake-mix stuff they’re used to.

The next day at noon, I had Tennyson’s baseball party at the city park. Three hours after that was over, we had Libby’s water party in the back yard. I didn’t want to make two or three beet cakes. (It is easy, though.) As it is, I had to make cakes and cupcakes for 3 parties in 24 hours.

I got the leftover healthy cake out for my kids, for both “friend” parties.

See if you can tell which cake is which, in the photo below. (You can’t.) Also check out Ten’s birthday party—he’s the kid in the middle drinking a GS.

Maybe I’m obsessed with efficiency after all. But if so, let me plead my case here . . . it lends itself well to writing books that have REAL moms with REAL time-and-budget constraints in mind.

Not naming any names, but I’ve bought so many raw recipe books that have laborious instructions, expensive and exotic and hard-to-find ingredients. I’m not a gourmet, though I like food to taste good. I don’t love spending my whole day in the kitchen, though I’m willing to spend more than the average modern person’s 20 minutes in “food related activities.”

I’ve improved the chocolate cake and frosting recipes. Coconut sugar is better for you and has less impact on blood sugar than Sucanat (what’s in the original recipe in Ch. 11). The frosting is now more spreadable with the addition of hot water. Here they are:

Chocolate Beet Cake

3 eggs (organic, free range) or 9 Tbsp. water with 3 Tbsp. chia soaked in it
1 1/2 cups unrefined coconut sugar
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cup pureed, steamed beets (about 3-4 medium size)
1/4 cup baking cocoa (non-alkalized) or raw powdered chocolate
2 cups finely ground whole-wheat flour (soft white wheat is best)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Steam beets until soft, about 15 mins. Puree beets in a VitaMix or BlendTec until you have 1 3/4 cups. Add eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add chocolate and other dry ingredients. Bake in 9″x13″ greased pan at 350 degrees for 30 min.

Fudge Frosting

1 cup unsweetened non-alkalized cocoa or raw powdered chocolate
2 cups coconut cream concentrate (soft, room temp or slightly warmed)
2 cups coconut sugar, blended in dry blender container until “powdered”

¼ to ½ cup hot water, to make frosting spreadable

Cream together all ingredients by hand until smooth. This frosts a 9″x13″ cake and leaves some extra for a treat.

Once on this blog, I posted a Hot Fudge Pudding Cake recipe, and reader Paula has converted it to gluten free with interesting ingredients like teff and sorghum. Here’s here post, running again here so it’s not lost and buried as a comment to an older post. Thank you Paula!

“I just tried the Hot Fudge Pudding Cake recipe, but converted it to gluten-free with the whole grain flours I had on hand. It turned out great! I used agave for the sweetener, and I did NOT cut down on water because teff is VERY absorbent and needs even more liquid.”

Gluten-Free Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

1/3 c. teff flour
1/3 c. coconut flour
1/3 c. sorghum flour
1/4 t. xanthan gum
2/3 c. agave
3 T. organic cocoa
2 t. baking powder
½ tsp. Original Himalayan Crystal Salt
3/4 cup filtered water
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix & blend together in your high-power blender or using a hand mixer. Pour into 9″ square or oblong glass or non-teflon baking pan. Double recipe for 9×13 cake pan.

1/4 c organic cocoa
1/2 c. agave
1 3/4 c filtered hot water
½ cup chopped nuts (sprinkle over the top, optionally)

Combine this mixture & pour over batter. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 min until done. Serve warm or cool.

Want more recipes? Click Here 12 steps to whole foods.