What a productive Monday! Up and at ‘em at 6:30, walking the dog, dropping of Goodwill donations and the infamous Green Smoothie all before 8:30. I even got S to drink almost an entire Nalgene full of smoothie! Then off to get One Birth’s official P.O. Box #. We are in business!

Things were less busy around 1:00 and I had time to try Nutritious Junk’s Warm Spinach Salad. It was heavenly on a day where the Fall air was sneaking in. Definitely not completely raw, but I’ll let it slide. She calls for only cucumbers, but I put in some of Maine’s finest Paula Red’s, red pepper, cucumber and raisins. The raisins were a really nice balance to it all.
Back to the school books after lunch, but had to stop for a snack around 3:30, mainly because I was so excited to try my Teaccino, which is an herbal coffee replacement that I brewed in the coffee maker. It was so good! Sorry no picture, I’ll get one another day. I reverted back to old ways and wanted a treat with my coffee, plus I just bought a huge bag of Cacao yesterday at Whole Foods. It was burning a whole in my kitchen counter. So, I whipped up a recipe for No-Bake cookies from Gone Raw. Amazing! Cacao is a raw superfood with more anti-oxidants than blueberries. So, they are a perfect pick-me-up to reach for instead of an afternoon coffee. I made my first batch of date syrup in my baby food processor and was really happy with the results.

More reading, then dinner. I was on a search for kelp noodles at the grocery yesterday, but had to settle for Shirataki noodles made out of tofu, even though I am trying to stay away from soy. I topped these noodles with HEAB’s Marinutta, which was awesome and all that flax will definitely have things moving in the morning! Spaghetti is an easy one to make semi-raw and than the way S likes it…straight up with faux meatballs and soy cheese on her broccoli. Tonight I sprinkled nutritional yeast on my broccoli and after the heat “melted” it a bit, it taste just like cheese. Definitely try it…nutritional yeast is an awesome source of protein, amino acids and B-complex vitamins (which is a great stress buster).

Whew! Lot’s of cooking today, but lots of good stuff!

What a Sunday! L, S, and I started it at our usual and fav breakfast place, The Good Egg. It was super busy and we were bummed because our favorite servers were not there…actually, a whole new staff was there and we are so hoping the old crew hasn’t moved on. I’ll keep you updated. I decided to go out on a limb today and order the Eggs from Hell:

It was the best breakfast ever! Definitely not a raw day, but sooo good! Then we took a motorcycle ride to Pineland Farms to check out the trails and market. Below L had a great idea to re-inact a Christmas card photo from 1987 when we wore hideous yellow shirts. Today, we were not color coordinated, but the scenery is the same:

Back home, I got to making the infamous 7-Layer Bean Dip for a friend’s birthday party tonight. So, our Sunday night was filled with tons of laughs, good food and the Trashy Novels Game. A trashy novel is picked and each game player is to create the first sentence of the book after hearing the description from the back of the book. Then all sentences are placed in a pile with the real first sentence and everyone has to guess which sentence is real. Sound confusing? It’s not and it is tons of fun. So, tonight I leave you with this: Fog. Can that really be the first sentence of a trashy novel? Oh, yes it can!

7-Layer Bean Dip

1 Can Refried Beans
Guacamole (2 Avocados, Red onion, lemon, 1 garlic clove mashed          together)
Tofutti Sour Cream
Salsa
Shredded regular or vegan cheese
Green Onion

Layer each item in the above listed order: refried bean, guac, sour cream,       salsa, shredded cheese (tonight I made half with for any vegans at the       party) and green onions for a garnish. Serve with tortilla chips. It is always a total hit and tonight proved no differently. It was quickly devoured. Happy Birthday, L (not my sister L)!

Today we purged our house! Well, we actually sold the purging we had done throughout the summer and it feels good. We walked away with all things sold except 2 bags of clothes (which was nothing compared to the 7 we started with) and a box of misc. items. It was hilarious to see who the person would be to buy my sister, Laura’s, snuggly blanket thing, which is this psuedo-blanket pajama number my Grandmother bought her. We also heard some great stories as to where our stuff was going. It was amazing to see how many people were thoughtfully buying for family and friends. So, the yard sale not only helped us toward saving for our Korea trip next Sept., but it also felt like our belongings were being recycled in really positive ways.

I am now relaxing with one of my favorite “feel good” raw treats. An adapted version of Happy Foody’s Chocolate Bliss and it is scrumptuous! There were quite a few chunks in mine due to the shredded coconut. If a certain someone (Stacy) is reading this, it would not have happened if I owned a Vita-Mix. She is always wondering if she should drink or chew her smoothies! I will keep praying to the Vita-Mix Gods that one will magically appear at my doorstep. I’ll keep you posted!

Chocolate Coconut Bliss

2 frozen bananas
1C Unsweetened Almond Milk (I tend to make my own, but today used Pacific Foods)
1Tbsp. Coconut Butter
1Tbsp. Cocoa Powder or Cacao Powder
1Tbsp. Agave Nector
1/4C Shredded Coconut
1Tsp. of Vanilla (alcohol free, if possible)

Blend all ingredients in the blender, food processor or Vita-Mix until it has the consistency of a shake. Pour into a cup and enjoy!

So, here we go…the first blog entry on our journey together! I am writing while on vacation. It always seems the perfect time to dream and dip into my creative self. So many new and exciting things to see and great people to meet. How can it not stimulate the senses?

Before we talk about the Liberated Homemaker (LM) on vaca, let’s quickly talk about some of the things you might find in the future of this blog. If you go to the “About it All” page on the left of the screen it will give you an overview of my blog intentions. In a nutshell, I will be remaking the concept of homemaking, the liberated Jen way. You will also get a commentary of the struggles that emerge while doing so. Great recipes will pop up here, green cleaning methods, gardening, canning, crafts and all things home related. So, start your food processors and let’s begin!

We are in Washington DC visiting Stacy’s, Korean side of the family. Last night we took a pseudo-tour of the memorials. My absolute favorite was FDR’s memorial. Words such as, “social justice and poverty” cut through the buzz of Washington’s city life. How ironic to have such words of compassion located in a city with so much ego. Stepping back on the Mall, I realized how much money and resources we have used on honoring the men that built this country. Now the obvious question…what about the women?

I could easily begin ranting about inequalities and injustices, but after spending time with FDR, my thoughts take me in a different direction. It got me thinking about our everyday memorials. We, homemakers, need to deconstruct those massive gender monuments in our lives and reclaim the things we love: the simple spaces and simple things. My Memorial Monument…our purple kitchen back in Portland. What’s yours?

“The test of our progress is not whether we add to the abundance of those who have much. It is whether we provide enough to those who have little.”

-Franklin D. Roosevelt