me

October 4, 2015: Raw Food Recipe Menu






Breakfast
serves 1 ~ $2.10 per serving




ingredients

  • 1 apple, washed (peeled if not organic) ($.60)
  • 1 cup mango,chunks, fresh or frozen ($1.00)
  • 1 banana, sliced and frozen
  • 1 handful kale leaves ($.50)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup ice
  • water for blending (more or less depending on how thick you like it)

Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender until very smooth and enjoy!


nutritional information
calories: 230
fat: 4 gr
carbs:47 gr
protein: 6 gr 
 
 
 
 Lunch
serves 2 ~ $2.55 per serving
 


ingredients

dressing
  • 3 tablespoons tahini ($.30)
  • 4 tablespoons lemon juice ($.60)
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave (can substitute stevia or omit) ($.10)
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ($.10)
  • 1 tablespoon flax oil ($.20)
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce ($.10)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric ($.10)
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder ($.10)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
  • 1 teaspoon cilantro flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger 
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

salad
  • 1 head romaine or other lettuce ($1.80)
  • 2 tomatoes ($1.00)
  • 1 cucumber ($.50)
  • 1 small onion, sliced ($.20)



directions
Place all dressing ingredients in a small blender and puree briefly until well mixed. Use as desired (over salad, as a veggie dip, over a rice bowl, etc). Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days in an air tight container.
 
 
nutritional information:        
calories: 299    
fat: 9 gr      
carbs: 31 gr      
protein: 9 gr
 
 
 
 
 
Dinner
serves 2 ~ $2.80 per serving




  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
  • 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
  • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced ($1.50)
  • 1 cup black or kalamata olives ($1.50)
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion ($.20)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice ($.40)
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave (optional, for those who like a touch of sweet) ($.20)
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
  • 1-2 medium sized zucchini, spiralized

Prepare the red and yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, olives, and onion and place in a medium sized bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, syrup, onion powder, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour over the prepared vegetables. Allow to marinate for at least a half hour, but it can marinate as long as a day.

When ready to eat, simply pour the marinated veggies and marinade over a portion of spiralized zucchini noodles and toss.


 



nutritional information:
calories: 389
fat: 23 gr
carbs: 35 gr
protein: 11 gr



I use my spirilizer as much as any kitchen tool I have (except my VitaMix, of course!!). The Paderno brand one I have can be found on Amazon HERE, or in most stores that sell kitchen supplies.







Dessert
serves 4 ~ $.95 per serving (x2)



 
 
  
fudgesicles
 
  • 2 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.60)
  • 1/2 cup almond milk ($.40)
  • 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
  • pinch salt
  • few drops of stevia, if more sweetness is desired
 
 
 
chocolate shell
 
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil ($.80)
  • 1/4 cup raw cacao powder or cocoa powder ($.80)
  • 1/4 cup finely ground coconut palm sugar ($.80)
  • pinch salt 
  • 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios ($.40)
 
 
 
directions
 
  1. Place all fudgesicle ingredients into  blender and puree until very smooth. Add more almond milk or water if needed to facilitate blending. 
  2. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for several hours until fully frozen. 
  3. Prepare the chocolate shell coating. 
  4. Place all the chocolate shell coating ingredients into a small bowl and stir well until smooth.
  5. Remove the fidgesicles from the freezer and pop them out of their molds.
  6. Dip the fudgescicles into the hard chocolate shell, or drizzle it over them to coat. 
  7. Just heating the coconut oil up enough to melt it and not any warmer will yield the best results. If needed, gently remelt the chocolate hard shell. 
  8. Add a sprinkle of chopped pistachios or other chopped nut, if desired. Cacao nibs also work well.
  9. Any leftovers can be wrapped and stored in the freezer for a week or so.
 
 
nutritional information:
calories: 195
fat: 10 gr
carbs: 25 gr
protein: 2 gr
 
 
 




Total cost for the day: $9.35
total calories: 1,308
total fat: 56 gr
total carb: 163 gr
total protein: 30 gr




me

Raw Food Recipe Menu: October 18, 2015






Breakfast
Orange Banana Breakfast Salad
serves 2 ~ $2.25 per serving






Orange Banana Breakfast Salad
serves 2 ~ $2.25 per serving


This salad is so simple and is delicious and super healthy for breakfast. It's the very beginning of citrus season so oranges are exceptionally tasty right now as well. 


ingedients
salad
  • 1 head romaine, chopped ($1.70)
  • 1 orange, peeled and sectioned ($.50)
  • 1 banana, sliced ($.30)
  • 2 tablespoons sliced onion

dressing
  • 2 oranges, peeled and sectioned ($1.00)
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or two droppers stevia) ($.40)
  • 3 tablespoons tahini ($.40)
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • crushed red pepper flakes for the top

directions
  1. Prepare the salad ingredients.
  2. Place all the dressing ingredients except the crushed red pepper flakes into a blender and puree until very smooth. 
  3. Assemble the salad ingredients on plates or in bowls. Add the orange sections, banana slices, and onion to the top.
  4. Pour salad dressing over and add a sprinkle of black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes. I added both.

nutritional information:       calories: 256      fat: 15 gr      carbs: 33 gr      protein: 6 gr



 

Lunch
Chocolate Chia Smoothie
serves 1 ~ $2.15 per serving
 
 
 
ingredients 
This is a simple, creamy ~ kind of decadent ~ way to start the day, that's also packed with healthy protein and omega-3s.
In a blender, combine all ingredients except for the pistachios. Puree until very smooth. Top with a few chopped pistachios, if desired.
 
 
nutritional information:       calories: 555      fat: 21 gr      carbs: 81 gr      protein: 26 gr
 
 
 
 

 
Dinner
Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes

serves 4-5 ~ about $2.50 per serving
 
 



Egads! This is not raw! But it's great tasting and healthy, too. This soup, from Dreena Burton's Plant Powered 15 book, has an irresistible quality, the flavors are deep and earthy with some sweetness from the potatoes. Don’t let the number of ingredients intimidate you - they build layers of flavor, but this soup is not at all difficult to make!


ingredients
  • 1-2 tbsp water
  • 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups chopped onions (one large onion)
  • 1 1/2 cups combination of chopped red peppers and green peppers
  • 1 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste (generous is good)
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp dried oregano leaves
  • 1/4 tsp allspice (rounded)
  • 1/4 tsp (or less/more, to taste) red pepper flakes
  • 4 medium-large cloves garlic, minced or grated
  • 4 1/2 - 5 cups black beans (reserve 1 cup; this is three 14 or 15 oz cans)
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 - 1 tsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 1/2 cups cubed (in small chunks, about 1/2”) yellow sweet potato (or can substitute      white potato)
  • Chopped cilantro for serving
  • Extra lime wedges for serving
  • Chopped avocado tossed with lemon juice and dash of salt, for serving

directions
  1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, add water, onions, red and green peppers, salt and pepper, cumin seeds, oregano, allspice, and red pepper flakes. Let cook for 5-7 minutes until onions and peppers start to soften. Add garlic. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and let cook another few minutes to soften garlic - if sticking/burning, add another splash of water. 
  2. After a few minutes of cooking, add 3 1/2 cups beans (reserving one cup of beans), water, tomato paste, vinegar, lime juice, and maple syrup (start with 1/2 teaspoon). Using an immersion blender, puree soup until fairly smooth. 
  3. Increase heat to bring to boil, add bay leaf and diced sweet potatoes, then once at boil reduce and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add remaining cup of black beans and extra maple syrup if desired (taste test). 
  4. Stir through, let simmer for another few minutes, then serve, topping with cilantro if desired and with lime wedges. Also delicious to top soup with some chopped seasoned avocado or a simple guacamole.  Serves 4-5 as main course.


nutritional information:      calories: 319      fat: 6 gr      carb: 33 gr      protein: 11 gr
 
 


 
Dessert
Pecan Pie
serves 2 ~ $1.45 per serving
 
 
 
 

  • 1/4 cup walnuts ($.50)
  • 1/2 cup raisins ($.50)
  • 6 dates, soaked ($1.20)
  • 1/4 cup pecans ($.70)
  • pinch salt
In a food processor with an "S" blade, process the walnuts and raisins until they are crumbly and stick together. Press into a small tart plate (the one I used is 5 inches diameter) and chill. Then in the food processor again, puree the dates with a tiny bit of the soak water until they form a gooey paste. Spread into the crust and top with pecans.

The amounts can be easily increased to make a larger pie for a more conventional sized dessert. 
 
 
nutritional information:      calories: 349      fat: 22 gr      carbs: 39      protein: 5

 
For the dinner soup that uses sweet potatoes, you can substitute any of the orange fleshed squash if you like. Like these I found at my favorite local farm market ... 
 
That Pink Banana Squash is amazing. They're about two and a half feet long and weigh around 20 lbs. A steal at $3 each.




Hope you're having a great fall!
 




me

Raw Food Recipe Menu: November 1, 2015







Even though we enjoyed a beautiful, warm, sunny day here today, hard core fall is coming. This menu has some heavier, more substantial meals using seasonal produce. Pears are plentiful right now and citrus is coming into its best season soon. You should be able to score some great tasting produce at reasonable prices!




Breakfast
Simple Fruit and Berries

serves 2 ~ $2.08 per serving





Simple, juicy, and delicious ... everything that's the best of raw plant foods ...

ingredients
  • 1 peach, sliced ($.80)
  • 1 plum, sliced ($.90)
  • 1 apple, sliced ($1.25)
  • 1/2 cup blueberries ($.50)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts ($.50)

directions
  1. Slice the fruit, mix together, add a splash of lemon juice and chopped walnuts (a bit of nut milk would be good, too ... like a bowl of fruit cereal).

nutritional information: calories: 137 fat: 1 gr carbs: 33 gr protein: 2 gr




Lunch
Grapefruit Pear Salad
serves 2 - $2.50 per serving


salad
  • 1 grapefruit ($.50)
  • 2 pears, sliced ($1.40)
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 head romaine, chopped ($1.90)
  • 1/4 cup walnuts ($.50)


dressing
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice ($.20)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil ($.30)
  • 2 tablespoons agave ($.20)
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper



directions
  1. Cut the grapefruit by first slicing off about 1/4" off the top and bottom.
  2. Stand the grapefruit up on a cut side and slice along the outside curve of the fruit, cutting away the skin and pith.
  3. Use a sharp knife to cut each grapefruit section away from the membrane.
  4. Slice the pears and onions, and chop the lettuce.
  5. Toss together and sprinkle the walnuts on top.
  6. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients and drizzle over the top.


nutritional information: calories: 304 fat: 17 gr carbs: 40 gr protein: 5 gr








Dinner
Pad Thai

serves 2 ~ $2.28 per serving


ingredients


  • 2 medium zucchini ($1.20)
  • 1 carrot ($.15)
  • 1 bunch green onions, sliced ($.59)
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced ($.50)
  • large handful mung bean sprouts ($.75)
sauce
  • 4 tablespoons almond butter ($.80)
  • 1/2 in piece ginger, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon braggs aminos or soy sauce ($.10)
  • 1 clove garlic ($.05)
  • 1 tablespoon agave ($.10)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cashews ($.20)

directions
  1. Noodle the zucchini and carrot using a vegetable peeler or spiral slicer. 
  2. Toss with the bell pepper, green onion, and bean sprouts.
  3. In a bullet type blender, puree all the sauce ingredients until very creamy. Because of the high fat content of the nut butter, this can get quite hot while blending. Stop and let it cool for a minute if it becomes too hot for your personal definition of raw.
  4. Pour over noodles, toss lightly, serve. 





nutritional information:        calories: 345        fat: 23 gr        carbs: 30 gr         protein: 8 gr







Dessert
Chocolate Orange Mousse

serves 2 ~ $.99 per serving 
 




ingredients
  • 1 ripe avocado, chopped ($.88)
  • 2 bananas, chopped ($.30)
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa or cacao powder ($.60)
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
  • 2 tablespoons agave ($.20)
  • 1/2 dropper liquid stevia
  • 1/4 teaspoon orange extract

directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor fitted with an "S" blade and process until very smooth.
  2. Add coconut oil to room temperature or warmer ingredients only, otherwise the coconut oil will harden into little lumps before it has a chance to blend.
  3. Chill for at least a half hour before serving.
  4. Top with a few orange sections and/or pieces of fruit and a pinch of orange rind, if desired.






nutritional information: calories: 321 fat: 16 gr carbs: 41 gr protein: 5 gr



Total cost for the day: $7.58
total calories:  1,107
total fat: 57 gr
total carb: 144 gr
total protein: 20 gr














me

Raw Food Recipe Menu: November 15, 2015






 
Breakfast
Buckwheat Coco Puffs

4 servings ~ $.73 per serving



ingredients
  • 1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked ($.75)
  • 2 ripe bananas ($.30)
  • 3 tbsp coco or cacao powder ($.15)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla ($.10)
  • 1/2 tsp salt1/2 cup almond milk ($.40)
directions
  1. Rinse one cup buckwheat groats and then soak in about two cups water for 5-6 hours or overnight. Rinse the buckwheat groats well. There will be a gooey or gelatinous coating on the groats and and they will need to be rinsed several times. 
  2. Once rinsed, drain well and pat with a towel to remove most of the water.In a food processor with the S blade, add the banana, cocoa or cacao powder, vanilla and salt. 
  3. Process for a minute or two until very creamy. 
  4. Fold into the buckwheat groats. 
  5. Then spread the mixture in clusters about 1/4 inch thick on the teflex or plastic sheets in a dehydrator. Dehydrate for about 4 hours, then turn over and dehydrate for another 2-3 hours, until the clusters are dry but pliable. 
  6. They don't seem to get brittle dry, but stay a little bit pliable. 
  7. Break up into smaller clumps. These can then be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Serve with 1/2 cup almond milk.





nutritional information:      calories: 333       fat: 10 gr      carbs: 50 gr      protein: 7 gr





Lunch
Coconut Cashew Soup
Serves 2 ~ $4.04 per serving






Oh. Yeah. Coconut butter is divine. Artisana makes organic, raw and vegan nut butters and coconut products. They provided some of their coconut butter and nuts butters for me to try, which are great straight from the jar and worked out really well in this easy and convenient soup.  


ingredients 
  • 4 tablespoons artisana coconut butter ($2.20)
  • 4 tablespoons artisana cashew butter ($2.35) 
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 3 dates ($.60)
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves ($.10) 
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • juice of one lime ($.50)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cucumber, sliced into noodles ($.89)
  • 1/2 avocado, chopped ($.88)
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 2 stalks celery, minced ($.20)
  • small bunch cilantro leaves ($.05)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved ($.30)
  • red pepper flakes


directions
  1. In a blender, process the coconut butter, cashew butter (almond butter will work as well), water, dates, cilantro, garlic, red pepper flakes, cayenne, lime juice, salt and pepper. 
  2. Puree until as smooth as possible.
  3. Cut the cucumber into noodles and put in bowls with the avocado, celery, cilantro, and cherry tomatoes. 
  4. Using a wire mesh strainer, strain the coconut and nut butter soup base. This will take out any larger pieces of dates or spices. A higher powered blender may make this step unnecessary. 
  5. Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.


    nutritional information:      calories: 537       fat: 44 gr       carbs: 33 gr       protein: 11 gr






    Dinner
    Sweet Potato Noodles
    serves 3 ~ $1.95 per serving








    ingredients

    • 3 sweet potatoes ($3.00)
    • 3 green onions ($.50)
    • 6 tablespoons agave or maple syrup ($.60)
    • 3 tablespoons olive or flax oil ($.30)
    • 3 tablespoons lemon juice ($.30)
    • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ($.20)
    • 1 clove garlic, pressed
    • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
    • 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
    • 3 green onions, sliced
    • 1/4 cup walnuts ($1.00)
    directions
    1. Spiralize the sweet potatoes using your chosen tool and method. 
    2. Whisk together the agave, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. 
    3. When ready to serve, toss with the sliced green onions and walnuts. 
    4. If desired, warm the noodles in a dehydrator or a warm pan before serving. 
    5. Store the noodles and dressing in separate containers.


    nutritional information:      calories: 646      fat: 36 gr      carbs: 79      protein: 13 gr






    Dessert
    Plum Pie
    serves 3 ~ $2.47 per serving




    • 1/2 cup walnuts ($1.00)
    • 1/2 cup raisins ($.85)
    • 3 plums, sliced thinly ($3.00)
    • 3 tablespoons coconut butter ($1.65) 
    • 2 tablespoons coconut nectar ($.40)

    • banana ice cream ($.50)
    • blackberry puree





    In a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, process the walnuts and raisins until the mixture begins sticking together. Press into a plate, pie plate, or tart pans and chill for several minutes.

    In the food processor, again with the "S" blade, process one plum, the coconut butter, and the coconut nectar. When pureed, spread over the pie crust. Place the plum slices on top. 

    This goes really well with a bit of banana ice cream and a bit of blackberry puree.



    nutritional information:       calories: 396      fat: 19 gr      carbs: 60 gr      protein: 6 gr


     

    Total cost for the day: $9.22
    total calories: 1,744
    total fat: 139 gr
    total carb: 222 gr
    total protein: 37 gr




    me

    Raw Food Recipe Menu: March 20, 2016



    Hello! I hope you're enjoying these first days of spring! The weather has been pretty wonderful around here and I've been enjoying the outdoors and seed starting and all the bright, shiny, hopeful things that happen this time of year.

    Here are some raw recipes that take advantage of some of the things coming into season.

    Breakfast
    Pineapple Green Smoothie
    serves 2 ~ $1.75 per serving
     




    ingredients
    • 3 cups chopped romaine (or favorite green) ($1.00)
    • 1 cup cubed pineapple, frozen ($2.00)
    • 1 banana, sliced and frozen ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional) ($.20)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla ($.10)
    • 1 cup water
    • 10 ice cubes
    • stevia to taste (optional)
    directions
    • In a high powered blender, puree the greens until liquefied and very smooth. 
    • Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth.

    nutritional information:      calories: 156      fat: 0 gr      carbs: 42 gr      protein: 3 gr






    Lunch
    Deviled Avocados
    serves 1 ~ $1.50 per serving
     
     

    ingredients
    • 1 avocado, chopped ($1.25)
    • 1tablespoon finely chopped celery ($.05)
    • 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion ($.05)
    • 2 teaspoons mustard ($.05)
    • 2 teaspoons mayo  (use something like Veganaise or make your own) ($.10)
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
    • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
    • Lettuce and optional tomato for serving
    directions
    • Coarsely chop the avocado, add the remaining ingredients, then stir gently until evenly incorporated. 
    • Store leftovers for up to a day or two in an air tight container.


    nutritional information:       calories: 280       fat: 37 gr      carbs: 15 gr      protein: 3 gr



    Dinner
    Red Pepper Pasta
    serves 2 ~ $2.80 per serving





    • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
    • 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
    • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced ($1.50)
    • 1 cup black or kalamata olives ($1.50)
    • 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion ($.20)
    • 1/4 cup olive oil ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice ($.40)
    • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave (optional, for those who like a touch of sweet) ($.20)
    • 1 tablespoon onion powder
    • 1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic
    • 1 teaspoon dried basil (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped)
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
    • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
    • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
    • 1-2 medium sized zucchini, spiralized
     
    directions
    • Prepare the red and yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, olives, and onion and place in a medium sized bowl. 
    • In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, syrup, onion powder, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour over the prepared vegetables. Allow to marinate for at least a half hour, but it can marinate as long as a day.
    • When ready to eat, simply pour the marinated veggies and marinade over a portion of spiralized zucchini noodles and toss.


     

     
     
    nutritional information:      calories: 389      fat: 23 gr      carbs: 35 gr      protein: 11 gr





     Dessert
    Chocolate Orange Truffle
    makes 24 ~ $.54 per truffle (a serving is three truffles)




     
    ingredients

    • 2 cups almonds ($8.00)
    • 1 1/2 cups dates, pitted and chopped ($4.00)
    • 1/2 cup cocoa powder ($1.00)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 teaspoon orange extract
    • Cocoa powder for rolling
    directions
    • In a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, process the almonds until finely ground. This takes about a minute. 
    • Add in the pitted and chopped dates, cocoa powder, vanilla and orange extract. 
    • Process again until the mixture begins to clump together. 
    • Using a tablespoon, scoop out even sized balls, and roll between hands to shape. 
    • For the final finish, roll each truffle lightly in cocoa powder.
     
    Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Makes about 24 truffles.
     
    nutritional information:       calories: 105      fat: 6 gr       carb: 12 gr       protein: 3 gr
     
     
     
     
     
    Total cost for the day: $7.67
    total calories: 1,140
    total fat: 78 gr
    total carb: 128 gr
    total protein: 26 gr
     
     




    Aftertought ...

    What does a mostly raw, some cooked vegan grocery cart look like? Well, mine looks like this ...




    How about you?






    me

    Anti-Inflammatory Orange Turmeric Tea plus 10 Healthy Benefits of Turmeric



    Tumeric is famously anti-inflammatory and can be enjoyed many different ways, including juiced raw. But today, I wanted to pass on this super easy tea (psst, it's not raw!).

    I've been drinking it almost every morning for a couple months now and it's still delicious to me, which is a good thing. Turmeric has so many beneficial qualities ... let us count the ways (scroll below for the tea how-to).

    1. Anti-inflammatory.
    Turmeric, the brightly colored spice that gives curry it's intense color, contains beneficial compounds that have positive health benefits. The main compounds are the curcuminoids and the most important of these is curcumin. One of the most beneficial things curcumin can do is lessen inflammation, which is implicated in most Western diseases.

    To be fair, inflammatory responses are a good thing. We wouldn't be able to wage a defense against bacteria and viruses, or injuries, for example, without a strong inflammatory response. However, too much of a good thing can cause problems. Chronic inflammation has been implicated in many diseases that plague us today, including heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and obesity. Curcumin can reduce inflammation as effectively as some anti-inflammatory medications, but without the side effects. One of the ways it does this is by inhibiting (NF)-kB.  
     
    2. Antioxidant
    Oxidation is a chemical reaction that produces free radicals. Free radicals have unpaired electrons. These lonely little fragments damage cells and wreak havoc and destruction wherever they go. Antioxidants, like curcumin, terminate the chain reactions that lead to unpaired electrons and, therefore, free radicals and the damage they cause. Seriously, it's the radicals, man.
     
    3. Heart Health
    Almost 50% of Americans will die prematurely from heart disease. Heart disease and chronic inflammation are so closely linked that inflammation is thought to be an atherogenic response (atherogenic means it causes atherosclerosis, aka, cardiovascular disease, heart disease, and is also peripheral artery disease). It's even thought possible that the slight benefit sometimes derived from statins could be due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Reducing inflammation is a vital key to reducing heart disease.Curcumin is a potent COX-2 inhibitor, that

    4. Cancer
    Curcumin is being investigated as prevention and treatment for cancers such as that of the colon and pancreas. Chronic inflammation and free radicals promote cancer. Reducing those conditions can be preventive and curcumin works well at both. 
      
    5. Arthritis
     Inflammation is an important mechanism in arthritis. Curcumin acts as a COX-2 inhibitor in the same way pharmaceutical drugs such as Celebrex do, but without the dangerous side effects. The tea below, as well as curcumin supplements can ease the pain of arthritis and rejuvenate mobility.

    7. Alzheimer's 
    India has a low incidence of Alzheimer's, possibly linked to higher intake of curcumin. Because inflammation plays such a big part in most disease, including Alzheimer's, it can be protective and preventative.

    8. Brain Function
    Alzheimer's is not the only thing that can go awry in brain function, and again, inflammation is implicated. In this case, it's known as neuroinflammation, or inflammation specifically in the brain and reducing that can help overall brain function. 
       
    9. Depression
    Depression and anxiety are often linked to brain inflammation (this is why going gluten free can help mood, as well). It seems to offer some improvement and relief to those who have depression.

    10. Gall Bladder Function 
    Curcumin causes the gall bladder to contract, which stimulates bile formation and gall bladder emptying and a freely flowing gallbladder is a happy, healthy one (unless you have a stone blocking the exit, which can cause a painful gallbladder attack).

    11. Pepper
    I can't talk about turmeric and curcumin without also mentioning black pepper. The Piperine in black pepper increases the absorption of curcumin by 2000% (that's 20x). So, add a little bit of black pepper to whatever you make with turmeric for the greatest benefit. It tastes good, too.

    *Do not use turmeric or curcumin if you are using blood thinners such as Warfarin or if you have existing gall bladder disease.




     This tea (and this salad dressing, too) are delicious ways to get a healthy dose of turmeric.


    Orange Turmeric Tea
    serves 3 ~ $.33 per serving


    ingredients
    • 1 orange, peeled and chopped ($.70)
    • 1 teaspoon powdered tumeric ($.10)
    • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds($10)
    • a few black peppercorns, or pinch of black pepper
    • stevia or sweetener, if desired ($.10)

    directions
    1. Place the orange, turmeric, and caraway seeds in a large saucepan with four cups water. 
    2. Bring to a boil over high heat and continue to boil for about five minutes. This will reduce any bitterness in the turmeric.
    3. Add the peppercorns or pinch of pepper and steep for a minute or two. 
    4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into mugs and and the sweetener of your choice, if desired. 










      me

      Raw Food Recipe Menu: June 26th, 2016

       

       
      Breakfast
      Strawberry Flax Smoothie
      serves 2 ~ $1.28 per serving
       
       
       
      Just two tablespoons of flax seeds, weighing in at 95 calories, contains over 140% of the daily value of omega 3 fatty acids. These fatty acids can protect against diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, and also decrease inflammation. Because the nutrients in flax seeds are better absorbed when ground ~ and a lot more palatable! ~ I've used the ground seeds in this recipe.
      ingredients
      • 2 bananas, frozen and sliced ($.50)
      • 1 cup frozen strawberries ($1.00)
      • 4 tablespoons flax seeds, ground ($.40)
      • 1 cup almond milk ($.45) 
      • a few almonds, chopped
      directions
      • In a blender, combine all ingredients and puree until very smooth.
      • Garnish with a few chopped almonds, if desired.
      nutritional information:      calories: 308      fat: 11 gr      carb: 55      protein: 7 gr    
       
       
       
       
       
      Lunch
      Squash and Cauliflower Soup
      serves 2 ~ $1.75 per serving
      This is a light but also filling lunch or snack and cauliflower is in season right now. It's pretty low in calories and not very expensive. I've been known to eat the whole batch, is what I'm saying! I like to add some cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes, but, as is true of most things in life, heat is optional ... add as much or little as you like. 
      ingredients
      • 1 1/2 cup peeled and chopped zucchini and/or summer squash ($1.20)
      • 1 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower ($1.00)
      • 1 cup peeled and chopped apple ($1.00)
      • 1/4 cup olive oil, or any one of your favorite oils ($.20)
      • 1 tablespoon chopped onion ($.10)
      • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
      • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
      • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
      • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
      • 1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste

      directions
      • Place all ingredients in high powered blender and process for a minute or two until very smooth and creamy. 
      • Add a drizzle of your favorite oil and some crushed red pepper flakes.




       
      nutritional information:      calories: 390          fat: 32 gr         carbs: 54        protein: 5  
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
      Dinner
      Spring Noodles
      serves 2 ~ $1.98 per serving


      • 2 medium zucchini, noodled ($2.30)
      • 1 medium onion, chopped ($.05)
      • 1/2 lb baby snap peas ($.80)
      • 1 carrot, grated ($.10)
      • 2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
      • 2 tablespoons agave ($.20)
      • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar ($.20)
      • 2 cloves garlic, pressed ($.10)
      • 1/4 teaspoon salt
      • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
      • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
      noodled verb: to improvise, experiment, or think creatively; to make or devise freely as an exercise or experiment
       
      I used to think breaded and fried was the only way to eat zucchini. Now, I'm totally into raw zucchini noodles. They're so easy to make and have a wonderful but mild flavor of their own, so they work well with just about everything. 
      Make noodles out the zucchini with a spiralizer, grater, or with a vegetable peeler. Toss the noodles together with the whole snap peas, chopped onion, and grated carrot. In a small cup, whisk together the oil, agave, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Toss with the noodles until coated. 
      These can be served as is, or marinated for an hour or so, or gently dehydrated for a bit.

       
      nutritional information:      calories: 343      fat: 14 gr      carbs: 46 gr      protein: 10 gr
       
       
       
       
       
       Dessert
      Lemon Poppy Seed Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce
      serves 2 ~ $1.10 per serving




      ingredients
      • 4 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.60)
      • juice and zest of one lemon ($.69)
      • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds ($.30)
      • 1 cup strawberries ($.45)
      • 1 tablespoon agave ($.10)
      • 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts ($.15)
      • pinch salt

      Banana ice cream is wonderful.  And it's amazingly simple to make with just a food processor.

      The strawberry sauce should be made first and set aside. In a bullet type blender, puree the strawberries and agave until very smooth.

      In a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, process the frozen bananas and lemon juice and zest until creamy like soft serve ice cream. It can take a bit of prodding and scraping to get the bananas going in the food processor, but it's worth it. Once creamy, add the poppy seeds and give a whir or two to incorporate.

      Serve with the strawberry sauce and walnuts. 
       
      nutritional information:       calories: 345      fat: 6 gr      carbs: 77 gr      protein: 5 gr
       
       
       
      Total cost for the day: $6.11
      total calories: 1,386
      total fat: 63 gr
      total carb: 232 gr
      total protein: 27 gr
       




      me

      Raw Food Recipe Menu: July 4, 2016





       
      Happy, happy 4th!! I hope you're enjoying your holiday with lots of good food, friends, family, and good times. The 4th, to most people, represents "freedom" and "independence." What would you like to be free or independent of this summer or this year? Now? 

        
      Breakfast 
      Strawberry Blue Concrete
      serves 2 ~ $1.45 per serving



      • 3 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.60)
      • 1 1/2 cups strawberries, frozen ($1.69)
      • 1/2 cup blueberries, frozen ($.60)
      • stevia and/or agave, to taste

      A "concrete" is a very thick shake ... thick enough to have to eat it with a spoon. And this is a fun and tasty breakfast or treat for anyone.

      In a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, process the frozen bananas until creamy. Add water as needed until the mixture is a thick, soft serve ice cream consistency. Add about half the frozen strawberries and process again until smooth. Add a couple droppers of stevia and/or agave, until you like the level of sweetness. You may not need any sweetener at all if you use very ripe bananas.

      Spoon out and set aside about half the mixture. Then, add more frozen strawberries to what remains, and process again until smooth. Spoon out and set aside about half of this mixture, as well. Finally, add the frozen blueberries to what is left and process again until smooth.

      Layer the different mixtures in a glass. And don't forget a spoon!


      nutritional information:      calories: 262      fat: 1 gr      carbs: 65 gr      protein: 3 gr


      Lunch
      Strawberry Cauliflower Salad
      serves 2 ~ $2.75 per serving



      This salad is a bit on the sweet side and I've even had it for breakfast. The nutrition in here is just off the charts, especially with the cauliflower rounding it out. Lots of vitamin C, vitamin K, etc. A few chopped almonds on top would be nice, too. That's usually how I eat this, but must have forgotten them for the photos!

      ingredients, salad
      • 6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped ($1.20)
      • 2 cups sliced strawberries ($2.00)
      • 1 1/2 cups chopped cauliflower ($1.00)
      • 1 small white onion ($.10)

      ingredients, dressing
      • 1 cup strawberries ($1.00)
      • 1 tablespoon chopped onion
      • 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
      • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($.20)
      • 1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh
      • 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh
      • 3 tablespoons agave
      • 3 tablespoons olive oil
      • 2 droppers stevia
      • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
      • 1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste

      directions
      • Arrange the salad ingredients on a plate.
      • In a blender, puree the dressing ingredients until very smooth.
      • Add cracked black pepper and salt to taste.




      nutritional information:       calories: 257       carbs: 35       fat: 21       protein: 10



      Dinner
      Blueberry Salad
      serves 2 ~ $2.00 per serving



      ingredients
      • 1 cup blueberries, dried ($1.00)
      • 1 head romaine ($1.29)
      • handful kale ($.50)
      • 1 medium onion, divided
      • 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh ($.50) 
      • 2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
      • 2 tablespoons coconut nectar or other liquid sweetener ($.40)
      • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar ($.10)
      • salt and pepper to taste

      Blueberries dry to a wonderful raisin like texture, becoming sweeter and even more flavorful. Care must be taken to not over dry them as they get too hard. Just put a cup of blueberries in the dehydrator for several hours until dry but still chewy.

      The salad is just a simple one of romaine, a bit of kale, chopped onions, and dried blueberries. Reserve a tablespoon of chopped onion to go into the dressing.

      The dressing is made with the onion, a half cup of fresh blueberries, the olive oil, coconut nectar, and vinegar. Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. This works best with a bullet type blender. Most blenders have a blade assembly that's compatible with canning jars. Just unscrew the blade assembly from the carafe and attach to a small mouth canning jar. The pint jars are perfect for small jobs like this.

       Also, a larger batch of dressing can be made, just double or triple the recipe. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

       


      nutritional information:       calories: 289       fat: 14 gr       carbs: 42 gr       protein: 4 gr




      Dessert
      Blueberry Fool
      serves 4 ~ $.62 per serving

      ingredients
      • 1 cup nuts (cashews) ($1.00)
      • 2 ripe bananas ($.30)
      • juice of 1 lemon ($.69)
      • pinch of salt
      • 1/2 cup water for blending, as needed
      • 4 ounces blueberries, frozen and thawed ($.50)

      • whole blueberries
      • walnuts
      • agave

      I was looking for ways to cut some of the fat in regular nut yogurt and decided to use ripe bananas and nuts in about equal amounts. This worked out wonderfully and as a bonus, eliminated the need for more sweetener.

      A "fool" is basically a yogurt dish layered parfait style. Greek yogurt, which is very thick, is traditionally used. This yogurt isn't that thick as I've made it here, but could easily be thickened by draining some of the liquid through cheesecloth. 

      In a blender, puree the bananas until very smooth. Add the nuts (I used cashews) and lemon juice and about a half cup water for blending. Puree on high for several minutes, until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate for at least a few hours. It will thicken quite a bit as it chills.

      To make the "fool," take half the yogurt and puree with a handful of blueberries. In each serving bowl, put a spoon of regular yogurt and another of blueberry yogurt, add a few whole blueberries to the top. Garnish with a couple chopped walnuts and a drizzle of agave, if desired.


      nutritional information:       calories: 268      fat: 38 gr      carbs: 24 gr      protein: 5 gr






      Total cost for the day: $6.82
      total calories: 1,076
      total fat: 72 gr
      total carb: 166 gr
      total protein: 21 gr
      That's a little light on calories, but it's also kind of light on the cost so if you're still hungry have a big slice of lemon cherry cheesecake!


      Lemon Cherry Cheesecake
      serves 8 - $1.50 per serving

       This cheesecake recipe is from my Spring Raw book, available over there on the side. It's a refreshing dessert that tastes great anytime, but also goes over well at get togethers and holidays

      crust
      • 1 cup almonds ($2.00) 
      • 1 cup dates ($2.00)
      • pinch salt

      filling
      • 2 cups almonds, soaked and (optionally) blanched ($4.00)
      • 1/4 cup lemon juice ($.40)
      • 1/2 cup agave ($1.60)
      • 1 teaspoon vanilla
      • pinch salt
      • 1/2 cup water for blending

      topping
      • 1/2cup cherries ($.40)
      • 1/2 cup dates ($1.00)
      • 2 tablespoons lemon juice ($.40)
      • 1/4 cup whole cherries ($.20)


      In a food processor fitted with an “S: blade, process the almonds until coarsely ground. Add the dates and process until the mixture sticks together. Press into the bottom and up the sides of an eight inch springform pan.


      For the filling, in a food processor fitted with an “S: blade, process the soaked almonds until finely ground. Add the lemon juice, agave, vanilla, and salt and process, using additional water as necessary. Pour into the prepared crust and smooth. Cover and freeze until firm

      In a bullet type blender, process the cherries, dates, and lemon juice until very smooth. Stir in the whole cherries and spread over the top of the frozen pie. Cover and freeze again until firm.

      To serve, remove from freezer about twenty minutes beforehand and allow the pie to thaw slightly before cutting and serving.


      nutritional information:       calories: 343       fat: 21 gr       carb: 30 gr       protein: 6 gr 




      me

      Lime in the Coconut Tarts: Raw Food Dessert Recipe


      Lime in the Coconut Tarts
      8 tarts ~ $1.11 per serving




      These are just insanely good and great for summer. I really don't think there's a conventional dessert that could be any better tasting than these. I used paper cupcake cups and a cupcake pan ... the paper lined pans seemed to make just about perfect sized tarts. They certainly didn't last long in these parts, although theoretically they can be covered and frozen for up to a week.

      A note about the dehydrated bananas ... these need to be just dehydrated enough to take some of the moisture out but not hard. I dehydrated my gently for about 6 hours and that seemed to work out well.


      ingredients
      • 6 dates ($3.00)
      • 1/2 cup walnuts ($.50)
      • 1/2 cup finely shredded coconut ($1.00)
      • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
      • 2 tablespoons agave
      • pinch salt
      • 2 avocados ($1.49)
      • 3 bananas, dehydrated ($.45)
      • 4 limes, juice and zest ($2.00)
      • 4 tablespoons agave ($.40)

      directions
      1. Make the crusts first. In a food processor with the "S" blade, process the dates until mush. 
      2. Add the coconut, coconut oil, agave, and salt and process until it begins to clump. 
      3. Last, add the walnuts and process until the walnuts are fully incorporated and the mixture sticks together.
      4. Divide the crust mixture evenly into and press into the bottom and sides of eight paper lined cupcake cups. 
      5. Put in the freezer for about a half hour, until firm.
      6. For the filling, in the food processor with the "S" blade, process the avocados, bananas, lime juice and zest, and agave. It takes a minute or two, but this will become velvety smooth and the consistency of thick pudding.
      7. Spoon the filling into the tart crusts and chill well before serving.














        me

        A New Name and Direction for Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!)





        Ch-ch-ch-changes. 

        Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!) began at the end of 2009. I’d just become vegan and was interested in raw foods. I was struggling in quite possibly the worst situation I’d ever been in. I was drowning and, you probably didn’t know it, but this blog and its readers became something of a lifeline. 

        It all started as a simple question: “How much does it cost to eat raw?” but led to so much more. I’ve learned so much about food, and living, about loving myself and others, about the value of good food, and emotional and physical health. I've experienced heartbreaking loss, and deep happiness and joy, and I’ve grown and bloomed into the person I was always meant to be. I even wrote a real book, Easy Affordable Raw.

        Today is my 54th birthday. It's said one's life goes in cycles and the 54th year is one of renewal, change, and rebirth. I feel fantastic and optimistic and am looking forward to many more happy, healthy years of vegan life, love, and adventure.

        Because of all that, it makes me incredibly sad to say goodbye to Raw on $10. It’s something that I put a lot of work into. More than anything else, though, it’s something I’ve gotten a great deal from. I’ve deeply appreciated every reader, every encouragement, and every friendship and connection, online and off, that has come about directly and indirectly from Raw on $10.

        I’ve never been good at ending relationships, either. I hang on. Drag my feet. Procrastinate. Second guess my decision. But there is only so much room in a life and sometimes one relationship must end for another to begin. It’s incredibly bittersweet. I’m sad for the ending but excited and so happy for what’s to come. 


        And so …

        Raw on $10 a Day is 

        changing, 

        growing, 

        becoming … 

        Planted 365



        Changing the name of a blog while also changing the platform from Blogger to Wordpress has been brain explodingly complicated and I’d much rather be creating content. I’ve got some help and the process of changing and updating and linking and all that will be an ongoing process. Surely there will be some snags. Please be patient with the transition. 

        All recipes will still be available, although I'll be updating and improving a lot of them.

        I'll be migrating the RSS feed, email list, and all that, so you might see unfamiliar notifications.

        Raw on $10 will continue to exist for the next week. Next Monday, everything will be redirected to the new name and new platform.

        Planted 365 will be official then. If you want to go over now, though, it's up and running with a few new things. Sign up by email and you won't miss any posts.

        I sincerely hope you will come along and see what else we can discover together. There will be lots of raw food still, because it’s awesome, delicious, and beautifully photogenic. And a new full day menu every week, starting next Monday. There will also be healthy cooked vegan recipes, soul healing art, mindful movement, and conscious connection and relationships. Because how much things cost seems to be interesting to so many, I'll note that information when I can. 

        I’ve learned so much in the past nearly nine years. There’s ... so ... much … I can’t wait to show it all to you. 

        I'll leave you with a very short video of where I'm headed with Planted 365. 









        With sincerest gratitude ...
        Lisa 

        xoxo











        me

        Happy International Women's Day

        To the women from all over the world I'm privileged to know, and everybody who loves international women.

        I have been saving up some articles for the occasion: here are two marvellous bios of trans lesbian elders.

        Jan Morris. [Content note: the article is in the Guardian which takes a somewhat transphobic editorial stance, though this article is very positive towards trans women. However it does deadname Morris and includes a picture of her from back when she was presenting as male.]

        Sandy Stone, a couple of years old from Vice but it came to my attention recently.

        comments




        me

        Quaranmeme

        From just about everybody.

        1. Are you an Essential Worker?

        Nope. I have been comfortably working from home for a month, making online education. It's useful, thousands of people have been learning about bacterial genomics from my stuff, but it's not essential. In many ways my job hasn't changed very much since lockdown since we did a lot of collaborating with scientists all over the world by conference call, in order to make material that goes on the internet anyway.

        2. How many drinks have you had since the quarantine has started?

        Hi, I've just finished celebrating Pesach. The two of us got through about 2 bottles of wine in the course of two seders and two kiddushes. And in the couple of weeks before that, something around one bottle between the two of us, again mostly for religious reasons rather than mental health reasons.

        3. If you have kids... Are they driving you nuts?

        I don't have kids, but there are children who are normally part of my life and now I'm quarantined in a different house from them. They are being amazing and bringing positivity to my life through the limited interaction we're allowed, playing music with me over video link, waving and sending hugs when I'm calling their adults or walking past their house for exercise. I am probably less sane than usual but it's from too little contact with not-my-own children, not too much.

        4. What new hobby have you taken up during this

        Online play readthroughs, organized by the marvellous wildeabandon. I've tried to start an ultra, ultra low-key exercise routine at home, which isn't a completely new hobby, but is something I hadn't done for some years.

        5. How many grocery runs have you done?

        None at all since I had maybe suspicious symptoms. We've got by on the generosity of friends bringing us occasional top-ups of extra-perishable stuff like milk and mushrooms, a big online order that fortuitously arrived just before we started full isolation, and a couple of local organizations that were able to make limited deliveries of produce. Before that, we weren't really counting. We had a decent amount of supplies in at the start of lockdown, and jack was visiting the local corner shop a couple of times a week to top up on fresh produce (with careful distancing), but we haven't needed to make a 'run' to a big supermarket since lockdown officially started.

        6. What are you spending your stimulus check on?

        I'm not getting any extra money, which is reasonable because I don't need any extra money. I am still working full time and still earning my full salary, as is jack. I'm not really even spending much extra on working from home rather than in an office; it's warm enough not to need the heating on during the day, and we already had plenty of broadband. We're spending very slightly more on food because we're getting everything delivered rather than picking up our own shopping, but it's fairly trivial on the scale of things.

        Also, can I just say it's a weird framing to talk about a 'stimulus', ie money provided to encourage people to spend and keep the economy buoyant. The state is paying money to people to make it possible for them to stay home without starving, and really the aim is, or should be, to keep the economy as stagnant as possible, not to encourage economic activity which would involve people interacting and spreading the infection.

        7. Do you have any special occasions that you will miss during this quarantine?

        My plague of disappointment started with a work trip to Paraguay to help with some in-person training. Then I missed spending Passover with my family like I normally do. Other than that, I saw this coming far enough in advance that I didn't make a whole lot of plans for this spring or summer


        8. Are you keeping your housework done?

        About the same amount as normal. To an extent we tend to tidy for visitors and we're not having any visitors. But we're mostly succeeding with keeping on top of general maintenance. On the other hand I did zero Passover cleaning because I was isolating from jack at the time so not going into the kitchen, and I was uncertain enough about supplies that I wasn't willing to eliminate leavened products.

        9a. What movie have you watched during this quarantine?

        Lionheart
        Porco Rosso

        9b. What are you reading right now?

        Err... Twitter, mostly. And some Gemara, the mystical bit of Chagigah, which is a project I've been meaning to get to for ages, and which I will hopefully be talking about soon.

        9c. What video game are you playing?

        At the weekend managed to progress our three-way game of Stellaris with cjwatson in a different house, so that was cool. Still a lot of Monster Legends on my phone. A little bit of the second chapter of 12 Labours of Hercules, but only about as often as I was playing it anyway, which isn't very often.

        10. What are you streaming with?

        Netflix, and even that occasionally. Spotify and YouTube for music. I haven't managed to watch any of the free broadcast theatre and opera performances yet.

        11. 9 months from now is there any chance of you having a baby?

        Very unlikely but not completely impossible. I'm quarantined away from the partner I'm most likely to have potentially-reproductive sex with (but I guess rarely indulging isn't never). I am 41 and was recently diagnosed with PCOS so I'm quite possibly not as fertile as I spent most of my adult life assuming. I have a coil, which should be pretty reliable at preventing pregnancy, but it has reached the end of its predicted 10-year lifetime, and getting it replaced was one of the things I failed to get sorted out while non-emergency medical stuff was still happening.

        My partner is going to have a baby much sooner than 9 months away though! She made it before the virus even existed, and I have absolutely no idea how long it will be before I'm allowed to meet the little one, but I'm still quite excited.

        12. What's your go-to quarantine meal?

        About the same as not in quarantine: we call it goulash, but it isn't really anything to do with goulash. It's a sort of veggie chilli, basically onions, garlic, spice, tomato sauce, some combination of Quorn mince and beans, and veg if we have lots of veg available but otherwise it's nice on its own.

        13. Is this whole situation making you paranoid?

        So siderea the actual psych says it only counts as paranoia if you're irrationally afraid that beings with agency ... are behaving malevolently towards you personally. So, no, I do not think the virus is out to get me nor deliberately created by evil people.

        However, I've already spent much of the last five years worrying that the government and much of the populace want me dead, and it's the worst version of that increasingly nasty government which is in charge of deciding whether buying ventilators and medical equipment is a good use of money that could otherwise be used for bridges to nowhere. When I hear people ranting about foreigners or Europeans or 'citizens of nowhere' it feels personal. I think it isn't, mostly. I'm a shirley exception for lots of people, or at least, I see posts on social media about how it's morally good to exterminate Jews from people who are broadly civil to me as an individual.

        I'm scared of vigilantes who are using the pandemic as an excuse for violence against people they don't like being out in public, and to an extent I'm scared of overreach by the official police. And I'm somewhat scared of looting, of people getting desperate enough that they start breaking into houses like mine where there is enough toilet paper and storable foods. And a little bit scared of wannabe fascists trying to deliberately infect liberals and Jews. But not very scared, not to the point that it's actually interfering with my day-to-day life. Anxious, I guess, rather than paranoid.

        14. Has your internet gone out on you during this time?

        Nah. Internet is fine and I'm deeply grateful for that.

        15. What month do you predict this all ends?

        I don't think it's going to end, really, not all of it at once. It's going to be a very gradual climb back towards sufficient population immunity that we can live our lives without infection avoidance being the major determining factor in all decisions.

        Predicting the end of the plague would require me to predict all of: how fast scientists will come up with a vaccine and reliable tests; how the disease itself will move through the population; and what our terrible politicians will decide, and I don't really have any information on any of those.

        I'm guessing some relaxation of lockdown round about July or August, but we will still be very much in a pandemic situation. Sticking my finger in the air I think we'll likely have the capacity for mass vaccination and testing by early 2021, let's say January. But whether we will actually in practice have an effective programme of prevention and detection depends on decisions by a leadership who are erratic and evil, plus we are heading for a cliff-edge end to our Brexit transition at the end of 2020, so I think people will still be getting infected and dying well into 2021 or even 2022.

        16. First thing you're gonna do when you get off quarantine?

        Go to my OSOs' house and hug my partners and their children. And meet the baby, because I'm pretty certain that getting off quarantine is happening after baby is external.

        17. Where do you wish you were right now?

        I'm pretty happy with my location, my nice pleasant house with all my friends inside my computer, surrounded by a beautiful spring. The problem is not where I am, it's that I have been forced to stay here for a month and expect to continue here for months to come. I wish I could go to other places, especially places where my friends are.

        I slightly wish to be in a country with a competent government, if I have to pick somewhere I'd probably go for New Zealand, but I don't actually wish I were in NZ, since I don't know anybody there and I can't imagine the circumstances that would lead to being there.

        18. What free-from-quarantine activity are you missing the most?

        Visiting people in person, primarily.

        19. Have you run out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer?

        No. We usually buy a big family pack of TP once every few weeks and we happened to do so just before lockdown. Also I don't believe in hand sanitizer in a domestic setting.

        20. Do you have enough food to last a month?

        Yeah, probably. If we really couldn't get any fresh supplies for a whole month we would struggle, and we haven't counted it out in terms of calories and micronutrients per person per day, but we have decent amounts of long-lasting carbs and tinned vegetables.

        comments




        me

        Mel Baggs, 1980-2020

        I was really sad to learn of the death of Mel Baggs. I have been following Mel's writing for many years and learned a great deal about disability and activist communities.

        In particular, Mel disabused me of the view of autism that says, autism is all very well if you're also highly intelligent, but it's a terrible tragedy to be autistic as well as intellectually disabled, or autistic and non-speaking, or "low-functioning". And in general lots of concrete ways of being a respectful fellow citizen towards the the kinds of disabled people who don't get much activism airtime.

        It seems that Mel didn't die "of" Coronavirus in the strict sense of the word, but of complications of a number of other illnesses and conditions. Mel had posted a fair bit recently about not getting access to needed personal care as an indirect result of the pandemic and the dangerously inadequate official response to it. I don't know whether inadequate care was a contributory factor in Mel's death but it did cause a lot of suffering, and I have seen way too many reports of people not getting the care they need, and I'm not even that plugged in to the disability community.

        Anyway. Mel was someone I admired greatly, and a huge influence on me, and the world is poorer.

        comments




        me

        Summer Horrification — Day Five — Englishman River and Rathtrevor

        Continued from Day Four. (From the beginning.) On Friday we packed all of our stuff back up and headed out.  We were barely out of the resort when: This tire is flat. Apparently all that gravel out to Horne Lake Caves the day before also included a small screw.  We limped around the corner to … Continue reading Summer Horrification — Day Five — Englishman River and Rathtrevor




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        Boots. Mended. We’ll see how the patches hold up. Now I just need to acquire a sufficiently long raincoat.

        View on Instagram https://ift.tt/2mPe4Ss




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        Things I learned in 4 months of full time employment

        Mornings go best when I’m ready to go before anyone else gets out of bed. I need to save my knees for my commute and cannot take the stairs at work. (Having discovered how much this helps, I am now reconsidering all the previous times in my life when my knee issue flared up.) I … Continue reading Things I learned in 4 months of full time employment




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        Welcome to the quicksand.

        I’m not sure if it’s depression or just life catching up but I’ve been having a lot of quicksand days.  Those times when you feel like you’re moving in slow-motion and things that should take 10 minutes for a normal … Continue reading




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        Distract me

        If you’re anything like me you are fairly desperate for good podcasts to make you forget your own thoughts exist, so today let’s share.  Here are the podcasts that are my new best friends as I walk into the kitchen … Continue reading




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        Book club time!

        Hey.  I was going to write this all yesterday but then I didn’t because yesterday was very not good.  Nothing really bad happened but I fell into a full meltdown of depression and I basically just cried and curled up … Continue reading




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        I am the camel

        At the very end of 2017, I wrote about my lovely new sewing space and how much more work I’m getting done in there. One of the pictures I did not include was the view into the rest of the family room: As you can see, there is lots of lovely space in our library. I […]




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        Российская фигуристка рассказала о купленном на гонорар Mercedes

        Российская фигуристка Виктория Синицина раскрыла свой заработок и рассказала о самых дорогих покупках. Спортсменка заявила, что в месяц тратит на одежду около 15 тысяч рублей, причем в список покупок всегда входят вещи для выступлений, например, колготки. Самой дорогой покупкой она назвала кроссовки от Gucci.




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        Timofei Shatrov: Previewing images in and out of SLIME REPL

        As any Common Lisp coder knows, a REPL is an incredibly useful tool. It can be used not just for development, but for running all sorts of tasks. Personally, I don't bother making my Lisp tools into executable scripts and just run them directly from SLIME. As such, any operation that requires leaving the REPL is quite inconvenient. For me, one such operation was viewing image files, for example in conjunction with my match-client:match tool. So lately I've been researching various methods to incorporate this functionality into the normal REPL workflow. Below, I present 3 methods that can be used to achieve this.

        Open in external program

        This one's easy. When you want to view a file, launch an external process with your favorite image viewer. On Windows a shell command consisting of the image filename would launch the associated application, on Linux it's necessary to provide the name of the image viewer.

        (defvar *image-app* nil) ;; set it to '("eog") or something
        
        (defun view-file-native (file)
          (let ((ns (uiop:native-namestring file)))
            (uiop:launch-program (if *image-app*
                                     (append *image-app* (list ns))
                                     (uiop:escape-shell-token ns)))))
        

        Note that uiop:launch-program is used instead of uiop:run-program. The difference is that launch- is non-blocking - you can continue to work in your REPL while the image is displayed, whereas run- will not return until you close the image viewer.

        Also note that when the first argument to run/launch-program is a string, it is not escaped, so I have to do it manually. And if the first argument is a list, it must be a program and a list of its arguments, so merely using (list ns) wouldn’t work on Windows.

        Inline image in REPL

        The disadvantage of the previous method is that the external program might steal focus, appear on top of your REPL and disrupt your workflow. And it's well known that Emacs can do everything, including viewing images, so why not use that?

        In fact, SLIME has a plugin specifically for displaying images in REPL, slime-media. However it’s difficult to find any information on how to use it. Eventually I figured out that SWANK (SLIME’s CL backend) needs to send an event :write-image with appropriate arguments and slime-media's handler will display it right in the REPL. The easiest way is to just send the file path. The second argument is the resulting image's string value. If you copy-paste (sorry, "kill-yank") it in the repl, it would act just like if you typed this string.

        (swank::send-to-emacs '(:write-image "/path/to/test.png" "test"))
        

        You can even send raw image data using this method. I don't have anything on hand to generate raw image data so here's some code that reads from a file, converts it to a base64 string and sends it over SWANK.

        (with-open-file (in "/path/to/test.png" :direction :input  :element-type '(unsigned-byte 8))
                        (let* ((arr (make-array (file-length in) :element-type '(unsigned-byte 8)))
                               (b64 (progn (read-sequence arr in) (cl-base64:usb8-array-to-base64-string arr))))
                          (swank::send-to-emacs `(:write-image ((:data ,b64 :type swank-io-package::png)) "12345"))))
        

        Note that the first argument to :write-image must be a list with a single element, which is itself a plist containing :data and :type keys. :data must be a base64-encoded raw image data. :type must be a symbol in swank-io-package. It’s not exactly convenient, so if you’re going to use this functionality a helper function/macro might be necessary.

        Image in a SLIME popup buffer

        Inline images are not always convenient. They can’t be resized, and will take up as much space as is necessary to display them. Meanwhile EMACS itself has a built-in image viewer (image-mode) which can fit images to width or height of a buffer. And SLIME has a concept of a “popup buffer” which is for example used by macroexpander (C-c C-m) to display the result of a macro expansion in a separate window.

        Interestingly, slime-media.el defines an event :popup-buffer but it seems impossible to trigger it from SWANK. It is however a useful code reference for how to create the popup buffer in ELisp. This time we won’t bother with “events” and just straight up execute some ELisp code using swank::eval-in-emacs. However by default, this feature is disabled on Emacs-side, so you’ll have to set Emacs variable slime-enable-evaluate-in-emacs to t in order for this method to work.

        Also Emacs must be compiled with ImageMagick for the resizing functionality to work.

        Anyway, the code to view file in the popup buffer looks like this:

        (defun view-file-slime (file &key (bufname "*image-viewer*"))
          (let ((ns (namestring file)))
            (swank::eval-in-emacs
             `(progn
                (slime-with-popup-buffer (,bufname :connection t :package t)
                  (insert-image (create-image ,ns))
                  (image-mode)
                  (setf buffer-file-name ,ns)
                  (not-modified)
                  (image-toggle-display-image))
                ;; try to resize the image after the buffer is displayed
                (with-current-buffer ,bufname (image-toggle-display-image))))))
            ))
        
        

        Arriving to this solution has required reading image-mode’s source code to understand what exactly makes image-mode behave just like if the image file was opened in Emacs via C-x C-f. First off, image-mode can be a major and a minor mode - and the minor mode is not nearly as useful. slime-with-popup-buffer has a :mode keyword argument but it would cause image-mode to be set before the image is inserted, and it will be a minor mode in this case! Therefore (image-mode) must be called after insert-image.

        Next, the buffer must satisfy several conditions in order to get image data from the filename and not from the buffer itself. Technically it shouldn’t be necessary, but I couldn’t get auto resizing to work when data-p is true. So I set buffer-file-name to image’s filename and set not-modified flag on.

        Next, image-toggle-display-image is called to possibly resize the image according to image-mode settings. It's called outside of slime-with-popup-buffer for the following reason: the buffer might not yet be visible and have any specific dimensions assigned to it, and therefore resizing will do nothing.

        Here’s an example of how calling this function looks in Emacs.

        The position of the popup buffer depends on whether the original Emacs window is wide enough or not. I think it looks better when it’s divided vertically. Use M-x image-transform-fit-to-height or M-x image-transform-fit-to-width to set up the auto-resizing method (it gets remembered for future images). Unfortunately there’s no way to fit both height and width, at least with vanilla Emacs. I prefer fit-to-width because in case the image is too tall, it is possible to scroll the image vertically with M-PgDn and M-PgUp from the other buffer. Unlike other image-mode buffers, this buffer supports a shortcut q to close itself, as well as various SLIME shortcuts, for example C-c C-z to return to the REPL.

        That's it for now, hope you enjoyed this overview and if you happen to know a better way to display images in Emacs, I would be interested to hear about it.




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        Learning From Home

        I have to say, I think Anand is learning more at home being unschooled than he was in school, and is much happier. Which isn’t to say that he isn’t missing some things that could use more disciplined teaching, and I’m hoping Kevin and I will have more time to do that this summer after the semester’s … Continue reading "Learning From Home"




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        30-Pound Lunar Meteorite






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        Ombudsman office renamed to Ombuds

        The office formerly known as the U.S. Grand Lodge Ombudsman has been renamed to Ombuds. The purpose of this office remains as described on the U.S.G.L. Government Contacts page: The office of the U.S. Grand Lodge Ombuds serves as an official liaison between the general membership of O.T.O. within the United States and the various …

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        A message from the Grand Master on pandemic response

        The Grand Master Sabazius has provided some useful information and advice to O.T.O. members about how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.




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        Dues Relief for O.T.O. Members

        Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Greetings on the First Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law! Due to the ongoing economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, the International Supreme Council of Ordo Templi Orientis, in consultation with the Grand Lodges, is implementing the following measures to …

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        USGL summer 2020 events update

        The in-person annual U.S. Grand Lodge Joint Meeting scheduled for July 2020 in Oakland CA has been canceled. Individual governing bodies will meet online; members of those bodies will receive further information. A decision on whether the Convocation of Lovers scheduled for August 2020 in Cleveland OH will be canceled will be announced by April …

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        SAN HOLO – THE FUTURE (FEAT. JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW)

        musicisart magazine SAN HOLO – THE FUTURE (FEAT. JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW)

        Producer San Holo, AKA Sander van Dijck, creates ballad like electronic music that brings a listener on a journey full of emotion. San Holo is most known for his hit single ‘Light‘, which reached over 151 thousand likes on Soundcloud. SAN HOLO – THE LIGHT || San Holo’s latest single ‘The Future‘ features the smooth Irish vocals of […]

        The post SAN HOLO – THE FUTURE (FEAT. JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW) appeared first on musicisart magazine.