Veggy burgers and lemon avocado dip

Oddly enough, our two year old Gavin won't eat avocado or daikon by themselves, but put the two together with this dip recipe and he gobbles it down faster than I can slice it!  He dips the slices of daikon into the lemon avocado dip, like chips and dip.

I have a few variations of this dip, so I will give you the original recipe as it started and the simple one I made today for these photos.  I prefer using more lemon juice and then sweetening it up a bit, like the recipe from today, but you can make a spicier version of the original too.  My boys also use this dip as a dressing on salads and, if you want it to be easier to pour, just add a little water until you like the consistency.

Both of these recipes below are low oxalate.

Original lemon avocado dip/dressing
1 avocado
1/2 of a cucumber peeled
1 clove of garlic
2 Tbs red onion
1.5 tsp dried dill


Today's lemon avocado dip/dressing
1 avocado
1/4 c. lemon juice (fresh squeezed, not from concentrate)
1-2 inches of a large daikon root (you could use onion instead)
2 tsp xylitol (or choice of sweetener)
1.5 tsp dried dill

Blend and add water to consistency preference

Veggy burgers (this recipe can actually be made raw by dehydrating instead of baking)
3-4 c. winter squash (butternut is good in this, but any will work)
1 c. soaked garbanzo beans
1/2 c. soaked pumpkin seeds
1/4 c. soaked wild rice
1/8 c. oil
1/3 c. onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 Tbs GF aminos or GF tamari - I use Coconut Secret Aminos (optional)
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp thyme
just enough water to pulse the mixture into a chunky but pasty consistency

This makes a fairly large batch of "burgers" so it can be cut in half or you will need to blend it in two batches after mixing the ingredients in a bowl first.

1. Preheat oven to 355
2. Pulse all of the ingredients together in a blender or food processor 
3. Spoon/shape into burgers on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
4. bake for 30 minutes or when they are firm and the edges brown (if they are more watery, more time is needed)
5. Let cool so they will set better

They freeze great and can be reheated in the toaster oven!

RAW-some food!

I have been exploring the concept of raw food for some time and finally took the plunge and bought a few simple recipe books.  I am loving the way it feels to eat mostly raw all day!!  The recipes are so easy, we are making easy tasty dips, creative salads, dressings and snacks that the kids love and ask for.  We never plan to be 100% raw, because I do believe in animal protein, although it is from natural, organic and grass fed sources only, especially for growing children.  Here are some pictures of my newest raw fun foods.

These look like cookies, but they are power bars made from nuts, seeds, dried fruit and honey, then placed in the sun to dehydrate a bit.  The kids want these every chance they can get!  Oh and that is my home made hemp milk (from a previous post) in the background.

This is one of the many dips/dressings we have made using cashews and spices.  It is a ranch dressing believe it or not!  This one disappeared faster than I expected, and a few others have followed, a garlic pesto made with sunflower seeds and sweet mustard dressing.  The ranch dressing actually encouraged my very picky veggie-hating two year old to gobble down TWO, yes you read that right, two bowls of salad for dinner!!

This morning I made a "cereal" out of pears, walnut pulp (after making and straining walnut milk), cinnamon and honey.  We have even been sprouting, the kids actually sit and eat sprouted lentils like they are M&Ms!  No joke! 

It's easier than I thought to get raw foods into the kids, most of the recipes involve throwing some ingredients into a blender, I can do that!!  Make it look like a cookie and they are fans!  ha ha ha

Here are the recipes for the two pictured above:

Raw ranch dressing:
‎-1 cup cashew butter (I just blended 8 ounces of raw cashews with some grapeseed oil)
-1/2 cup water
-3 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh squeezed, about half a lemon, but I think it needs more)
-1 tsp raw cider vinegar
-pinch of salt
-1 tsp Italian seasoning or dried dill
-1 clove garlic
-1 stalk celery

Blend until smooth and creamy.

Raw energy bars:
Choose a combo of up to any five seeds/nuts and use 1 cup of each (mine are: sunflower seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds and sprouted lentils) other options are pine nuts, soaked buckwheat, walnuts, cashews, and so forth. Blend in a powerful ...blender like the Blend Tec or Vitamix, just enough to chop them up into a thick powder.

Put the mix into a bowl, add a 1/4 of agave or honey with some water to moisten them for stick-factor, add in dried berries of some sort like goji, cranberries, mulberries, raisins, currants, etc.

Then you can make very compressed balls out of them and press them flat with your hands or use cookie molds so they can be pressed firmly into the mold. I laid them out in the sun to "dehydrate" a bit which firms them up and gives them a harder texture. That's it!