What's happening today...

Good morning, fellow foodies!  How's life treating you today?  My morning is going swimmingly.  The kids have finished their lessons, the dishwasher is running, I've had my morning smoothie...things are looking peachy!  What did you have for breakfast?  What are some of your favorite healthy, jump-start-your-day breakfast foods?

So, later today I am meeting with a veteran food truck entrepreneur.  He has started up and run many trucks and now runs a food truck park here in Fort Worth.  I am very excited to talk to someone so knowledgeable...maybe some of my BIG questions can be answered.  Like, can I legally turn an Airstream into an epic food truck?!  To me, that would be the epitome of awesomeness!!  And, where can I legally park my truck to sell my raw food?  So many questions are running through my mind!  I'll be sure to let you guys know what I find out.  :)

Also, I am picking one of my menu items to work on today.  I want to practice each item OVER and OVER again until it is JUST RIGHT!  I'm feeling kinda falafel-y, so I believe that is what I will work on today.  I'll blog about my experiences with that and include photos.  But be fore-warned: I do not have a nice camera as of yet, so my pictures will not be all that glamorous!  I am hoping to get a nice camera very soon.

As a side note:  I am saving up for an Excalibur dehydrator...the king of dehydrators!  Do any of you have experience with Excaliburs?  Is there a certain model I should be aware of that is the best in terms of temperature control, timer switches, and the like?  If you've got some suggestions, please include them in the comment section below.

Okay, so that's that for now.  Go find yourself some fresh, ripe fruit...toss it into the blender with a little water or coconut water...blend it up good and frothy...and go to town!  This is your Rawket Chef signing off.  :)

Drum roll please....my unofficial menu for Rawket Cafe!

I have been wracking my brain trying to decide on a menu for Rawket Cafe.  There are SO many foods to choose from, so many amazingly delicious, amazingly RAW foods...it was almost impossible to narrow it down.  I believe I still may have a few too many items on my menu, so I was hoping YOU GUYS could help me pick the best ideas!  Here are my top ideas so far:

1. Saturn Rings:  This would be a combo of "fried" king oyster mushroom rings and onion rings.  They are not literally fried; instead, they are battered and dehydrated to perfection.  MMMM!!

2. Deep Space Dolmas:  Tender grape leaves wrapped around an epic mixture, including pine nuts and olives.  Oh, yeah!

3. Starfleet Falafel: Tasty falafel balls seasoned with a delicious blend of herbs and spices; served with a garlic dipping sauce.  Goodness!

4. Rawket Burger: Marinated portabello burger with the works!  It's galactically delicious!

5. Shepherd Moons Sushi: Avocado and veggies, along with kelp noodle "rice", make these Nori sushi rolls outstanding!  Served with raw soy sauce alternative, coconut aminos.

6. Planet Pizza:  Garlic Margherita Pizza with marinara sauce, fresh tomatoes, "cheeze", and olive oil.  Nom, nom!

7. Extra-Terrestrial "Tuna" Sandwich: A tuna-less sandwich that is outta this world!

8. Stellar Sandwich: A nut-butter and jam sandwich made from a blend of cashews and almonds and fresh fruit jam.  My mouth is watering now!

9. Shining Star Taco Salad: Taco salad with nut meat, "cheeze", red pepper corn salsa, guacamole...etc, etc! Now we're talking!

Now, here are the dessert ideas.  I haven't played around with fun names for all of them yet!  ;)

1. Astronaut Apple Pie
2. Galactic Ganache Fudge Cake
3. Carrot Cupcakes
4. Cacao Spice Truffles
5. Pecan Pie Bites
6. Chocolate Pudding

There you have it.  Some of my top choices for my menu.  Tell me what does (and doesn't!) sound good to you!  Would these be meals you would try?  Why or why not?  You're feedback would be incredibly helpful!  I look forward to hearing from you, my foodie friends!!  Until next time, eat raw and prosper!

A Little Here, A Little There...

As if raising four kids wasn't challenging enough as it is, throw homeschooling into the mix and it is a real test of my strength and patience!  And now, I am a glutton for punishment...I want to start my own business.  :)  Am I a little crazy?  Yes, definitely!  Running my very own business is something I have always wanted to do, but the timing was always off.  It may be now, too, but something in my gut tells me to go for now and don't stop until you succeed!  So, that's where I am.

About the homeschooling: the kids DO take a lot of time, so my business is taking the backseat...which is how it has to be and ought to be in my opinion.  My family comes first.  Period.  So, learning about the business, taking classes for permits and licenses...all that has to be done a little bit here, a little bit there.

Right now, I am in the process of writing my business plan.  This was something I was sort of dreading.  I had no idea what I was doing or how to write one.  But to my astonishment, I am REALLY enjoying the process!  It is actually FUN to do a little market research and learn to write a successful business plan!  Go figure!!

I am also actively looking for a truck to retrofit.  There are many options, so it is a little tough deciding which route to go.  Rawket Cafe Food Station has to be hip...it has to be an expression of myself in a way...an artistic masterpiece!  What do you guys think?  An Airstream redone with wings and boosters?  A VW with cool paintings all over?  Maybe an old school bus done up Partridge Family-style?  Have another idea to throw at me?  Please leave me a comment and I'll write ya back!!

Let's start from the beginning...

Hello, foodie friends!  Welcome to my blog!  I have created this to chronicle all the goings-on of my soon-to-be-here raw food truck business.  Yeah, that's right...Raw.  Gourmet.  Food.  And believe it or not, this is my very first time starting my own business, so everything I am going through is all brand spanking new to me!  We can all enjoy this ride together!  ;)  I thought to myself, and it was suggested to me by a good friend, that I blog about my journey to my outta this world, incredibly epic, most awesome raw food truck in history!!

For those readers who are new to the whole Raw Food thing, here's the gist: gourmet raw food is created using only raw vegan ingredients.  This includes veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, and sometimes sprouted grains and some kinds of legumes, and occasionally fermented foods.  They are not heated to over 114 degrees, as this would denature the enzymes and nutritional integrity of the food.  It is generally prepared with a blender, food processor, dehydrator, or just a good old fashioned knife...but never a hot oven!  So, when you dine at Rawket Cafe Food Station, you can rest assured that you are enjoying the freshest, most nutrient-dense, most deliciously satisfying food around!  And not only is it raw, but I will go one step farther and use only organic and local ingredients if at all possible.  You can't go wrong!

Well, here's the lowdown so far on the business side of things (keep in mind I only started April 16th!).  Right off the bat I figured I had to secure my domain name.  I knew I wanted to call my truck Rawket Cafe and thank heavens it was available!  :)  Then I added to that "Food Station"...kinda like a rocket fuel space station.  Get it?!  No?  Well, maybe it's just me, but I kinda like it!  :P  So, with my domain name safely in hand, I headed down to the county clerk's office...with my four kiddos in tow!  (Did I mention I homeschool?  So, pretty much everything I do, I do with my kids!)  Things got very interesting, as they so often do with four kids, but it all worked out fine and I was able to register my "doing business as" or "dba".  I was feeling really high on life at this point!

At the time, I wasn't sure which licenses I would need for my business (and I'm still a little shaky on this, but i'll figure it out) but I was certain I would need a food handlers permit.  My oldest daughter is very excited for to start my raw food truck business, so the next afternoon she offered to watch her three younger siblings while I get my food handlers thingy...I was stunned!  This would help me tremendously!  This can be done all online, so I skedaddled to my bedroom, plopped on the bed, opened my laptop and began studying for my food handlers test.  I studied, took the test, and PRESTO...I had my permit!  Another step closer to Rawket Cafe!

Okay, so I've been trying start up a company website...not having much luck.  I am website-creating-challenged.  Anyone out there have a host site suggestion that is great for beginners?  Please leave your suggestions in the comment box...it would be GREATLY appreciated!  :)  I'll keep you all up-to-date on the progress of my website.

Well, yesterday I filed for my sales tax ID number.  Yippee.  Very exciting.  Not.  But very necessary!

Oh, and speaking of sales tax...a cool thing to note about the prices on my menu: the price you see on the menu is precisely what you pay.  Tax is included in the price...an epic idea right?!  No tricks.  No gimmicks.  No fumbling for change to cover the tax.  Pretty cool, huh?  :)

Okay, I better go prepare breakfast for my clan.  Now, go make yourselves a totally raw vegan fruit smoothie and be sure to check back here often!