Planning......and Carrot Slaw

We have had a crazy week here at the homestead. Details can be found at our personal blog. Thus, this is the first time I'm getting to post since last week.
Well, the plan for today was to finally plant the garden. And, since we are wimps, and the temp for most of the day was only in the low 60s with crazy windiness, we decided to till and plant tomorrow when the high is in the high 70s and calmer.

So today, my husband decided to watch the Alabama A-Day game. And I did what I do most weekends: prep cooking (or uncooking since most is raw :) for the week ahead. Sometimes I get asked how do I make it throughout the week with lunches, dinners, and not getting to eat out (well, truthfully- we eat out about 1-2 times a month- and never fast food). The answer is planning! Recently I had a good laugh at this post, which is what sometimes happens when husbands are left alone without a meal plan (well, at least my husband that is :). So I plan for me, but also for him so that he survives the week without eating only rice, carrots, and cucumbers (his go to favs to snack on)!

My list for today was:

1. Make raw almond butterThis is how much almond butter we go through in a week- sometimes more! I also make this almond butter from The Edible Perspective (on the far left) occasionally to dip veggies inmmmmm.........
This little guy has a home with all our other nuts...seriously I buy pounds and pounds of nuts a week!

2. Roast my dandelion root (what in the world is that for?... see below :)Roasted Dandelion and Chicory roots to make a caffeine-free, all natural coffee similar to this one by Elana

3. Make some milk... because the coffee needs it, and my smoothies need it! Right now, my Pumpkin Seed Milk is my favoriteI drank some and made lattes before I took this picture :)

4. Make raw crackers in the dehydrator- also dehydrate other things for the week. What do you do with the leftover pulp from the seed Milk??....working on a new recipe for some yummy crackers...but for now, try these raw cracker recipes:

• Superseed Crackers from The Mommy Bowl
• Raw Food Society of BC also has some raw cracker recipes here

5. Cut up fruit that might be going bad (usually over-ripe bananas) and put in the freezer for
smoothies and shakes

6. Make some kind of salad to have as a side for lunches (scroll down for a recipe!)
7. Also, I will make some of this cashew sour cream if we are out. The husband likes to have this
on hand at all times!

Carrot Slaw (raw, also egg, grain and dairy free)

Ingredients

- 1 cup cashews

- 1 medium-large garlic clove

- ¼ cup filtered water, or more as needed- up to ½ cup

- 2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice (or the juice of 1 lime or lemon)

- ¼ tsp sea salt

- 3 large carrots

- 1 celery stalk

- 1-2 cups of cabbage

- 2 Tbsp chopped red onion

Method

- To make the raw “mayonnaise” blend the cashews, garlic clove, ¼ cup water, juice, and salt in a food processor or blender. Leave it in there- it helps the veggies chop better in the food processor.

- Then, if using a food processor- chop the carrot, celery, cabbage, and onion into 2” chunks and then pulse until desired size of a salad is made. You can also pass all through your grater disc of your food processor before making the cashew mayo and then simply stir the two together.

- I make mine in a Vitamix. The mayo first, then I put the carrot, cabbage, celery, and onion in on speed 2 and process with the tamper until done.

- If using raisins, stir or pulse them in at the end. No topping is necessary, but some sprouts are nice. The sprouts in the picture are zucchini sprouts from when we thinned out our planters. We don’t waste a lot around here :)

Why do I spend a couple hours each weekend doing these things? I would like to tell you many noble reasons; however, it is mostly because I want to have spare time during the week to make desserts :). I would much rather be spending my precious middle of the week time making something yummy than making a staple, etc!

Happy planning!
Eryn