This Raw Foods Class post is a little… ok… a LOT behind schedule. But in all fairness, the assignments aren’t actually all due until the end of the class session, which is July 7th. 🙂 So technically, I’m only behind on my self-imposed schedule. Anyway, I REALLY wanted to try a few recipes that utilized my dehydrator so I looked a couple up in my new favorite cookbook, Going Raw. They both involved soaking nuts and seeds, and then dehydrating them. In other words, you need to plan ahead with these puppies! I also needed some food we could bring on our Vegas trip! (Yeah, this post is way overdue…) We’ve found that planning ahead, and bringing our own food is the best way to stay on track, not to mention save some money. Luckily, our hotel room had a kitchen. We even brought our juicer!

The first recipe I was excited to try was a savory, crunchy protein mix. It had very few ingredients and seemed pretty simple to assemble.

Protein Crunch Mix

1 1/2 cups hulled buckwheat groats, soaked 1 hour
3/4 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 4-6 hours
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked 4-6 hours
5 tbsp tamari
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder

While this recipe WAS super simple to make, I’m sad to say, it wasn’t our favorite. All the ingredients were dehydrated at 110º F for 8 hours, so it was a long wait to see if the dehydrating would help the taste. (I was a little worried about the flavor, since it was pretty strong before dehydration.) Mr. Zucchini Runner was NOT a fan… whereas I was trying to remain optimistic! Once it was dehydrated it was a LITTLE more tasty. But I think if I made this again, I wouldn’t use the tamari; I would find another way to add salty and/or smokey.

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Now, the second raw food recipe I tried was DELICIOUS!! I’m so excited to tell you about this one. It had many more ingredients, and a touch of sweet which helped to hide the strong flavor of buckwheat.

Maple-Pecan Granola

2 cups pecans, soaked 4 hours, coarsely chopped
2 cups hulled buckwheat groats, soaked 1 hour, rinsed well
1 cup flaxseeds, soaked 1 hour in 1 1/4 cups water; do not drain soak water
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup hulled hemp seeds
1 1/2 cups dried cherries (or cranberries or raisins)
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt

After combining all the above ingredients in a bowl, I placed the mixture on 5 different dehydrator trays lined with parchment paper. The recipe called for 110º F and 24 hours of dehydrating time, to my surprise, since it was so dry here, it only took about 16 hours until it was completely dry. It took a little longer to prepare, compared to the protein crunch mix above, but it was totally worth it! This mixture came in handy during our Vegas trip MANY times. It was great with an apple as a snack, or with our homemade almond milk as a treat at the end of a long day.

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Have you been trying to incorporate more raw foods into your daily nutrition? I know I have, and I’ve been LOVING it! I’m sad my last class is tomorrow night, but I’m so thankful for everything I’ve learned — especially getting over the fear of using my dehydrator.