Sweet Seconds

Sweet Seconds fo sho! Number two farmer's market was truly a raw success. I sold out of wraps, crackers and fruit rolls by about 1pm!
You know... it really makes me happy to feed people and make them happy... is that lame? I'm glad I can introduce raw food to people who eat a standard american diet and they don't turn their nose up and say "ugh why would I want to eat that", they say "wow, I'll take another one of those".

I'm not trying to convert people, just trying to make people realize that real food can be some of the best stuff ever. I'm not crazy for eating the way I do, I swear (%$^&).

So many friends, after trying my food have said "you know, when I think about what you eat I think you must have the most bland food on the planet, but now that I've tried your food, it's awesome!" - and I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, that would be weird, maybe I'm just happy that I'm not actually crazy, and I don't have defective taste buds.

A couple of cool things happened this week at the market. A 'chocolate fanatic' lady who was hesitant to buy my dark chocolate last week because it is $6/bar broke down and got one. This week she came back and said "I lost 10 mins of my life last week because I was in heaven, that is the best chocolate I've ever had in my life!" How awesome is that?!
The second thing is a couple of raw food eaters from Canmore came and bought some wraps, crackers, fruit rolls and chocolate and went off into the park. They came back about a half hour later and bought the rest of my wraps, fruit rolls and some more crackers and chocolate! They were so nice and I'm glad I could feed them.

I'm in full production mode right now, making lots more so hopefully I don't sell out mid-day next week.

Let me tell you a little about my food this week:
The fruit rolls were banana cinnamon w/ B.C. hazelnut and raw cocoa filling, apple strawberry orange w/ raw almond vanilla nut butter and B.C. cherry and cantaloupe w/ the same almond vanilla butter. Deadly good.

The wraps were the same and I also made my fave BBQ tomato & onion crackers. In an effort not to waste any of my pre-printed labels I ended up having the same graphics on the wraps label and the crackers label, how embarrassing haha, I changed the colours slightly but didn't have time to draw a new label for the mango onion wraps. Are you sleeping yet? Picture time.




I made a new body scrub with vanilla beans and spearmint + peppermint essential oils, I was really stoked on the package for this one. I drew a mint leaf, duplicated it and then drew a vanilla bean. I stuck the vanilla bean in the middle and blam, I had an unintentional butterfly. How girly. I love it.


The same blueberry rooibos 'blue suede brew' white chocolate was there and the 'some like it hot' chipotle cinnamon dark chocolate made an appearance.



I made pretty signs to draw more attention to the items on the table and to educate peeps about my stuff...



Ok so no recipe this week but next week I'll have some new things and will post a recipe. I can't give all my secrets away! Very exciting news though: I found a source for frozen ORGANIC young coconut meat in Vancouver and they do overnight shipping! I'm getting some shipped Monday- holy crap if you could see the smile on my face right now. Imagine all the possibilities...

Thanks for your support Banff & beyond, you're awesome!

Marketed

Hey Banff & Beyond,
I'm here to write about my super fun first day at the Banff Farmer's Market yesterday.

Remember I was complaining about the heavens trying everything in their power to make sure this is a bumpy ride? Well they did continue along that path (so like the heavens to stick to a path). I didn't get my cocoa butter and other ingredients until Monday night and packaging and nuts until Tuesday night! However, it turns out that if you politely tell the heavens that their path is a crappy path they will back down and things will work out. I think they were just happy to hear the dehydrator buzz die down.

After countless hours of designing labels, dehydrating, blending, mixing and singing along with Joel Plaskett I managed to get everthing done. Here are the results of my heavenly defiance.

3 fruit roll-ups with wild jungle peanut butter in the middle.


Banana Cinnamon Rolls
a whole bunch of bananas
vanilla bean powder/fresh vanilla beans
true cinnamon
blend all in food processor and spread on teflex, not too think but not too thin and dehydrate at 105 until dry and still plyable.
cut into 4-5 strips and cut those strips in half width wise.

Strawberry Apple Orange Rolls
Do the same as above, with 5 apples and 1lb of strawberries, 2 tbsp of ground chia seeds, vanilla bean and the zest of one orange.

Raspberry Pear Rolls
6 Pears, 1 pint of raspberries, 2 tbsp of chia seeds, vanilla bean, 2 drops of liquid stevia and lemon zest.
Do the same as the the previous 2 with dehydrating.

Jungle Peanut Butter
a couple cups of jungle peanuts, ground in a food processor till fine. Put them in a high speed blender with a touch of sea salt, agave nectar and melted coconut oil as needed to help it become smooth. If the butter starts to get too warm then stop blending and put it in a bowl in the freezer and try again when it has cooled. You don't want to heat the nut butter above raw!


When the fruit is finished dehydrating and you've cut it into strips then place some peanut butter on one side, spread out with a knife and make sure to keep most of it away from the edges. Roll fairly tightly and it will self-seal with the nut butter on the end.

I also made:
Orange Coffee Dark Chocolate + Wild Canadian Blueberry Rooibos White Chocolate

The checkered wrappers were supposed to be plain neutral but they were out of stock and I needed them ASAP. I think it looks kind of fun though. It will have to do because I have 2000 sheets of the stuff.



Grainy + Honey Mustards - so spicy



Onion + Mango Vegetable Wraps (w. Glen's Fruit Truck organic patty pan zucchini squash). These were the star of the show, they sold out! Looks like I'll be making more for next week.


Ylang-Ylang Essential Oil Body Scrub



Pumpkin-Less Pudding (seen on the right)



Overall I think the market was a success (in your face heavenly forces).

FYI all of my packaging is biodegradable and compostable! (minus the tape to attach them)

See you next week. I plan on having different flavours of chocolate and fruit rolls and some new goodies!

xo
Julie

Market Me

Hey fellow food eaters!
It is finally summer here in Banff and I'm getting really excited for the farmer's market that I will be a part of. Too bad the town, the health board and the cosmos are doing everything in their power to ensure it is a bumpy ride.
The market isn't a 'certified farmer's market' just yet so all food has to be made in a commercial kitchen, and if you want to give samples of your food you have to spend tons of money on containers that have lids and you need a hand washing station... so much for a simple market. Reminds me of life these days... helmet wearing laws for bikes and skateboards - our impossibly bubble-wrapped society. C'mon people, live a little, eat some food that has been created in your neighbors kitchen! If we lived in Cuba all we would have to do to get the flies off and sanitize would be to splash a little rum on the food. Then again the Cubans are just getting into cell phones so what do they know...

All bitching aside, I am looking forward to this. I have a bunch of things I want to make but am open to suggestions as well. Eventually I will be making my own stone-ground nut butters + raw nutella-type spreads, chocolate, mustards, coconut butters, etc., but the stone grinder I just bought and brought back from San Francisco this week broke on the plane so I have to wait for the airline to replace it. Luckily I'm really extra smart and know how to make chocolate and mustard sans stone grinder.


I think I will also make my favorite BBQ crackers

perhaps some 'green chips'

maybe some seasoned raw nuts like sour cream and onion almondspumpkin pudding/pie and maybe simple things like fruit leathers. Any suggestions?

I won't be selling glowfood at this upcoming week's market (July 6th) but I will be at the following one.

See you soon!

Judgement Salad

Don't judge me because I'm posting another salad recipe. I bet if David Wolfe were to judge this salad he would say 'that is one hell of a beautifying salad, tastes like I'm going to beauty heaven'...

Have you ever read his book 'Eating for Beauty'? In this book he tells us this about today's salad components:

Arugula: Highly alkaline, high in beta-carotene (Vit A) protecting the nucleus of cells from radiation (sun, etc), helps inhibit acne. Anti-cancer, antibiotic and anti-viral. Also, because of it's high sulfur content it is an excellent internal skin cleanser and liver purifier.


Olives (olive oil): Most beautifying foods of all! Erase fine lines, repair connective tissue, heal the circulatory system, soothing digestive system, alkaline, crazy high in vit E, high protein, smooths skin and stimulates immune system, among other things.

Onions: High sulfur (cleanses skin + liver, antiseptic properties, helps build all connective tissues), anti blood clumping properties, mucous disintegration, has more vit C than same sized orange and tons of other minerals and vitamins.


Papaya Seeds: Amazing anti-parasite to guard against and flush out parasites. The flesh of papaya has tons of different health properties. Note that these have a strong peppery taste, quite spicy.


Tumeric: Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, first-class blood purifier resulting in wounds healing faster, increased energy + metabolism. Makes the skin soft and counteracts pimples, acne, boils + other skin imbalances.


Avocado: Eye health, Vit E, anti-cancer, makes things like arugula + onions more digestible, promotes healthy heart and lowers bad cholesterol, among other things.


So I thought to myself... I'd like to be the most beautiful person at work today. I'm going to make a salad. (Truth be told, I just made this with what I had on hand but it worked out beautifully).

Judgement Salad:

Salad Part:
A bunch of organic arugula. Fill a big metal bowl, don't be shy! I was lucky enough to get some from Calgary this week, hotchkiss farms grows fantastic arugula.
1 small onion, sliced into small slivers, as much as you want.
1/2 or whole avocado, sliced in half, then into chunks while in the shell and scooped out.

Candied Mustard Mushrooms
Make some mustard according to my mustard mushrooms post last November, or any mustard you want, usually I just throw mustard seeds, onion, white wine, raw cider vinegar, raw honey, sea salt, pepper and maybe some tumeric into a blender until smooth. Then I coat sliced mushrooms (your choice, I like crimini) in the mustard and dehydrate at 115 degrees for a bunch of hours (maybe 4+). Then when they are slightly shriveled I coat them in a mixture of olive oil (lots of olive oil), sea salt and raw honey and dehydrate until dry. They should have the texture some sort of leather or easy to chew jerky.


Dressing: Spicy Papaya Seed
Seeds from about half of a small papaya, never hurts to have a bit of flesh in there too for extra sweetness
about 1/4 of a small onion or 1/2 of a large shallot
1/2 large organic lemon or whole small lemon (not just the juice, the whole thing!), chopped
a splash or two of raw cider vinegar
a hefty dash of sea salt, to taste
about 1/6 cup or less of olive oil
a small bit of fresh tumeric, optional (to be honest I can't remember if I used tumeric, I had a ton of fresh tumeric on my counter so I probably did).
Blend all in a vita mix until smooth. It won't be crazy smooth but that is ok. Taste it. If it is too spicy or weird add some raw honey or papaya flesh.

Coat the arugula and onion in the dressing and top the salad with the mushrooms and avocado.


Sure, this might sound weird, but I swear it was good. It made me feel good too.

Now if only I could get some beauty sleep.

Kraut Salat

Ok so you might find this meal incredibly strange or boring or just straight up gross. Well, I have great news for you - you don't have to make it! Phew, right?

I have run out of precious cooking (uncooking) time lately and all of my creative efforts are spent on making logos and pretty posters. Aside from many smoothies I keep coming back to one quick and simple salad. Perhaps because of my European roots or maybe because I'm preparing for a German invasion of the WURST kind (German restaurant opening soon), I've been crazy about kraut.

Lets call this Kraut Salat.
As much mixed lettuce as you want, or romaine, baby romaine, spring mix... u get the point.
A few forkfuls of raw, unpasteurized sauerkraut (you can even get some with carrots and ginger or caraway seeds - what a party!)
very finely sliced onion of your choice (however much you want)
A handful of sunflower seeds
A few pinches of raw sesame seeds
A few hefty pinches of pink sea salt
Lots of freshly ground back pepper
...and the magic ingredient... Highwood Crossing Organic Extra Virgin Canola Oil.
This oil is like liquid gold, strong nutty flavour, rich deep yellow colour, grown and made here in Alberta! It is very much unlike any canola oil you've ever had, mainly because it has FLAVOUR! I know there is a lot of bad press about canola, but I feel good about this one. Organic, unrefined...anyway...


Mix it all together und essen.

They Say It's Your Birthday

Happy Birthday!
I made a cake for you. Aren't you excited to look at the pretty pictures?

Normally I only write about recipes that I make up, but when it comes to birthdays you have to surprise people - SURPRISE - I didn't make this recipe up!

The recipe comes to us from Sarma Melngailis' book Living Raw Food. I changed a couple of things but I still don't think I should post the recipe, cause it ain't mine.

It is 'Milk Chocolate Mousse Layer Cake', and it is freaking awesome. The mousse part calls for 1 cup of young coconut meat, and I didn't have time to drive an hour away to get coconuts so I replaced it with about 1/4 - 1/3 cup melted cocoa butter. I knew this would make it more stiff and would give it a bit of a white chocolate flavour. Turns out it was a great idea!

The original recipe has the cake in a square/rectangle shape but I like round birthday cakes so I did just that - made three separate rounds in the dehydrator. I also thought it needed icing to make it look like I made it, not my cross-eyed cat Eddie. I melted about a pint of 'so delicious' brand vanilla coconut based ice cream and about 1/3 cup or so of raw 'artisana' brand coconut cream and added vanilla bean scrapings and some agave and blended it all together to make a random, quick and easy icing. I would have made a truly raw icing with cashews except I used them all up in the mousse part of the cake... plan ahead people, plan ahead.


Mixing wet + dry ingredients, mostly almonds and walnuts in different forms, raw cocoa powder and maple syrup.


Spreading the batter into 3 rounds on parchment-lined round metal things I borrowed from work...


After about 20-22 hours of dehydrator time the cake batter was fudgy cake. I flipped one upside down and spread 1/2 of the mousse on top. (Mousse was mostly cashews, agave, cocoa powder + cocoa butter...)


Put another cake layer on top, the rest of the mousse and then the final cake layer. Oh yea, saved some mousse for filling in the gaps. I eye-balled the rounds so I did a little trimming once everything was in place.


I added one layer of icing, let it drip all over, put the cake in the freezer for 20 mins and then poured a second layer on. Great technique. Topped it all off with some shaved cocoa butter and a few flicks of cocoa powder and popped it in the fridge for a couple of hours.





This cake was very easy to make, you just need a dehydrator, a high speed blender (like a Vita Mix) and time to plan ahead.

Thanks for the recipe Pure Food and Wine, the birthday boy was very happy!

(Also very excited - a friend is visiting NY and I told her to go to PF+W and One Lucky Duck and bring me back some goodies!)