Raw Food Alchemy by Amie Sue
We have all heard time and time again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I am not going to get into the typical reasons why. Today, I was thinking about family quality time. Whether you have a large family, or it’s just you and your partner or perhaps you live alone… breakfast time can set the pace for your day. Have you ever heard or said the phrase, ” I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today”? True enough some mornings we wake up better than others. 
We all have our routines when we wake up but stop and ask yourself what the “quality” is in those routines. I could get into listing many scenarios that may take place in your household, but my bottom line is to encourage you to reflect on how you start the day. If you have kids, are you setting a positive example for them? Your habits over time influence their habits. Be a role model that demonstrates positive attitudes for the upcoming day. :) The more you moan and groan about your boss and co-workers or the project your working on the more your children will learn to moan and groan about their teachers and their next math test. Life isn’t always peachy – that’s a fact – but having a positive attitude about doing things that aren’t easy is half the battle. You can give your family, your partner and yourself this lesson every morning, without the lecture, just by doing it.
Bob and I have a set routine most every morning no matter where we are, at home or traveling. We start the day off in eachother’s presence. He loves making his special espresso coffee drink and while he is doing that, I make my iced cold-pressed coffee. Then we find a snuggle spot and curl up on the couch together. (I’m always wrapped in a blanket :) Then we toast one another and sip our drinks as we ease into the day together. It is such a peaceful way to start the day. What rituals do you have?
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Dry Ingredients:
Wet Ingredients:
This is how the peanut butter mixture will end up looking.
It’s thick and sticky but it doesn’t take long to combine it all together. Go ahead and take a nibble, no one is looking. I’ve got your back. :)
Remember, use a damp hand when pressing the batter out.
At first it may seem like the batter won’t spread far but trust me it will. Don’t forget to oil the rolling-pin.
See… I made all the way to the other side. It took about 5 minutes to work it out.
Isn’t it pretty? Not the cereal, the rolling-pin! hehe I love old, used and abused rolling pins.
You can score this any way you wish. You could even leave it whole and just snap it apart.
Beautiful… now it’s ready for the dehydrator.
I am not sure what it is, but I have so much fun snapping these at the score marks. It takes so little to entertain me.
Up close and personal. Did my best to get a clear picture to show exactly what they looked like.
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FDA (Food Determining Association) conducted a test at Nouveau Raw Kitchens, The Soggy Cereal Test.
The subject: Crunchy Peanut Butter and Buckwheat Cereal Squares.
Object: to see how long this raw cereal could stand up to almond milk before getting soggy.
No animals were harmed in this test.
Results posted below.
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Step 1 ~ Bowl of Crunchy Peanut Butter and Buckwheat Cereal Squares and Date Nibblers.
Step 2 ~ Raw Almond Nut Milk was added…
Step 3 ~ 10 minutes into the test.
Results ~ Still crispy.
Step 4 ~ 20 minutes into the test.
Results ~ Still crispy.
Step 5 ~ 30 minutes into the test.
Results ~ Still crispy. Notice: the contents of the bowl are decreasing. (haha)
Step 6 ~ 35 minutes into the test.
Results ~ Still crispy.
Step 7 ~ There is no step 7, the lab tech conducting this test ate the whole bowl of the subject matter.
This concludes our test.
Hi Amy,
What a wonderful website! Beautiful pictures, well written words, friendly manner, great sense of humour and full of enthusiasm and love. Is that your hand? It is beautiful, with such youthful, smooth skin. Love what you do – filling my life with recipes and beautiful pictures of delicious, healthy goodness.
Thank you, thank you.
Kathy
Good morning Kathy,
Thank you very much.:) I love sharing my passions and I am so grateful for this community that is so supportive and are like minded… we all have the goal of adding in healthier foods into our diets. And yes, that is my hand. hehe I appreciate your kind words. I hope you find many wonderful recipes and techniques here to incorporate into your weekly menus. If you have any questions or further comments please don’t hesitate to keep in touch. Have a wonderful weekend! amie sue
That’ test was awesome not sure how you actually did that I would have ate the bowl up right away!!
lol Melissa, trust me it was a battle of wills to last as long as I did. :)
Hi Amie Sue,
I just discovered your website! It is fantastic! I recently bought a food processor and just ordered a juicer. I am getting into the raw food diet – starting with 1-2 days a week! I have been looking online for ideas and recipes and came across your page! I have it bookmarked on my laptop. I am Sooo impressed with your recipes, the directions and the pictures! Thank u for sharing them! This buckwheat cereal looks amazing, as I am gluten free as well. I need to buy a dehydrator now too!
Welcome Maria. :) I am thankful that you found my site and I hope it brings you tons of inspiration in your new journey! If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to keep in touch with me. If you have any questions about dehydrators, just let me know. Keep in touch and have a great weekend. amie sue
How do you think adding nuts and/or dried fruits to this recipe would be? Would it make these crumbly?
Nicole, I would recommend making it as is so you can see the texture and flavor… the tweak the next batch if you want to. amie sue
I notice that you use peanuts a lot. I read that there is a bacteria on or in peanuts that is not good for the body. Thus, I am going to try this recipe using almonds. I can’t wait to do the soggy test.
Thanks for your hard work. You give me a lot of inspiration.
Hello Joi,
In the scope of all the recipes I have listed, I don’t use peanuts all that much and I don’t eat them on a regular basis. Though, I LOVE peanut butter, fresh ground, no doubt about that. As with everything, my main focus is; eating things in moderation, eating foods that your body digest well, eating high-quality foods, aim for organic when possible and to enjoy your food.
Peanuts are a food of controversy… it’s beginning to be that way about everything these days. You can Google and spend all day reading about peanuts and if this is a major concern for a person, I recommend that a person does their homework and do what they feel is best for them.
A few sites to look at (but not limited to by any means)…
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=101
http://www.benefitsofeating.com/peanuts/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/244964-health-benefits-of-raw-peanuts/
Those sites share the health benefits basically. When looking up the whole bacteria issue, it was all over the board and without spending a descent amount of research and finding reputable reports, I really don’t have a strong opinion.
I hope you could stand the soggy test and not it all before fully conducted. hehe That was my problem. Have a great day, amie sue
Hi Amy, I LOVE YOUR WEBSITE!!!! My husband is so fired up for me to make this recipe. I was wondering if I need to dehydrate the buckwheat after I spout them, before making the recipe? Or are they ready to go immediately after soaking (still damp from spouting)? Thanks so much in advance. Blessings~ Courtney
Hello Courtney,
Once the tails pop out, you are ready to go. No need to dehydrate them prior. Let me know how it turns out for you! amie sue
Hi, Amie Sue, we made this recipe last week. We loved it! However . . . when we made the recipe, we used freshly-ground PB in the wet ingredients, and the resulting mix was very, very wet and runny. Did you use the PB from a jar?
Everyone in the house is eager to try this recipe again–it was a nice change for us, very easy to make, and we appreciated that it was easy to transport.
Hello mama,
I didn’t use jarred PB, it was fresh ground. My batter was very thick and sticky… Tell me about your buckwheat, was it sprouted, just soaked, dry when you added it? Just wondering if there was water in the buckwheat that would have added moisture. Always hard to trouble shoot some of these issues when I don’t see things step by step that are done. Next time, hold the water back and only add in if the mixture is to thick. How did it dry and taste in this state?
The buckwheat was sprouted (little tails), but even before adding the water, and even before adding the buckwheat, the PB was very soft and runny–that’s normal for the fresh PB I buy, though. I wondered if you had used the stuff in the jar, where the oils and solids had already separated a bit.
When I ran the mixture through the dehydrator (for 24h, as I was trying to crisp up the center), the edges were crunchy and thin (the edges were just formed by the mixture flowing all over the place–it almost poured off the tray) while the rest of the tray stayed slightly softer and peanut buttery, with crisp pieces of buckwheat. (Think candy bar missing a chocolate coating of some sort, not crispy breakfast cereal.) It was delicious, though!
Morning Mama,
Ok, the buckwheat sounds fine… doesn’t sound like to much water was retained in that…
I haven’t ever seen a smooth, runny, fresh ground peanut butter at the stores. Is it ground right when you buy it or in a tub, already done up? I go to the machine in the store, hold my container under it and it grinds it right then but it isn’t ever creamy, more chunky. I am guessing that that is the culprit here. So, start with a “dryer” peanut butter. And be sure to spread the batter out evenly so it will dry evenly. I hope this helps!
Hi Amie Sue, yep, I use the grinding machine. I’m in Houston and I had just bought the PB (just minutes before)–maybe it was too warm for the recipe? For jollies I’m chilling down the PB in the fridge the next time I make the recipe. If I get a result more similar to yours I’ll let you know. If it doesn’t turn out exactly, we won’t be terribly sad–it’ll be yummy anyway! :)
ok, please keep me posted. :)
I am sooo excited I was on a friends facebook page n saw your lemon cookies and have been stuck here ever since ~partly in wonder like why didnt I always know about this 100% wonderful n healthy kinda food lol smh Im sooo serious! But I truly can not wait to try not one but plenty of your recipes theyre beautiful n delicious looking includingthis cereal ~
Good evening Queen :) Nice to have you visiting the site. I hope you find great inspiration and try some of the recipes out… please share if you do. Have a blessed weekend, amie sue
aaaaw thank U and trust I am !
Hi Amy. Just wondering what you think the shelf life is on sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat sprouts? I made them close to two months ago and placed in a sealed glass container in the fridge.
Hello Catherine,
I am not completely certain but I would say for at least a several months. I tend to go through my ingredients on a regular basis. Whereas it is great to have some living foods that will last a long time to make life easier we can forget that our ultimate goal is to consume food in its freshest, most optimal state.
Amie Sue I love your sense of humor…lol! This looks absolutely delicious! Will try it this wknd and let you know how it turns out. :-)
Please do Dee… and what is life without a sense of humor? hehe
I am new at this. Are you supposed to dehydrate the buckwheat before using it for this recipe? thank for you help. excited to try it! :)
Hi Kirby, no you don’t need to but be sure to rinse it really really well, soak and sprout first. This will help make it easier on your digestion! amie sue
thank you so much ! :) i am excited to try it
I am excited for you, please let me know how it turns out!
pls what is (are) coconut crystals?
The website is great, many many kisses from 75% rawfoodist from Slovenia (the heart of europe)
ps I freeze whole avocados so you can use them for avocado -cucumber (or zucchini) tartar – or whenever you need bigger pieces and you have no work you just throw them in freezer
Hello Tadeja…
Here is a link to coconut cyrstals…. they look at taste much like regular brown sugar but this product is raw and made from coconuts. http://nouveauraw.com/raw-techniques/making-raw-flours-explaining-the-difference-of-nut-flour-meal-and-pulp-plus-more/