Beyond Raw Food

Tonight I saw the movie Horton Hears a Who, an adaptation of the Dr. Seuss children’s book by the same name. The movie was well done and I enjoyed my foray into childhood memories. In the movie, an elephant named Horton discovers a microscopic civilization called Whoville, existing on a speck of dust. He and the microscopic mayor of Whoville are challenged to convince their respective societies of the existence of each other. An astute observation by Seuss of the human tendency to ridicule and deny new frontiers of knowledge or even other cultures, not surprising since Seuss was a political cartoonist prior to gaining fame for his children’s books. But the movie reminded me of a cool short film made by industrial designers Charles and Ray Eames for IBM in 1977 called The Powers of Ten which shows our relative size in the macroscopic and microscopic universe. The film starts with a one meter square image of a picnic. The camera then moves away overhead 10 times further every 10 seconds, reaching to the edge of the universe. The journey is then reversed, going 10 times closer each ten seconds, ultimately reaching the interior of an atom. Combine that with the concept of the fractal structure of our universe, and we get a little better picture of our place in the universe. (9 minutes)
— Ken Rohla

Got tired of the raw cracker recipes I’ve been using of late, so I created a new one. This tastes a bit like a western omelet (as I remember them), hence the name. As always, use raw organic ingredients whenever possible. I use an Excalibur ED2900 9-Tray Dehydrator to make these. Enjoy!

—Ken Rohla

Western Omelet Crackers
(Makes 8 or 9 15”x15” dehydrator trays)
1-1/2 cups golden flax
2 cups buckwheat groats, soaked about 8 hours and drained
2 cups truly raw organic almonds, soaked about 8 hours and drained
9 cups water
4 to 6 Anaheim chilies (mild green), seeds removed and finely chopped
1 med yellow onion, finely chopped
4 red bell peppers, finely chopped
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp Celtic or other unrefined salt

This tastes a bit like a Western Omelets, hence the name. Powder dry flax in a blender until a fine flour. Mix well with 6 cups of water in a large bowl or pot and let sit to thicken. Blend buckwheat groats with 1 cup of water in a food processor until creamy, and pour in a large bowl or pot. Blend almonds with 1 cup of water in a food processor until creamy and add to buckwheat. Beware, most almonds from California now are irradiated, so get truly raw organic almonds. Cut chilies in half lengthwise, remove seeds and stems, and chop finely. Peel onion and chop finely. Remove seeds and stems from red bells and chop finely. You can put all items to be diced/chopped into a food processor and pulse chop. Mix all ingredients including flax and veggies into buckwheat and almond mixture. Add 1 cup of water or so to make a thick batter.

Spread on dehydrator Teflon sheets (Paraflex, aka Teflex) with a spatula to about 3/16-inch thick. Dehydrate at 145 degrees F for about two hours until firm, then flip the crackers onto a regular screen and peel away Paraflex to expose wet side. Dehydrate at 105-110 F on regular dehydrator screen for about another 13 hours until crisp. Break up into smaller pieces to serve.

I was in the kitchen wanting a nice restaurant-style raw vegan Italian dressing for an incredibly fresh sunflower sprout salad, so I whipped this up and wrote it down to share. Enjoy! -Ken Rohla

Country Club Italian Dressing

1/2 cup fresh squeezed orgainc lemon juice
1/4 cup Bragg’s raw apple cider vinegar
1 clove of organic garlic
2/3 cup pure water
2/3 cup organic first cold-pressed sunflower or safllower oil
1-1/2 tsp Celtic, Himalayan or other unrefined, unheated whole salt
3 tsp Italian seasoning (I prefer Mountain Rose Herbs or Frontier brands)

Blend everything except Italian seasoning until smooth. Add seasoning and blend for just a few seconds to mix. Best if left for a few hours or overnight to infuse herbs into dressing. Makes about 2 cups.