Cucumber Rose Mocktail

Love Pink and Green!

Mmmm, I love gin and tonics! But, in an effort to make all of my other healthy choices count, I rarely indulge in them. The last week was indescribably amazing. The weather was so beautiful. Hot for native Alaskans, but for this Florida native, total bliss.

Of course, old habits die hard and the sun (and a really hot an sweaty 8 miler) made me crave the hammock with an icy gin and tonic in hand.

Instead, I made a mocktail. Not my usual lime and tonic water on ice. I was laying on the hammock looking at all of the wild Sitka Rose bushes in my 'yard.' Thinking about that one gin that is distilled with roses? Then I thought, gosh a Pimm's soda would be awesome. Except I don't have Pimms. But I do have lots of cucumbers in my greenhouse!  Here's what I made up. I'm sure a shot of Gin would only enhance the peppery coolness, if you are so inclined.




Cucumber Rose Mocktail
3-4 Cucumber slices
2 Tbs Rose Petals (fresh is key- remember darker petals have more flavor)
Good Quality Natural Tonic Water (or seltzer and supplement with honey/stevia)
Lots of ice
Cold Glass

Muddle rose petals in a glass. Basically you are trying to get the liquid out. Muddle Cucumber slices. Place in cocktail shaker (or mason jar) with tonic water. Shake/stir well.

Pour over chilled glass of ice.

Enjoy your marvelous summer day.



Summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.  ~Henry James

Spring Cabbage Slaw

Picnic Anastasia Island

While I was in Florida, I indulged in fresh produce allll day long. Florida Bananas, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Blueberries, Strawberries, Peaches, Tangerines, Grapefruit, Kale, Squash, etc. etc. Oh my gosh, the list goes on. I ate SO much fruit. It was heaven. I browsed the Farmer's market listening to live music for well over an hour shopping.

This tangerine tree to the left is at my Aunt's house. I even brought some grapefruits from her trees home with me. MMMmm.  Well, now I'm back in Alaska and produce is a little harder to get. Much less LOCAL produce. So, my diet comes back to a lot of root veggies and greens. Which is great, yes. But I do miss the fresh fruits in a bad way. All of our berries are frozen, our bananas are the conventional gassed kind, and watermelon.. basically doesn't exist. We do get a lot of produce from Washington (Full Circle Farms) and California. We can get greens from the neighboring farm (or from our own once they are ready). This area is definitely bountiful in berries during summer. Looking forward to that! It was much easier to keep a raw food diet in Florida though. Now I'm eating sprouted grain tortilla's and eggs again (loaded with raw veggies) when I'm feeling slack. I definitely rely on more dehydrated raw foods here. I definitely feel the difference in my energy. I ate 5 various citrus fruits alone yesterday. Which are $2.77 lb here. So, that was rather indulgent. It's so much more expensive to eat produce here. :(
Last night I made a delicious Red Cabbage Slaw. I generally avoid all sugar not found in fruits/dates etc. But I did use a bit of Agave in this. I found some very interesting (and disheartening) info on Agave and how your body metabolizes it similar to HFCS. Who knows. For now, until I have time to research it more, I'm cutting it out.

Delicious and Beautiful!

Spring Cabbage Slaw
1/2 Red Cabbage sliced into thin shred
1 Carrot Shred
1/8 cup Raisins (soaked)
1 Leaf Kale Shred
1/4 cup Cubed Cucumber

Dressing:
2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar (or ACV)
1 Drizzle of Olive Oil (or sesame if your feeling like asian slaw)
2 Tbs Onion Chopped
1 Clove Garlic
1/4 Tsp Celery Seed or Salt
3-4 Cranks of Ground Blk Pepper
1/8 Tsp of salt (or more to taste)
1 squirt of Agave Nectar (could use honey)

Process all dressing ingredients until onion is tiny.

Mix all veggies in a bowl, add dressing, stir. Let sit for 10 minutes at least in fridge. Enjoy!

Fresh Greek Veggie Salad & Ginger/Cherry/Almond Chocolate

One of my favorite lunches is a simple, fresh diced veggie salad drizzled with lemon/lime, grapeseed/olive oil. You can really play around with the veggie combos and spices. For valentines, my mother in law sent us a set of different artisan oils and vinegars. One of which is an awesome arbequina, which I've only had in restaurants. I love to invents salad dressings, and this gave me even more ideas. There is an amazing blueberry balsamic in the set, and I just use it alone, too perfect to add anything to! Anyway.. if you love to play around too, you may like this salad (or have already invented it on your own)! The recipe itself is from a moosewood (the cafe not mollie katzen) cookbook... the Cook at Home one I believe. I've made it so many times, I just throw it together now. This might now be the exact recipe, but this is how I make it:

Fresh Greek Veggie Salad
1/2 cucumber (scrape out insides) dice
1 tomato dice
1/2 red onion dice
3-4 cloves garlic crushed (I love garlic- this may be strong)
1/2 red pepper dice
1 full cup diced parsley ( I love parsley.. may be a lot for some)
1 avocado dice
1/2 cup olives (kalamata/black) quartered
Mix together

Dressing:
I drizzle over:
1 tsp of arbequina
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
1 tsp good dried oregano
a couple grinds of sweet long black pepper
a pinch or two of salt

Mix again and Enjoy! You could also add in feta cheese (I believe the original recipe does)

I usually eat this entire thing for lunch. Double if serving for more than 1 person...

Cherry/Almond/Candied Ginger

Oh my... I got to talking about making homemade chocolate yesterday with someone and just had to make some today. Today I made chocolate with dried cherries, almonds, and chunks of homemade candied ginger! Delicious! But a bit rich for me right now (as eating a piece quickly told).
Here's the link for homemade chocolate: http://runhardeatclean.blogspot.com/2011/01/raw-chocolate.html