For dessert we had a dark chocolate ganache tart with vanilla cream, from the same recipe book. For those of you a little unsure about raw foods this tart will change your mind! It is made from maple syrup and chocolate, and tastes like thick melt-in-your-mouth fudge.

105degrees specializes in what’s called “living food”–greens, fruits, vegetables, and nuts that have very minimal processing. There’s no traditional cooking, sauteing, or baking because above 105 degrees Fahrenheit or so the live enzymes in the food start to break down, making the food less nutritious. All the food they prepare here is fresh and put together in very creative ways. We ate from the winter menu and were amazed at the beautiful (and delicious!!) works of art they brought to our table.

Ryan started with the Mezze: Zucchini Hummus, Eggplant Chips, Marinated Olives, Hemp Tabouleh, and Falafal. Ryan raved about the hummus, which was made using macadamia nuts instead of chick peas. The eggplant chips were especially tasty–crispy and a little spicy from the marinade. Mmm.

I started with the Kale Caesar (salad), Pine Nut Parmesan, Rosemary Croutons. Curly kale is pretty stiff and more fit for garnish (or smoothies) than a salad. The remedy? Massage the kale! It was very soft and crunchy, and the creamy pine nut cheese and crunchy croutons were a perfect fit.

Ryan’s main course was Coconut Curry with Smoked Cashew Custard, Broccoli, Red Chile, and Bean Sprouts. He thought the coconut “tofu” was great!

I had Cannelloni with Pignoli Ricotta, Sun-Dried Tomato Marinara, and Pistachio Pesto for my main course. Wow. The “noodles” are paper-thin slices of zucchini. The cheese tasted better than ricotta and the marinara was perfectly sweet.

Dessert was THE best part, and so delicious that we forgot to take pictures! Ryan had a hazelnut feast called the Gianduja Tasting: Hazelnut Fudge, Hot Chocolate Hazelnut Float, Hazelnut Butter Cup, and Hazelnut Semifreddo. I had the Pomegranate Red Velvet Cake with Lemon Frosting, a layered cake garnished with sweet pomegranate sauce and juicy seeds. It was easy to forget that we were eating living food and not the traditional dessert filled with refined sugars, butter, and white flour.

Since we had a nearly 3-hour drive back home we ordered a mocha and a malted classic smoothie to go. The plastic cup my smoothie came in said it is made from 100% corn and that it is compostable. I’ll add it to my compost pile and let you know how it goes!

Before we left we took a look around their gift shop, which was filled with artisan products, pure beeswax candles, body products, and living foods. They had a good selection of dried teas, homemade kombucha tea, and ice cream. One item I couldn’t pass up were the glass drinking straws (made from the same type of glass as Pyrex).

Ryan and I had such a great time together trying out all the different foods! The food was some of the best food I have ever eaten. I’m glad that I already have a few of the recipes and will have to get the chef’s other recipe book so that we can make these dishes at home until we can go eat there again.

It is important to note that I have not been 100% faithful to eating raw vegan these last 8 months; I have typically been “raw until dinner” and then had cooked food and meat at dinner. And then there are the times where we ordered pizza, or went to Freddy’s for some frozen custard. Or the cannoli at Il Vicino. Mmm. But I digress. The point is that my body is at a point now where it requires less medication, even only eating 50-60% raw each day. I would call this experiment a success!

My rheumatologist and family doctor have closely monitored me and have been very happy with the results. Because of my medication they check my blood every six weeks and my kidneys and liver every three months. I have been in remission for over a year now, meaning that while still on the medication I show no clinical signs or symptoms of the disease. In the last 8 months since decreasing my methotrexate dose and increasing fruits and veggies my lab results have actually improved!

I’ve also noticed other positive things about eating fresh, real food: my chronic acne has almost completely disappeared, as has my rosacea. My energy level has increased, I rarely have migraines now, my hair is thicker (a side effect of methotrexate is hair loss), and the whites of my eyes are solid and bright white again.

Using the books The Raw Food Detox Diet: The Five-Step Plan for Vibrant Health and Maximum Weight Loss, Raw Food/Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow, and the web site Raw Epicurean, we slowly replaced the type of food we ate. We replaced refined sugar for natural sugars like agave nectar or stevia; instead of white or wheat bread we started eating sprouted grain breads (like Ezekiel 4:9 products). We shifted our whole food mentality from convenience food to “how close is this food to its natural state?” Another change was the “quick-exit” eating schedule itself; fruit till lunch, add in greens and grains at lunch, then add meat at dinner (optional).

The next 8 months of the experiment will continue to see more “standard American diet” replaced with more natural ingredients. I’ll work on increasing to 80% raw each day, and start exercising (which up to this point I have not once exercised). Given the past success I expect to see continued improvement. My next rheumatologist appointment is in August, at which time they may decrease my dosage again…

We had a fantastic turnout and everyone loved Pi Day (despite the inherent nerdiness of it). Our secretary pointed out that hardly anyone brings food for our monthly birthday day, and yet nearly everyone participated in Pi Day. We even got to meet people from different departments in the building (news of pie spreads fast!). Overall it gave everyone a chance to take a short break from the normal day and socialize. What a fun day! We’re considering having our next food get-together be a taco day on May 5th and having people bring individual ingredients. I call guacamole!

Here are a couple pictures I took today. I would have taken more, but I was too busy being a hostess and stuffing my face. In the first picture you can see our humble setup, and the second picture is for those of you who read my first post on Pi Day and said “Eeew! Avocado in pie??”

Technically Pi Day is celebrated on 3/14 at 1:59 PM, but in this case that would fall on Saturday (and who would come in to work on a Saturday just for pie?). Thus, we’re celebrating it today and so far we’ve been amazed at how many people brought pie! We’ve got pumpkin, pecan, chocolate, cherry, apple, lemon, and peach to name a few. And I just heard over the cubicle wall that at least four more pies are on their way.

But wait a minute! I shouldn’t be eating PIE if I’m eating raw. Pies are filled with white sugar and white flour and are cooked! The aforementioned chocolate pie (pictured below) is one I made…and it is raw! It is called Raw Chocolate Pie, and it is made with avocado and cocoa. You wouldn’t know it by the taste; it is the creamiest, smoothest, most chocolatey chocolate mousse. A big thanks to Ryan for the nice Pi symbol on the top!

Before we headed back to Topeka we stopped by the cheese shop a few doors down from O’Dowds to buy some Irish Kerrygold butter. Then we dropped by an awesome store in Lawrence called Brits to pick up a few UK imports. We got a box of chocolate marshmallow teacakes and a bottle of Irn-Bru soda from Scotland, both of which Tristan & Leslie introduced to us this summer during our visit. Yum!

Sunday’s lesson was on Jacob tricking Esau out of his birthright using a bowl of lentil stew as leverage. Esau had just returned from a long hunt and was so famished he thought he might die! Jacob took the opportunity to negotiate for Esau’s birthright, a.k.a the firstborn’s legal right to Isaac’s fortune when he died.

I asked the kids if they’d ever been hungry, so hungry that they would be willing to trade something very special to get food. Then we discussed how the Bedouin had to work hard every day to get food; hunting, gathering, occasionally stopping by towns to get supplies (like spices). And, being pastoral nomads, they really didn’t have time to garden. Thus, hunger was common. They didn’t have Dillons grocery stores or McDonalds to go to when they were hungry! So when Esau got back home and smelled Jacob’s stew he was desperate to have some. So desperate that he gave up all rights to a future inheritance.

I made that same lentil stew and brought it for the class to try. I used the recipe for Esau’s Pottage from my favorite new cookbook, The Good Book Cookbook. The recipe calls for chopped onion, minced garlic, olive oil, cumin, coriander, lentils, and vegetable stock. Simple ingredients and fast to make. I reheated it during our story and discussion time so that the kids could have a taste at the end of class. Before showing them what the lentil stew looked like (I knew they might be grossed out!), I showed them the individual ingredients. We touched and tasted raw lentils, smelled each spice, and got our Ezekiel bread ready for scooping (no utensils back then – just bread). I removed the lid off the pot, and a chorus of “eew!” broke out. After a little encouragement and some “what, are you chicken?” the kids reluctantly gave it a try. And one by one I started hearing things like “mmm, this is o.k.” to “I thought it would be worse” to “WOW! This is great!”

The stew went over so well that the kids brought in their parents to prove to them that they ate lentils! And we even had a few younger siblings want to try, too. If the kids loved the stew this much and they are not in want of food, I can only imagine how hungry Esau must have been.

I used heavy cream from the Iwig Dairy that’s a few miles from my parents’ house (note: yes, I do know they make their own butter, too, but I wanted to see if I could do it). I whipped the cream as if making whipped cream, but I went past the point of stiff peaks and in just a couple minutes it separated. It happened fast; the solids suddenly appeared and stuck to the whisk attachment and the remaining liquid sloshed all over the bowl (glad I had the splash guard on!). I drained off the liquid, as seen in the picture, and switched to the paddle attachment so I could rinse the butter without it getting stuck in the wires of the whisk. After a few rinses with ice water to work the remaining buttermilk out, the butter was ready to use!

Rather than put the butter into a mold or container and into the refrigerator, we put it into a butter pot and left it on the countertop. This ceramic pot has been used for hundreds of years in lieu of refrigeration. It creates a water seal to keep the oxygen away from the butter (oxygen is what makes butter go bad). Since we made unsalted butter we put a little salt into the water in the pot to keep mold from growing. Now the butter stays fresh and spreadable!

If you’re feeling adventurous, here are a couple sites I used as a guide: Instructables and Free Range Living: Making Butter.

I am definitely more likely to eat my greens if I juice them; if I had made a salad out of all the vegetables and fruits that went into this juice it would take me all afternoon to eat it! Not to mention that it would be a very boring salad. Juiced, it is fast and easy, extremely hydrating, quite filling, and keeps my jaws from falling off.