Sunflower Milk

I’ve been eating mostly raw foods at home because I’m listening to my body’s needs and impulses and it has been screaming, “RAW FOOD, dammit!  Eat RAW!”  I’ve always eaten lots of vegetables and I am a BIG advocate of omnivorous eating– (mostly plant-based) vegetables, nuts, fruits, legumes, grains and healthy meats, fish, poultry and dairy… OOOOh!  And ORGAN MEAT.  YES.  YUM.  But these last several weeks, as I said, my body has been screaming not just for vegan, but RAW.  I’ve been happily heeding my impulses.  I bought a Nutribullet (because that’s easiest to find here in Zagreb.  I would have opted for a Vitamix, but ease beat out the price and inconvenience of getting a Vitamix shipped to Croatia.  Amazon does NOT deliver to Croatia, by the way) and a Bosch food processor and for the last three weeks, I’ve been in raw food heaven.

My fridge is full of color! Red peppers, green leaves, deep purple beets and lots and LOTS of nut milks. I moved into my apartment in Zagreb Croatia and was really happy to see that there’s a dehydration function on the oven. It gets down to 50 degrees celsius! So once every two weeks I go to the veggie market and I stock up on Brazil nuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and pine nuts– all of which I soak, dehydrate and store in my fridge.  I also stock up on dates and goji berries, both of which are my favorite dried sweetie.

I went out today and came back with almonds and walnuts which are currently soaking, but I was jonesing for a creamy something-or-other for dessert after dinner.  Since going raw, I’m making creams all the time.  I love cashew cream, but all I had that was ready for use tonight were pumpkin seeds, pine nuts and sunflower seeds. I needed the pumpkin seeds and pine nuts for a hummus and pesto recipe which left me with only sunflower seeds to make my dessert. I looked online and saw that lots of people use sunflower seeds for milk and so I decided to give it a try. It was simple, really. I just took my remaining activated sunflower seeds and tossed them into my Nutribullet with 3 cups of water, a pinch of sel de Guerende and two fat Medjool dates. OH! I also put in a cup of ice because the Nutribullet Rx is so high powered that it heats up whatever it’s blending. The ice insures that I’m not cooking my milk.

After blending it at top speed (the Nutribullet doesn’t have any levels, just off or all-the-way on, which is a big flaw if you ask me) for two minutes, I was absolutely delighted by the rich and creamy taste!  It was slightly nutty with a hint of that distinctive sunflower taste. I was afraid that it was going to be overwhelming, but it wasn’t. I immediately poured some of the Sunflower Milk over tomorrow’s rolled oats and I stirred in some chia seeds. I stored that in the fridge to activate overnight.  I’ll have that concoction for breakfast tomorrow with some fresh strawberries, goji berries and maybe some pine nuts and honey.  YUM!

I filled up another mason jar with more of the Sunflower Milk and with the last cup or so, I decided to re-blend with a cup of unsweetened coconut. I added another cup of water and a cup of ice and made a super delicious and light Sunflower Coconut Milk. YUM! I poured that in another jar and with what was left, I blended frozen strawberries which I got from the Farmer’s Market last Saturday. Strawberries here in Zagreb are about $1.50 per pound and they are delicious. I usually buy a couple of pounds and keep them in the fridge for a day. What doesn’t get eaten gets thrown in the freezer for smoothies and blended sweet things like this. I took this Sunflower Coconut Iced Strawberry stuff and put it in a bowl with some goji berries and toasted hazelnuts (NOT RAW! ♥ NOT CARING! ♥ )

I’ve ALWAYS loved cooking and doing it as an omnivore has been my passion. But there’s something about preparing raw food that is REALLY exciting for me. I think it’s because raw makes me look at food differently. I am not the type who can get excited about vegan cheese, so I don’t make my raw meals try to resemble my cooked meals. My raw food is like a different world and I get to do things with my adored veggies that I’d never done before and maybe I wouldn’t have done before because I was too locked into my patterns of cooking and eating cooked foods.  Committing to raw food eating raw is a lot of work, but I am finding it to be very rewarding.  My energy level is excellent.  My hair and skin are glowing and I be rockin’ my skinny jeans like it’s 1985.  Here on my blog, I am sharing my raw food journal along with links to the original recipes.  Take a look and see if there’s something you want to try and let me know how you used it!

Ingredients

1 cup of activated/sprouted sunflower seeds
3 cups of high-vibe water
2 fat Medjool dates
1 pinch of sel de Guerende
1 cup of ice

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Taste and adjust flavors and texture to your liking. Store in a glass jar or bottle for up to five days.