Happy National Nut Day!!!

A few blog posts ago I professed my love for cashews, cashew cream and Tal Ronnen, so today is a very special day for me :-)

Tal Ronnen's wonderful book "The Conscious Cook" has both captivated and inspired me these past few months.  I have learned so much about cashews, almonds and vegan cooking, so today I thought it would be a good time to share one of my Tal Ronnen-inspired recipes.

Creamy Cashew Dip - perfect for vegans, the lactose-intolerant, those wishing to avoid cholesterol and all of us who love good healthy food. It is also raw, GF and extremely yummy! 



Ingredients

• 2 cups of cashews (try and use whole nuts, broken ones work okay)
• 1 tsp probiotic powder (Tal suggests New Chapter All-Flora)
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (I'm always generous with this and the onion powder)
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic salt or sea salt (your preference - I'm a Celtic salt lover, but I really think the hint of garlic is a nice addition to the dip flavor)
• Freshly grated nutmeg (you might not think you can taste it, but you'll miss it if it's not there)
• 0.5 tsp pepper (black or white, your preference)

Method

• Soak cashews in filtered water in the fridge overnight
• Next day, rinse and drain nuts and add to a food processor with 1 cup of fresh water
• Mix nuts for several minutes into a smooth creamy consistency
• Mix the probiotic powder with a tbsp of water and add to creamed nuts
• Leave the mixture at room temperature overnight (I leave it in the Cuisinart on the kitchen counter)
• Next day add nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic salt, nutmeg, pepper and mix well in the processor. 
• Leave for 30mins to let the flavors fully meld together before serving
• Serve dip with chips, fresh veggies, spread on bagels or use as a garnish on a bowl of veggie chili or lentil soup 

The dip can be stored in a refrigerator for about 5 days or frozen.  When I make this I split it into 3 portions and freeze 2 of them.

WARNING:  This dip can become addictive, please use caution.

Bored

• I wake up to Butch meowing to be let outside and loud snoring....it's about 7:30am.
• I get up and let Butch and Ella out - my lower back feels a little better today.
• Not happy about back, I never have back problems (I must workout on weights machine more).
• I make 2 coffees and take them back to bed, grunting and snoring continues.
• I drink coffee in bed and check e-mail on my laptop; re-list a couple of items on Etsy, check on arrival of @cincoarmstrong on Twitter, read news on BBC, 9news and Huffington post.
• My stomach makes rumbling noises, 9:15 weekend alarm goes off on the other side of the bed, lump staggers to the bathroom, comes back and starts reading a book.
• I say "oatmeal?"
• Lump says "yes"
• I make oatmeal with almond milk, lump does not emerge from upstairs, I go back upstairs trying not to aggravate back and ask what lump wants in oatmeal.
• Blank stare.
• "Do you want more almond milk, agave, raisins and chopped almonds?"
• "Agave, raisins and almond milk"
• I dutifully walk back down and get oatmeal and deliver to lump in dark room upstairs.
• "Hot, hot!" says lump as he takes the bowl from me.
• Of course it's hot, it's oatmeal...what about a thank you for the maid - I think to myself.
• Lump starts shoveling in oatmeal, caveman style...room smells, I pick up laptop and take it downstairs to look at while I eat my oatmeal.
• I turn on TV and watch the end of Meet The Press, I'm reminded that local politics is depressing at this time of the year.
• Lump bounds downstairs shouting "kittieees" and starts to brush Ella and then Butch, I remain sitting on the kitchen table looking at laptop and paying attention to depressing politics debate - no eye contact or acknowledgment of existence from lump.
• Lump walks to his office, farts, makes a rustling noise and then runs back upstairs and then back down to office - sits staring at monitor in underwear.  No romance, no intimacy -  is this it for the next 30 years?
• It's 10 o'clock, I start to plan my last day of the weekend; laundry, clear some of the dying plants from the front of the house (fill only 2 garden refuse bags so I don't over aggravate my back), get Etsy sale set up to mail out tomorrow, remember I need to talk with brother on Skype at 2pm....
• I'm not sure what you're supposed to do with a bad back so I plan to keep moving  without overdoing it.
• Lump stands in front of open fridge door looking for more food and exclaims "Tofutti cream cheese!"
• "Yes, I saw it yesterday when I was grocery shopping and picked some up for you" I say.
• "But we don't have any bagels" the milk-avoiding lump says.
• "I know" I say, "that's why I looked in 3 different stores for Udi's bagels" (Udi's are gluten free - I get them so I can eat them too, though not with Tofutti - I don't eat soy).
• I look back as he walks away and say "We need to go to Whole Foods on Hampden, they usually have Udi's"...no response.
• I take my laptop upstairs and plug in the power and go to the bathroom.  I come back to find my desk chair by the door and the lump looking at my computer.
• "Hey, what you doing?" I say,  lump is annoyed at my small office and likes to throw things out of the way when he enters. I'm always a little peeved with his lack of respect for my space...I'd like it to be larger too, but I deal with it.
• "I was checking your computer because mine takes 10 mins to find the wireless, I didn't realize your laptop was only 10 MBPS." He says, shocked that I have such a dog.
• I say "It connects instantly to WiFi."
• Lump leaves my office, I jerk my back moving my chair back to it's position in front of the desk.
• I weigh myself, computer says I have the weight and body fat of a 29 year old...I wish I looked 29....and had a 29 year old back.
• I shower and wash my hair....with 2 cats staring at me through the shower door.
• I dry, dress and separate my clothes into piles; darks, lights and jeans - remind myself I need to wash bath towels and sheets this weekend.
• It's 60 F outside so I collect my gloves, pruner and a couple of black bags and weed the front of the house. I imagine what it would be like to be in Santa Fe now living in a casita not far from the Guadalupe district....I'd be at their wonderful Farmers Market now.
• At 12:30pm I have filled 3 bags and cleared space  to plant some Spring bulbs, I decide this is a good time to stop for a rest.
• The showered and dressed lump gets up from surfing and comes out to see what I'm doing and notices the storm door handle is loose, he fiddles with it....I think he fixes it.
• I water the geraniums and then go inside and make sure I have the bulbs ready for later.
• Suddenly I feel weak, my blood sugar is low, I grab a granola bar and run upstairs to see if clothes have been added to my piles.  I collect the jeans and start the first laundry run.
• My back is not happy, but no worse than it was...I'm sort of happy with that.  My wet hair is now crinkly dry from the sun...I used to care about my hair.
• I pull sheets off the bed and from pillows.  I pull the mattress pad off - I want to clean that too....it seems to help with my sneezing and runny nose in bed.
• I empty the dishwasher for the 3rd time in 24 hours.
• Jeans go in the drier and mattress pad goes in the washing machine
• After a simple quesadilla and can of Limonata I go back outside to plant bulbs.  The dressed man offers to prune a bush :-)
• At 2pm I'm beat, bulbs are in the ground and one of 10 bushes is trimmed, I go back inside to see if my brother is available for a Skype call - he has sent an e-mail saying he's had a busy day and can't talk.  I'm a little disappointed, I enjoy my conversations will him.
• The dressed man is back in his office surfing again.
• I start filling the dishwasher and picking up old mail and paper for recycle and shredding.
• At 2:30pm the dressed man wants to go and get bagels so he drives us to Sears and buys a new watch...we then walked over to the Whole Foods and find GF bagels, some curry sauces and salmon spread for me.
• We get home at 3:30pm and split a bagel. 
• The dressed man goes back to his normal position in front of the computer.
• I move the mattress pad into the drier, and light colors into the washer.
• I start the dishwasher and checked to see if we still have solar power, the dressed man comes out of his office for more food - I mentioned that we're not generating power with the angle of the fall sun at this time.  We then go out to look at the meter to see how many kilowatt hours we have used since April - 195, not bad!
• I mentioned that I need to water some stuff by hand because he had turned the sprinkler system off last week when we thought we would get frost.  He looks at the crispy grass and goes to get a screwdriver to turn the system back on for another week.
• I take some frozen chicken out of the freezer in anticipation of making a curry later and pondered whether to get an aspirin for my back or finish the bottle of 2 buck chuck cab sauv I almost drank the night before.
• I make up some vegan truffles (almonds, medjool dates and chocolate) in the Vitamix and divide into mini paper cups.  I put them in the freezer.
• The mattress pad comes out of the drier, light colors go into the drier, darks go into the washing machine.
• I go to the bathroom and change the toilet roll (I have 2 X chromasomes, it's my duty).
• I sit alone at the kitchen table and check Facebook, my friend Lisa has just opened a shop on Etsy....I 'heart' her shop and tweet about one of her plates.  I then send her a convo and welcome her to Etsy...I notice her shipping is noted wrong and send her another convo.  I comment on her Facebook post and I share her TCA cycle plate.
• I pour the rest of the bottle of wine into a glass...it's 4:45pm, ho hum - why does time go so slow on a Sunday?  Why don't I have anyone to play with?
• The dressed man emerges from his office cave and walks into the kitchen and grabs a bottle of rum and complains that I drank the cold can of Dr Pepper in the fridge (he put 2 in there, I thought one was mine).  He pours himself a drink with a room temperature Dr Pepper and then gets the floor steamer.
• I move to the front door to sit and notice the yard sprinkler system is running, the timer must be off.
• The dressed man proceeds to steam the kitchen floor in the galley area without sweeping the floor first or moving anything.  The whole operation takes less than 5 minutes...I'm not sure whether this constitutes bragging rights for "I steamed the kitchen floor this weekend" :-)  ...it would take me at least 45 minutes, though there are a few other tasks in my floor cleaning process.  I don't complain, I have no wind left in my sails to clean the floor, and I don't want to bring up the "can we get a cleaner question/discussion"
• I finish my glass of wine, it's 5:15pm, the dressed man is back in his cave in front of a monitor.
• I had thought it would be nice to walk to the new park and take some photos (nice digital SLR, tripod, remote and all that stuff), but the light is failing and past that magical few minutes when any photo you take is a keeper. 
• The dishwasher beeps that it is done, I open the door and wait for the steam to clear and empty it.
• Lights come out of the drier, darks go into the drier, sheets go into the washer.  The man folds jeans and light clothes :-)
• The man cuts up pineapple to freeze for smoothies, then goes back into cave.
• I defrost chicken and start making a curry, I put brown rice on the stove and pull out lentils and chickpeas from the freezer.
• It's 6pm, I open a bottle of Purple Moon Shiraz and pour myself a glass. I taste one of the raw vegan truffles....not bad for when I need something sweet.
• 60 minutes is on TV.
• I realize the end of the weekend is near and the long 5 day run of boredom is near.
• I set the table for dinner and sit down for 10 minutes.
• The man offers to make the chickpea side dish, yeah!
• I add water to the rice, take the lid off the curry to reduce it and add French lentils.
• We eat dinner.
• Darks come out of the drier, sheets are still in the washer.
• Watch TV for 90 mins...my back feels good until I stand up.
• Sheets go in the drier...I'll do the bath towels tomorrow.
• At 9pm I fill the dishwasher and tidy up the kitchen, wipe the kitchen table and take clothes upstairs.
• I pull the man out of his cave to help me make the bed.
• The man goes back to the cave, I crawl upstairs and put clean towels in the bath room.
• By 10pm I sit in bed finishing off this journal, shortly the man will come upstairs and fall asleep within 10 minutes.  I will lay away until 11:30am and sleep until 5:30am....I'll go get a coffee before the 6am alarm goes off....and so will start another week...
• I need to get a life!