Sunny Almond Pâté

It's the holidays... a time to share our culinary treasures with family and friends. Sunny Almond Pâté is quick and easy to make and full of high quality nutrition. It's always a big hit at pot lucks, and during the holidays, serve as a prelude to your holiday meals!

Sunny Almond Pâté

Makes 3 cups

Sunny Almond Pâté takes about 5 minutes to make once the sunflower seeds and almonds have been soaked. It does take some planning as you will need to start soaking the nuts and seeds early (see ingredient list below). Soaking nuts and seeds is an important step as it makes their nutrients more bio-available. For a quick appetizer, spread Sunny Almond Pâté on ribs of celery. This pâté can also be served on whole grain crackers, rolled in leaves of lettuce, or for a quick meal, wrap-it-up in a warm sprouted wheat tortillas or a leaf of colards, add some salad and a dressing. I call this a garden salad wrap. It's that easy and delicious.

1 cup raw almonds, soaked 12 to 24 hours (see below)
1 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked 6 to 12 hours
¼ cup filtered water
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pink crystal salt or 2 tablespoons tamari (soy sauce)
1 to 2 cloves garlic
1 cup grated small carrot
1 cup chopped small fresh parsley leaves

In a food processor, with the S-shaped blade, put all the ingredients, except the grated carrot and chopped parsley, and process until smooth. Add more water as needed so mixture flows freely through the blade but not too much as you want your pâté to be thick. Stop the food processor, add the grated carrot and chopped parsley and stir-in by hand.

Store in a covered glass container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Why Soak Nuts & Seeds?

Why Soak Nuts & Seeds? White nuts and seeds, like pinenuts, cashews, white sesame seeds, do not need to be soak. For all other nuts and seeds, when a recipe calls for nuts and/or seeds to be soaked, it is not optional unless specified in the recipe. Soaking nuts and seeds changes their texture and taste, washes away enzyme inhibitors and natural pesticides, and starts the sprouting process. Sprouting causes the proteins to break down into amino acids, fats into fatty acids and starches into simple carbohydrates. In simpler words, soaking makes digesting nuts and seeds easier.
How & How Long To soak Nuts & Seeds: In a jar, put the amount of nuts and/or seeds you need and fill with filtered water. Let nuts soak at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, depending on the size of the nut, and seeds for 6 to 12 hours. Discard the soaking water and rinse the nuts and/or seeds well. Store soaked nuts and seeds in fresh water in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Change the water daily.

The best flax cracker recipe ever!

I've been playing around with making raw flax crackers lately and this is one of the best crackers I have ever had. Try them, you may like them too! The carrots can be grated by hand or with a food processor.

Carrot Black Sesame Crackers

In a high speed blender or food processor, put the following:
2 cups water
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup golden flax seeds, unsoaked (for food processor, grind first in coffee grinder)
1 teaspoon pink crystal salt or other high quality whole salt
1/3 cup fresh mixed chopped herbs of choice

Pour above mixture into a mixing bowl and add the following and stir:
5 cups grated small carrot
1/4 cup black sesame seeds, soaked 6 hours

Spread the cracker batter onto teflex sheets, about 1/8-inch thick. Put into dehydrator and dehydrate at 145 degrees for 1 hour. Turn dehydrator down to 115 degrees and dehydrate until done, between 6 and 10 hours. Dehydrator time depends on how wet your mixture is and how crisp you like your crackers. If you like your crackers with a lot of moisture and a tender texture, store them in zip lock bags in the refrigerator for up to a month. If you like a crisp cracker, this means you have dehydrated them until most of the water is out and they can be safely stores in a covered glass container in a cool part of your kitchen for 1 to 2 months.

Grapes into Grape Juice... Yum!

Bruce Damer and Galen Brandt are my neighbors and they are living off their land more and more each year. Today I visited them and we picked loads of grapes that I will turn into phyto-nutrient rich juice tonight before I retire for the evening.

I will make the juice with my 25 year old Champion Juicer. It's easy to do. Just wash the grapes. Take them off their stem and send them through the juicer. It goes very fast! Bruce and Galen will probably freeze some for enjoying later this fall.

Thanks Bruce and Galen!
Damer.com

TriYoga Interviews Me!

Kaliji & Jia introduce Celebrate Life! to the TriYoga community

I'm really excited and honored! The Kali Ray TriYoga newsletter, In the Flow, just did an interview with me.

I have been studying with Kaliji for over 20 years. I have traveled to India with her three times; as well as to Russia, Ukraine and many parts of the US.

Kaliji inspired my diet style and has encouraged me with my cooking.

You can read the interview here.

Before Julie & Julia there was Jia & Julia!

I met Ms. Childs at the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP.com) national conference in San Francisco in June of 1994. Julia had just stepped off stage where she enjoyed poking fun at vegetarians!

Seasoned Pumpkin Seeds

Makes 3 cups

Seasoned Pumpkin Seeds are raw pumpkin seeds that are soaked, then seasoned and dehydrated. They have a crisp-chewy texture and will add lots of flavor and nutrition to your diet. Pumpkin seeds are a great food to include at your meals, and Seasoned Pumpkin Seeds are a tasty way to enjoy these nutritional powerhouses. Eat them as a snack or sprinkle some over salads, soups and main dishes. Some health benefits associated with pumpkin seeds are bone health, an anti-inflammatory, lower cholesterol levels, helps with prostate, bladder and kidney concerns as well as depression and learning disabilities.

Inspire & Be Inspired: While rinsing your pumpkin seeds, hum a tune or sing a song. Run your fingers through the soaked seeds. Feel their silky texture, notice their green color and remember where the humble pumpkin seed comes from... the very same place as you, our Earth and kissed by our Sun! As you hum or sing, feel the blessing of these little seeds and all those who helped to bring them to your "Kitchen Temple".

Tips to the Cook: Start soaking the pumpkin seeds 6 hours ahead of time (see ingredient list below). This recipe is designed to fill 1 dehydrator tray (any model of Excalibur). Double the recipe for 2 trays, triple for 3... etc. An equal amount of sunflower seeds can be substituted for the pumpkin seeds or use half pumpkin and half sunflower seeds.

Equipment Needed: 1 teflex sheet or parchment paper and dehydrator.

3 cups pumpkin seeds, soaked 6 hours, rinsed
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Himalayan pink crystal salt or other natural salt

Stir all ingredients together: In a large bowl, put all the ingredients and stir to mix well.

Spread seeds on Teflex sheets then dehydrate: On a Teflex sheet placed on a dehydrator tray, put the seasoned pumpkin seeds and spread them out evenly all the way to the edges. Put filled tray into the dehydrator and dehydrate at 145ºF for 1 1/2 hours. Turn down dehydrator to 115ºF and dehydrate until the seeds are very dry, about 4 more hours.

How to Store: Store in a covered glass jar in a cool part of your kitchen or pantry. Seasoned Pumpkin Seeds will store easily for 1 month and longer if the seeds you used were fresh.