Watermelon and Lime- Ice Pops and Aqua Fresca

It's not often that flowers inspire something to eat but when I picked up these flowers and starting shaping this arrangement I realized how much I love the colors of watermelon and lime together. They are both cheery as well as refreshing and cool. The more I thought about it, the more my mouth watered.

Since there doesn't seem to be an end in sight yet to the hot weather, I've decided to keep focusing on recipes that will help cool us off. Watermelon and lime are two perfect examples of fruit that do that well.

So here is a recipe that makes a wonderful ice pop as well as a refreshing and tasty drink over ice.

Watermelon and Lime Ice Pops

Watermelon and Lime Ice Pops

Forget the store bought who knows what is in them type popsicles and look no further than your produce department to make your own ice pops.

Recipe

*  About 4 cups of fresh watermelon
   (I left the seeds in)

*  Juice of one lime

*  A big squeeze of Agave Nectar
   (maybe 1- 2 Tbsp) depending on        the sweetness of the melon you         have

*  1/4 cup water (optional)

*   Pinch of sea salt



Blend all in a blender and pour into mold

Using the molds pictured, I filled almost to the top, leaving about 1/4 inch at the top for expansion. This keeps the liquid from sticking to the top.

I placed the top in place and let the pops freeze for about 2 hours.

Then I placed the sticks into the mold. This keeps the sticks from either floating up or sinking all the way to the bottom.

I chose to use the kind of molds with sticks, as opposed to the ones with the plastic sticks so that I could remove from mold when done, store and reuse the molds.

After frozen solid, let thaw a few minutes and pull from molds.

Now if you don't want to freeze this into pops, you can just pour it over ice and enjoy it as

Watermelon and Lime Aqua Fresca

Enjoy!

Mountain Getaway and Fresh Peach Ice Pops!

Our Cabin in the Woods

We were actually just on vacation! We decided to escape the heat of the California desert and head up into the mountains. So here we were in Big Bear Lake, California where we had made a little log cabin in the woods, our home away from home. Up here at an elevation of around 7,000 feet the weather is cooler, the pine air is refreshing and the nights are just plain lovely.

Heirloom Tomatoes

Our first stop upon arrival was to hit up the local Tuesday Farmer's Market. We made it about an hour before closing time and managed to scurry around and buy some wonderful produce from the local farmers. This particular market is interesting in that they make all the farmers submit photos of their actual farms for their website. "No fakers here" being their motto. All farmers are from within a one hundred mile radius and most from the high desert region.

We met a woman who had a tomato stand- just tomatoes and a few different peppers. She had so many kinds and an absolutely gorgeous selection of heirlooms. She gave us a sample of one of her red tomatoes and it literally melted in my mouth- amazing!

We picked out some wonderful varieties and I knew even before we got in the car that we should have bought a lot more tomatoes!  We also picked up fresh peaches, grapes, seeded watermelon, apricots, fresh lettuces, lemons, limes, and berries. There was also a french gentleman selling his wife's fresh bread. We actually bought some wheat rolls for Rich to make tomato sandwiches- his favorite snack. The only ingredients with these were wheat, salt and yeast- hmmm. Very light and airy.

 I Love Farmer's Markets!!

I love to talk to the farmers, hear their stories and learn about the food. So very interesting!

Mon Chapeau Neuf

I kept seeing these fabulous hats wandering around me and I had to track down where they were coming from. A lovely gal had a booth with hats that she had made by hand. They are a little oversized, rumpled and indestructible and with the big flowers and lace bands they really spoke to the romantic in me. She had several different fun colors making it hard to decide. I went with the more neutral shade and donned it immediately. So glad I did! I love it!

So vibrant and colorful- Doesn't it make your mouth water?

Our next stop, since our cabin was not ready was to hit up a local restaurant called BLT's, sporting an outside deck for dogs and their owners. Lili was very happy sitting under the table watching the other dogs under their tables. They even had a portion of the menu for dogs that included things like chicken and kibbles, hot dog and kibbles, burger and kibbles, you get the picture.

For people they had the most amazing fresh Signature Salad, one of the few places around that included more than just lettuce, meat and cheese in their salads and believe me I read a lot of menus before we headed up.

This salad had five varieties of fresh lettuce and another five varieties of fresh fruit plus a sprinkling of walnuts and a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette- Delicious!

So after getting settled into the cabin which was adorable by the way, I decided to make something cool and refreshing to go along with the cool and refreshing theme of our trip. I put those little fresh peaches from the market to good use.

Fresh Peach Ice Pops

Nothing like fresh ripe peaches!

Last year we went the whole season with never having a ripe peach! We bought lots of them but they were always hard and unflavorful, and never ripened. This year we have been fortunate that Trader Joe's has been selling crates of local fresh peaches. A peach should smell ripe at the time you buy them. They should have that lovely peach aroma at the stem. If you buy at farmer's markets they will usually let you sample one. Our local market closes for the summer due to the heat but this farmer up here in Big Bear let us just eat one to test and they were delicious!

Ice Pop Ingredients- Peaches, Honey and a little water and some pop molds

Peach Ice Pops

Blend up some ripe peaches

Add in a touch of water to get things moving in the blender

Sweeten to taste with a mild honey or agave

(My honey turned out to be not so mild and overtook the flavor of the peaches.

 I ended up making them again with a light agave and it was much better!!)

 Pour into molds

Freeze

Enjoy!

I promised to keep it real with this blog and tell you even the not so good results and tips and tricks that I learn along the way. This little experiment was a good example of this. Not sure if my raw honey turned on me but it took on a strange flavor with my recipes this week. I ended up remaking these with agave and they were wonderful! 

I will need to hunt down a local raw honey vendor, since out farmer's market is gone for the summer. Local honey is always best as it is kind of like gradually vaccinating the body against local allergens, a process called immunotherapy- like allergy shots.  Stay tuned for more on this adventure.

Another not so great item for these ice pops was the molds. I do not recommend the ones pictured here at all! They were some cheapies I got at Target or Walmart, I can't remember which but I was so frustrated with them either not coming out of the mold or just the sticks coming out, or them coming half way out leaving the other half to be washed down the drain that I ended up "donating" them to the cabin when we left. I have ordered some new molds and will let you know how those work out with a new recipe that I am dying to try out when they arrive. 

Meanwhile....

Here are some pictures from around town:

I just adore hollyhocks

 and they were everywhere.

So pretty!

Daisies always make me smile!

I also love American flags.

We got a kick out of these chairs out in front of a pub.

Next Post: We head out hiking, picnicking and exploring around Big Bear Lake but only after setting out the sun tea!

Jicama Salad or Mock "Potato Salad"

Raw Jicama Salad or Mock "Potato Salad"

Hello All! I have so much I've wanted to share with you but our main computer has been in the shop. I have loads of photos all set to share with what I have been up to but they are trapped in the computer. I kept thinking any day now it would return but no such luck yet. Ugh!

Meanwhile I have been getting really good feedback on a recipe post I made awhile back over at Raw Food Rehab in their recipe section, so I thought I would share that here with you.  It's super easy and very tasty.

Many people call this "Potato Salad" because it's similar in texture I guess. It's creamy and a little crunchy. If you are like me and are not a potato salad fan, I hope you try it anyway. I was never a potato salad fan because I don't care for mayonaise so much, but I do love this! That actually is a theme running for me in raw. I am finding I like much more than ever, probably because the flavor and tastes are so fresh.

In general I am not a fan in calling things similar to regular S.A.D. (standard american diet) food versions because they generally do not taste anywhere near the original and if you are hoping so you will be disappointed but they do serve as some wonderful replacements in the diet. I challenge anyone to take this to a party with people that don't eat raw and see if it doesn't disappear the fastest out of all the dishes served- just don't call it potato salad.

Hmmm....Don't call me...Tater Salad.
        Love Ron White ;-)

I had already labeled it on my post and since I am just copying it over, Potato Salad it is. (sorry about the typos and lack of photos)

I hope you try this because it is delicious!

And if you do try it, tell me if you would call it mock potato salad, would you? I would love to know if you think it's similar.

Hope to be back up and running on my main computer soon. I've got lots of fun things planned and some news about an experiment I have going.

'Til then, take care!

Classic Andalusian Gazpacho

Classic Andalusian Gazpacho aka Raw Chilled Vegetable Soup
Psst: I just want you all to know that I did not enhance the color of this photo in any way- It's that vibrant!

It's Tomato Time!

Nothing beats a fresh raw organic ripe tomato in season. Well maybe there are other things but for me who never really liked raw tomatoes this was a new discovery. Tomatoes were things I would pick out of my sandwich or kick around out of the way in my salad. Who could blame me for not liking tomatoes when my only real exposure to them was in restaurants where you are hardly served a ripe tomato or from grocery stores where it is picked green or so modified where ever it comes from that it hardly has any taste at all.

No. there is a reason to wait for tomato season and then buy locally grown, or better yet from the farmer and indulge in the real deal- Flavor!! 

Take it an extra step and pick up some heirloom tomatoes, which means the seeds are at least over 50 years old and have been handed down the generations or have not been hybridized. There are over 600 varieties of heirlooms!

How many varieties of tomatoes does your grocer carry?

But I'm getting off track....

Back to Gazpacho!

A great way to enjoy the summer harvest vegetables is in Gazpacho, which is a very cooling  and refreshing soup made of raw fresh vegetables that is chilled. Gazpacho originates in the southern region of Andalusia and is a summer staple in Spain, Portugal and other Latin regions.

Traditionally gazpacho was made with raw fresh vegetables, mostly tomatoes, stale bread, garlic and olive oil. It is said that it became popular with field hands as a way to both eat and cool off without cooking and to use up stale bread. Over the years it has morphed into all sorts of cold vegetable combinations but I am going back to the source- the original if you like, but minus the stale bread.

What's kind of fun about Gazpacho is that you can make the basic soup and then pass around the garnish for people to add in any of their favorite flavors, including more oil or vinegar/sherry or more onions. You can have it smooth like a drink or chunky like a salsa. It's all personal.

Classic Gazpacho

Classic Fresh Ingredients

GAZPACHO RECIPE:

2 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered

1/2 cucumber peeled

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed to a paste

2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or wine vinegar, or to taste

4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, or more to taste
1 tsp agave or more to taste, depending on your tomatoes

1 tsp sea salt to taste
Fresh black pepper to taste
Pinch of Cayenne pepper (optional)

GARNISH  
(Optional)
1/2 cucumber peeled and finely diced
1/2 red onion or 4 scallions, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
Olive oil
Vinegar
(Or any combination of the above)

Quarter the bell pepper and blend to a paste in a food processor.
Add the rest of the ingredients minus the olive oil and blend until creamy or chunky if you prefer.
Drizzle in the oil while processing.
Place in a glass bowl or jar and cover.
Chill for an hour or up to a day before serving.

To Serve: 
Spoon into bowls and pass round the optional garnish or serve in a glass.

Takes about 10 mins to make this before chilling. This batch made up a quart and a half of soup,
Enough for 4-6 people


Enjoy!

Raw Tomato Gazpacho

Raw Tacos and Peach Mango Salsa

Raw taco shown here with both corn and tomato salsa in butter leaf lettuce cup

When I first got into trying raw food, I was kind of excited by the idea of raw tacos and taco salads. After all, most tacos have lots of raw ingredients, so it was really about finding a good substitution for the meat.  I tried several recipes that were less than exciting and eventually gave up on the idea. Then I came across this blog post by my friend, Debra Garner on her blog, Vegan Family Style, who was preparing to serve this to her family for her birthday meal. I was thinking it must be good if the family likes it so I gave it a shot and it has been my go-to taco meat recipe ever since.

The flavor of taco meat is really about the seasoning and this one has it down.  Besides having it at home, I have since served it to others at a potluck with great reviews. People have asked me to share the recipe and Debra was kind enough to let me share it here.

Raw Taco Meat

Debra's Raw Taco Meat

1 cup walnuts, unsoaked

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1-2 Tbsp Organic Taco Seasoning

3 sun dried tomatoes (soaked until soft)

pinch sea salt

Raw Taco Meat Ingredients

To Prepare:

The trick to keeping it crumbly is to dry the tomatoes after soaking. 

Toss everything in the food processor and pulse/blend until just crumbly. 

Don't over process or the walnuts will release oils and become more of a pate consistency
 (which actually could be good too!)

Raw taco meat, tomato salsa and corn salsa, with lettuce cups

Serve in lettuce leaf (both butter lettuce and romaine work well) for taco shell or over a bed of lettuce for a salad. Add your favorite salsa and other ingredients, like onions or avocado, corn etc.  (Debra has a great raw ranch dressing on the same post above.)

This week I took advantage of ripe peaches and mangos and tried out a new idea....

Peach and Mango Salsa- So good!


Peach Mango Salsa


2 mangos, peeled
2 fresh peaches peeled
1 sweet onion
1 medium tomato
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped,
juice of one lime
1/3 jalapeno, seeded and diced (optional)
pinch sea salt and pepper

Fresh ripe ingredients, including heirloom tomato

Combine all ingredients in food processor and pulse until mixed.
 If you prefer chunky salsa, just chop all the above and mix in a bowl.
Chill before serving
Enjoy!!

( Note: Mine came out a little more blended then I wanted. Next time I will pulse/ chop the onion separately so as not to blend down everything so much.)

This made a little over a quart of salsa for me but amount will vary depending upon size of produce. We are finding many ways to enjoy it though!