What we do in our time off

Work has a been a little slow lately, and hubby and I are finding we have more and more time on our hands now. So instead of sitting around waiting for the financial clock to strike zero, we've committed ourselves to a healthy indulgence of home improvements, daring new recipes, and lots of Denver sunshine.

You would not believe the amount of space we've gained from having our very own built in media unit. After seeing a DIY project made from plumbing pipe and wood here, here and here, I decided to throw my chips in and make it happen.  Once I was at Home Depot I nearly died from sticker shock though - who knew pre-cut pipes would cost so much!  Thankfully, two patient employees named John and Robert, and 4 hours of custom cutting and threading later, I was able to slash the cost of my project almost in half.

Is anyone interested in me posting a step-by-step tutorial for this?

Have you ever heard of traceable food?  Me neither until I picked up this overpriced baby at the grocers. It was the only thing I could find that was organic and didn't include hormones or antibiotics.  But what really sold me over was the nifty little barcode on the label that you can scan with an app to see where your dead bird once roamed free. Of course I don't own a smartphone, so I couldn't utilize that feature, but it's still a stinkin cool idea. What can I say, I'm a sucker for eco-friendly marketing ploys apparently.

Go to www.harvestmark.com and type in our chicken's code:  0090 00P2 8822 C040

In the end it was worth it for all the fun the two of us had dancing in the kitchen.  Brandon thought I was nuts and contaminating the whole place though... which I probably did... but I disinfected everything later, and I'm not currently suffering from e. coli or salmonella, so I'd say we're good. 

Here's the result:  a juicy chicken dinner with roasted potatoes, fresh veggies and my new favorite RAW recipe - marinated stuffed mushrooms. 

 RAWesome Stuffed Mushrooms

10-20 crimini (or portabella) mushrooms, stems removed and saved for stuffing

Marinade:

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp nama shoyu or tamari (raw soy sauce)

1/4 c olive oil

Clean mushrooms and add to marinade in a bowl with cover (or ziploc) for at least 20 minutes. 

Stuffing: 

mushroom stems

1 1/2 c sunflower seeds

1/2 c soaked walnuts

1 clove of garlic

2 tsp nama shoyu or tamari

1 small tomato

2 scallions

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

olive oil (as needed)

Add all ingredients to a food processor with an s blade, and combine until smooth paste consistency. Then spoon into mushroom caps and serve.  (For a yummy but un-raw finish, sprinkle with a bit of parmesan!)

Jen's Raw-Worthy Pizza

This isn't officially raw, since the dough and sauce get cooked first, but it's pretty close.  

And the best part  is you can use any veggies you have laying around - so be creative!

Ingredients:

pizza dough 

1/2 c pesto (my homemade recipe is below)

3/4 c tomato sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

Roll out dough onto baking sheet and lightly coat with olive oil. Then spread pesto and tomato sauce evenly across dough, leaving edge for crust.  Put in oven at 400 F for approx 20 mins (for a crispy crust).  When crust is golden brown, remove and top with sliced veggies.  

I used: 1 tomato, 1/2 red pepper, 1/4 red onion, 1/3 can diced olives, 1 avocado, and some fresh mozzarella (not entirely raw, but I'm not judging). 

Presto, PESTO!  (raw)

1 c baby spinach

2 collard leaves

2 garlic cloves

1/4 c olive oil

1/4 c water

salt and pepper to taste

Throw all ingredients together in food processor (water last) until paste consistency is achieved.

More climbing at the Golden Cliffs with REI friends.  Fortunately, Brandon landed the same day off and he was able to join us for his first ever outdoor climbing experience!  I was so proud of him.

That is until he wacked his hand on the rock wall while taking down a rope and gushed blood everywhere. What a noob.  (Haha, I'm only joking honey, but maybe if you read my blog more often I wouldn't be so tempted to make fun of you behind your back.  Just saying...)

Not too shabby, right? 

...Guess what? I just got free tickets to see Demetri Martin in Boulder tonight. 

The fun continues!