Here comes Thanksgiving

Here it comes...Thanksgiving. And I'm thankful for all the recipe suggestions. I need to try a few. We'll be on the road at the momma's most likely. Yes, the place with the microscopic food processor. I think I'll make some dishes ahead, and bring my food processor with me.

Speaking of making early...or pre-fixing, if you will...let's talk Nurkey.

This Nurkey...seen above, is adapted from the recipe from Top Raw Men.
It takes space, time, a juicer, and a really good dehydrator. The Nurkey has to dehydrate for at least 10 hours. This recipe makes about 3 lb bird size, but is very rich. Makes a good sandwich for leftovers.

Part one: lots of nuts
Put 2 cups pecans (or walnuts), 2 cups almonds, 1 cup pine nuts and 1 cup cashews (or brazil nuts) into a bowl of water and soak for 4-6 hours.

Part two: waiting
Just for something to do while the nuts are soaking, prepare these ingredients:
Finely slice 2 celery stocks and one large white (or yellow) onion
Mince 3 garlic cloves

Let's say you've done the wash, vacuumed, played a game of tennis and gone for a hike. The 4 - 6 our soaking time has passed. Drain and rinse the nuts.
Get out your juicer and put in the blank screen, the one you use for ice cream and bread sticks.

Part three: nut snake
Run the nuts, along with a medium onion and 3 to 4 cloves of garlic through the juicer. This makes a long, whitish nut snake.

Part four: mix
Put the nut snake in a large bowl with the ingredients from part two - the celery, onion and garlic - along with: 4 tsp of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp cumin, 2 tbsp rosemary, 6 tbsp psyllium husks, and 6 tsp sea salt. Mix well.

Part five: sculpting
On your dehydrator tray (with parchment, teflex, or such under the sculpture) sculpt your Nurkey from the mixture in the bowl. I had to look at a picture. Make little drumsticks and wings. Eatable art.

Part six: basting
Mix 1 tbsp of soy sauce with 1/2 cup  olive oil and 2 tbsp paprika. Brush this mixture over the Nurkey. This gives your "bird" a bronzish color rather than white. Much more appetizing looking.

Dehydrate for at least 10 hours---probably longer if there is any humidity at all. It should be totally warmed through and a little moist on the inside. Emphasis on little moist, as it will spoil within a few days if you don't dehydrate it well.

OK...you might go for Tofurky™ but this is nurkey really good.

Simpler recipes coming. And be sure to check out the recipes from the comments on the last couple of blogs.
Thanks for watching. And keep up the good work changing to a more heathful diet.

It can be tricky over the holidays.  Cheating is one of our favorite "diet" words. You can't really "cheat" with a lifestyle change. Your just eating something you don't normally eat. And, sometimes, you get a stomach ache, gas, or indigestion if you eat some of those things. Or get sick. I went to a friend's baby shower the other day. They had cupcakes from a specialty cupcake company. One for each person. I had about a third of mine, then wrapped it up. Threw it away later. Did ok with it. It truly wasn't as tempting nor did it taste as good as it once did. This may be true for you, too. 

DJ