I soaked my first overnight buckwheat groats.

Wild, right?!

That may not sound like a huge fete to some of you seasoned chefs or raw foodie experts out there, but for a kitchen newb like myself this was kind of a big deal.

Question: “Jordan, what do you mean you’re a kitchen newb?! You have a food blog, you crazy girl!”

Answer: “I usually stick to what I know, peeps! Green smoothies for breakfast and salads for lunch and roasted veggies for dinner! I didn’t start cooking until I became vegan last year, so I still have a lot to learn.”

Exhibit A: Texting conversation with my roomie for fear she was going to throw away my soaking buckwheat. (I have PTSD about this from growing up in a psychotically neat and clean household. If something was left sitting out, it WAS going to be thrown away.)

The New Year is for trying new things, right? Especially when Fully Raw February has just gotten started and I have lots of new raw tricks to try out. I have officially been eating fully raw for a week now (I started a few days before Februrary began to ease myself into the raw lifestyle and because I got too excited to wait) and a couple of days ago I started getting cravings for something a little heartier than my usual breakfast smoothie topped with raw granola.

So I looked to my friends over at The Raw Food Sisters, the sweet Julie and Katrin, for a little bit of guidance and inspiration. They have been eating a high raw plant-based diet since January 2013.

One recipe that caught my eye in particular was their “Maca Boost Buckwheat Porridge.” I drooled looking at the photos and knew this was going to be just the raw breakfast that I was looking for to give me a little more energy in the mornings and totally hit the spot.

Usually when a recipe calls for “soaking ______ overnight” my lazy kitchen side gets a little turned off. Why would I want to soak something for x amount of hours if I want to eat it now?

Well, that’s something I’m going to have to get over, because this was totally worth it. And maybe it will also help with me planning ahead a bit more when it comes to my meals, which is something I am trying to work on anyway.

^ My soaked buckwheat.

Plus, who knew soaking buckwheat groats in water overnight was ridiculously easy?! My main concern was finding buckwheat groats… I was a little worried that I was only going to find something similar and my recipe would turn out different than it was supposed to and I would be sad. Luckily, I have an Integral Yoga Natural Foods Market on my street and they had buckwheat groats smack in the middle of the bulk aisle

How is Fully Raw Feb going other than this whole delicious Buckwheat Porridge situation?

It’s going pretty well. To be completely honest, I am starting to wonder if a 80-ish% raw lifestyle would work better for me this month than 100% raw. I have also made some fitness goals where I plan to run fifty miles this month (Fifty Mile February, heck yeah!) on top of yoga and trying classes at my new gym.

After one day of running my legs are already very sore, which is very unlike my body, and I think it is from a lack of protein/iron. I may or may not reintroduce some cooked veggies and grains into my evening routine if this persists. I will keep you all posted, but regardless you know you can count on me to be entirely honest about it. I wouldn’t want to portray living a certain lifestyle if I am not 100% committed to it.

Plus, if I do add some cooked food back into my life, who cares?! Is the Raw Food Police going to come after me? I certainly hope not. What I promote above all else is listening to YOUR body and nourishing it the best way that it tells you to.

Now… recipe time! I tweaked Julie & Katrin’s recipe a tiny bit, and it was beyond heavenly.

Ingredients:

–       ½ cup buckwheat groats soaked overnight

–       1 very ripe banana

–       1 teaspoon tahini (you can also use a nut butter variation)

–       2 teaspoons maca

–       1 teaspoon raw cacao powder

–       1 date

–       a little less than ¼ cup cashew milk (you can use any milk here. I have started buying 100% organic, non-GMO, locally made nut milks thanks to my nut milk intervention from the girls at Almond Milk LA, so I only had cashew milk on hand this morning)

–       I used a handful of blueberries, coconut meat & cacao nibs for topping, but anything will do!

* If you don’t have these fancy superfoods, you can do without them and just add more nut butter, nut milk and some spices like cinnamon and/or nutmeg! If you’re wondering where to buy these superfoods, check out my Vegan Grocery List.

Directions:

1. Combine buckwheat, banana, tahini, maca, date and nut milk into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.
2. Pour into a bowl, and top with your desired toppings. Voila! Enjoy.

Nutrition Info:

Something funny about this recipe? Since it calls for “maca” as a main ingredient (a fabulous superfood that is great for your energy levels, metabolism, skin and mood balance) I had to laugh, because… my 19 month old niece is just learning how to talk and she is very into drawing with markers right now. When she wants to draw, she says “Maca, maca!” until you hand her the markers. It is currently one of her favorite words, and it is the cutest thing ever. So whenever I use maca I think of her and I miss her more and more. (She is back in California… I will see her in March!) This is us the day before I flew back to NYC: