Homemade Dill Pickles All 12 quarts were made with cucumbers & jalapenos from our garden.

Raw For 30 Days Update: Half way to 30 days and I’m still RAWKIN’, by eating only plant-based raw foods! I feel good, for the most part. I’m hungry sometimes but not in my usual hypoglycemic-total-freak-out sort of way (I think my husband has another term for this) but in more of a “hmmm….yep, I’m hungry” non-panicky sort of way.  The mood peaks and valleys caused by refined sugar and caffeine, are gone and I’m feeling more of a gentle roll of ups and downs throughout the day. Still practicing yoga three times per week and that continues to feel fabulous. My weight has plateaued at a loss of six pounds, for now. My tummy is flatter than when I started and now other people are noticing that my skin looks better. Yay!

I’m fortunate in that I love to make food, of all kinds, because I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen over the past few weeks. The challenge still remains, in feeding myself AND my family, healthy meals in a timely manner. I’m working double time.
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Pickle & Pesto POWER!: Mother Nature has not hit the pause button in my garden during my detox. We are trying to harvest all the food that we can before she sprinkles it with frost and renders perfect produce into compost, overnight. Usually we are doing this in the dark with flashlights because on top of refusing to pause, Mother Nature is also turning out the lights earlier and earlier each day.

We shall rise to the challenge, YES WE CAN! (Pun gratuitously intended.)

After Losing My Canning Virginity last September, I decided to dive into the deep end of it all. I grabbed Teddy, my daughter and trusty sous-chef, and off we went to the local hardware store. We invested in a pressure canner (that can also be used as a boiling water canner) and all of the fun canning accouterments. As a result, our cucumbers and mass quantities of jalapenos did not go to waste this year. It looks like each jar sealed too (except for the one I dropped on the floor, oops!) Not bad for our first solo flight. Pickle POWER!

Homemade Basil Pesto Four 8oz. jars and two ice cube trays made with Genovese basil from our garden.

And, earlier this week we had a good ol’ fashioned late-night Pesto Party in our kitchen. But, after going to all that work I wanted something cooler than recycled Smart-Balance tubs in which to store our creation. At a farm store this weekend, I found some cute Ball brushed silver 8oz. wide mouth jars. Much better! When packing them, we just left a bit of room for freezing expansion. We also removed the pesto cubes from the now garlic-infused (sorry family) ice cube trays, double bagged and labeled them including the date. Now, we have both meal and garnish quantities. Pesto POWER!

We’ve harvested and preserved all weekend, but what can I eat NOW?

A Not-From-Starbucks, Raw Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie (with a shot of wheatgrass for good measure!)

Teddy, in her effort to make room for the pesto in our freezer, unearthed my So Stinkin’ Hot Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, SCORE! Into the Vita-Mix it went today, with almond milk, a frozen banana, raw protein powder, maca, flax oil and a shot of wheatgrass. Vroom. Vroom. Mmmmmmmm!

Though not a culinary extravaganza, I did have something raw and de-lish to eat for lunch after all. Sipping it while admiring our jars of pickles sparkling in the sunlight made my day.

Day 15…worth all the work? You bet.