Making raw granola from sprouted buckwheat

It’s been about 18 months, maybe longer, since I last made a batch of cereal.  But it’s so easy to do with a dehydrator, and so tasty, not to mention jolly good for you!
I used sprouted buckwheat to make my cereal.  I bought the buckwheat in Tesco’s and have been using it to make veggie-burgers etc.  But it can be easily sprouted to become more nutritious, more enzyme packed, and much better for the digestion.  Sprouting a grain allows it to make its own enzymes, which aids digestion and means that your pancreas doesn’t have to work quite so hard. Keeping the grain raw instead of cooking it means that none of those precious enzymes, or any of the vitamins and minerals are destroyed.
I sprouted the buckwheat by soaking it over night in water. Then letting is sit in a colander for 2 days, thoroughly rinsing 3 times a day. 
The making of the granola only took me 5 minutes of work. I put the buckwheat into a large bowl and mixed in some olive oil, a cup of honey, some crushed almonds, a cup of ground sesame seeds, a cup of ground linseed (or flax), then threw in some dried cranberries, a few goji berries, raisins, and a few pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  It was so delicious that I could have eaten it like that!
I dehydrated it on a very low heat using my excalibur dehydrator, using the setting for ‘living foods’.  It took over 24 hours to totally dry out.  Dehydrating means that the food feels like its been cooked, but has the same nutrient content as if it was still raw.
We ate a bowl of our gorgeous granola in fresh almond milk, so it was a totally vegan breakfast.  And there’s lots left over. Yummy.
This is the sprouted buckwheat. You can see the little shoots that have appeared…

Next I added all the other raw ingredients…..

Then I dehydrated it for a long time… (you can see Kale Chips dehydrating too)…..

To make yummy raw granola, with fresh almond milk….

Vegan days 2 and 3

   

 

 

Days 2 and 3 of the vegan challenge have gone well. Surprisingly we have found some meals that everyone likes, including Barney! He loved last nights chickpea curry (not photographed), so that was a success.  Rosie liked the marinated bean salad that we had for lunch yesterday. You can see her trying that out in the photo. She also has discovered a love of tomatoes (funny how both the girls love tomatoes and both the boys hate them), and loved roast sweet potato. 

This 5 day diet isn’t just vegan, it’s also gluten free, potato free and corn free. So what does one eat for breakfast if you can’t have toast, packet cereals or bacon and eggs?  Good question. Apart from the obvious, fruit, we have tried a few different breakfasts. The first photo is soaked nuts with almond milk.  The almonds, cashews, walnuts and sunflower seeds were soaked over night to make them easier to digest.  Then I added fresh pear to them, but they really could have used a bit more fruit in.  I made my own almond milk following meghan’s recipe. Almond milk is lovely! And a great cows milk substitute in cereals. The kids have been drinking it neat and calling it a nut smoothie.  It is so simple to make as well.  The second photo is a mixed porridge of various grains… millet, quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice and oats.  It was soaked overnight and then boiled up in the morning.  I added honey and dried and fresh fruits to it.  It is a real stick-to-your-ribs kind of breakfast.  Rosie ate a massive bowl of it, so I will be making it again for her. 

The other photos show our lunches. Marinated bean salad. It was yum; Rosie and I like it more than Marty who ate it but wasn’t all that excited. Lol.  We will have the leftovers for todays lunch, and then any that are still left can be cooked into a curry or veggie chilli for dinner. The roast veggies were really nice, especially the roast sweet potato and leek.  I’ve never thought of eating roast veggies without potato or meat before but it was quite a satisfying lunch, and so easy to prepare.

The bowl of green stuff is raw courgette and avocado hummus dip.  I really liked this.   So all in all the vegan thing has been going well. It’s funny though how much you crave something as soon as you know that you aren’t allowed it.  For instance, Marty is craving cheese; even though he quite often goes more than 5 days without eating it.

I must say that I feel far more energetic and full of life.  I haven’t been suffering with the constant headaches that I get, even though I’ve reduced my caffeine intake right down.  Reducing caffeine usually gives me terrible headaches. 

Day 1 – 5 Days Vegan

Yay! Day one of our 5 day vegan challenge. I couldn't wait to get started on cooking (and eating!)  Some of it didn't go so well, some went well, and some was great. I have asked everyone to score each meal out of 10 so that I know which ones to make again.  I don't want them saying 'mmmm, its nice' just so that they don't offend me and my cooking skills, just to find out when I remake it that they aren't so keen. Lol.

Breakfast was banana pancakes made with buckwheat flour, banana, honey, linseed and apple sauce.  Marty wasn't keen on it (he doesn't like banana's), nor was Barney.  Tarja liked hers and Jimmie went for seconds.  Not so bad.

Lunch was carrot and ginger soup, with Quinoa Tabouli.  The soup was a bit bland in my opinion, but fluorescent orange in colour and nothing to complain about.  I liked the tabouli but Marty thought it was too lemony.

 

I couldn’t make the planned dinner for this evening as I couldn’t get hold of some of the ingredients for it. So we made Indian Lentils instead (see last photo).  As horrible as it looks (I personally think it looks yum, but Marty nearly died when I dished it up!) it tasted really, really, really good. It is definitely a meal that we will make regularly.  We ate it with brown rice, and leftover Adzuki Patties.  Yum.

But more than anything, the kids and Marty are loving the seedy treats.  They are disappearing fast. In the photo you can see a log of seedy heaven, which is frozen and sliced up, eaten straight from the freezer. To the left of that are sesame slices, and the balls are walnut and cocoa truffles.  All are totally healthy and nutritious, and the bonus is that the kids think they are cakes!

I also made a big pot of lentil and lemon soup for another day.  Marty wanted it blended up so that he couldn’t see the ingredients, and it is now yellow soup, but it tastes absolutely divine. I can’t wait to eat it!

Nothing like Mum's home cooking

Don't we all love our Mum's home cooking? (It's true that my Mum is an exceptional cook - I'm not sure my own kids would say the same about their Mum!) Anyway, today I spent the morning cooking up Rosie's first batch of baby food. She's only just started having her first few tastes of real food; banana being her favourite so far. She's not having very much every day, just a spoonful or two, but I think it's important that what she does eat is healthy and good for her. And helps her poop! (That's always important - remember your five a day folks!)

So I cooked up various vegetables and fruits and made her some main courses and some desserts. The main courses are all a base of potato, carrot and parsnip, and then I have added cauliflower to some, broccoli to others, courgettes to some more, and asparagus to the other. I made two types of fruit desserts. The first is steamed apple, pear, and strawberry mixed with banana. And the other is banana and raspberry puree. And I must say, they all taste yummy! Let's hope Rosie agrees!