Monday, March 29, 2010

the Pure Experience Continues

You may be asking - why isn't Allison making her own RAW dishes? It is HARD (I have tried it), it takes time, my family doesn't eat RAW - only me - so I'd rather have somebody else make it, instead of making 2 meals. And, quite frankly it is expensive when you are the only one eating it - typically you make enough for 8-10 people at once and have to eat it all week if you are the only one eating RAW. Boring. This way I get to support the movement, have somebody else cook for me, try it, write about it and make my family one thing each morning, midday and dinner.
Well - I jumped in and spent quite a bit to get a month of paid for meals and then 2 more months free. Cynthia wants to open another restaurant due to the volume of her "togo" business.
I received another box yesterday. Unfortunately the "eat these dishes in this order" paper wasn't in the box - so I had to guess. There is also an extraordinary amount of cling wrap used - not sure how to correct this environmentally. I'll be researching suggestions. I love the compost-able and recyclable packaging. if you are going to use packaging then this is a good way to go. I have a nice compost pile so why not?
 In this week's box was:
Bean and Cheese Enchiladas - two soft corn tortillas filled with spicy un-fried beans topped with avocado cream queso cheese and chunky red salsa
Thai Coconut Wraps - coconut wrapper with veggies bean sprouts herbs and crunchy spicy sweet cashews and almond chili sauce
Crispy Fish Fillets - veggies and nuts breaded and dehydrated until crispy served with creamy tartar sauce and our garlic mashed potatoes
Little Italy Pizza - herb and almond pizza crust with macadamia cheese with lemon and garlic topped with sundried tomato sauce and veggies
Strawberry Nirvana Soup -coconut milk blended with strawberry and orange for a bowl of heaven
Strawberry cheesecake
Crispy Strawberry Cereal with vanilla almond milk
Cranberry Oranges Scones - our English scones layered with fresh vanilla   cranberries and orange with orange cream sauce
Blueberry Banana Oatmeal - our homemade oatmeal layered with strawberries and bananas oats and almonds
Mexican Garden Scramble Breakfast - raw nuts and veggies with cilantro scallions spinach and tomatoes
Super Breakfast Smoothie – Chocolate Mocha
First - for lunch I had the Bean and Cheese Enchiladas 
These were really good - had so much filling and queso that I didn't make enchiladas out of them as you can tell. I made tacos...however - still yummy. And really folks - if a cold taco can taste that good - it has to be good right? It was really nice and meaty (but no meat!), dairy free, soy free, rice free cheese? you bet! nice mix of tomato, onion, cilantro - salsa - oh yeah. And the wrapper - held it all together without making a big mess. This was really portable and could be a great picnic food.
I made a non-raw dinner last night...but drank half of the Strawberry Nirvana Soup as my dessert. just so you all know - I don't eat after 7:00PM in the winter and 7:30 in the summer (since the kids stay up later in the summer). As I mentioned before, the Strawberry Nirvana Soup is really nirvana. Smooth, wonderful, just the right consistency and touch of ripe strawberries and cream.
This morning had the Cranberry Oranges Scones. Compared to the Blueberry Scones - these were much better. They still had that wonky taste I can't figure out - but I actually ate them - all of them - enough for two people. And the orange cream sauce? WOW. So yummy. Really. It was fantastic. You could taste the orange and Cranberry - that made them refreshing. I'm going to have to try and make these myself.
Tried to get the husband to drink the Chocolate Mocha Smoothie. He said it was too sweet. WHAT? The dude with the major sweet tooth who tells me all of my desserts aren't sweet enough thought the smoothie was too sweet? Well I tried it. I love it. But I think he's got issue with RAW chocolate. It has this beautiful fruity sweetness, and coupled with other things that make something sweet it might not come across right. I guess i'll have to drink that one too - bummer. ;-)
Now. I don't want to give a poor review, I'd rather give a constructive one, but I really didn't care for the Thai Coconut Wraps. The assembly was next to impossible (and I rarely use the word impossible).Taco shape was about all I could muster, and it eventually ended up in a bowl all chopped up - eaten with a fork. And I couldn't finish them - sauce was too sweet.
There was far more filling than I could handle...it was also loaded with cashews - tons. I'm not a huge sprouts fan either, but I love greens and there were some, but I would have gone heavier on the greens and lighter on the other stuff. The wraps had a very sweet taste as did the sauce. The sauce seemed almost mis-matched. It was like a sweet sauce - not unlike the sauce I was just dipping my scones in this morning. I would really love to try the Summer Wraps - I think those may be more up my alley.
Here's the constructive bit:
I think I would have done a collard wrap with coconut noodles, greens (kale, pea sprouts, cilantro), jalapeƱo, sesame seeds, a few sunflower sprouts (instead of bean), mango, and coconut/cashew/lime/cilantro sauce. Now, kids, doesn't that sound amazing? Would you be willing to try it Cynthia?


Next - Crispy Fish Fillets - These were good. Better than actual fish fillets - no fishy taste! I couldn't tell the difference between the tartar sauce and the mashed potatoes. Not exactly crispy either - but that's probably because they were in my fridge for a few days. I really did like them.
Then - of course - Little Italy Pizza - the children wanted pizza - so I made them a GF pizza and the husband had leftover spaghetti - but I had the amazing pizza. I described it last time and still love it. This is one of the best things Pure has.
It has taken me 4 days to eat the 




Blueberry Banana Oatmeal. I love it, there's so much - 4 cups I think because I eat about a cup a morning. I still have a cup left. This has whole blueberries and chunks of banana. It reminds me of steel cut oats with cream, blueberries and banana - dreamy.
Crispy Strawberry Cereal with vanilla almond milk - this was interesting and got a little more interesting the more I let it sit. Reminded me of that "astronaut" ice cream I used to get from Huntsville AL - you know where Space Camp is? Yeah - like freeze dried strawberry ice cream with little nut chunks - with a yummy thick cream. Wowie - Zowie - really sweet and filling...good dessert.


I didn't really care for the Mexican Garden Scramble Breakfast - but I had a feeling when I smelled it I would be a little apprehensive. I ate it all - of course - but it was too strong on the onions - I'm sure - fresh from the cafe it would be wonderful. It reminded me of mock tuna or mock chicken salad - too many onions and too many nuts - but a RAW foodie's dream I'm sure.


I'll be getting another delivery this Thursday



Thanks again Cynthia and the folks at Pure Cafe in Tulsa, OK for furnishing beautiful RAW food to this hungry mouth!


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