Food-Day Fun!

Happy Friday! I have fallen a bit off the wagon with cooking/uncooking creations as this has been a busy week but I did manage to snap some photos of what I did manage to whip up!

I have been filling up on lots of green smoothies this week and loving every moment of it! I had a hard time as previously mentioned with them at first but now I'm really getting into the exploration and of course the guzzling them down ;) I suggest that anyone who is remotely interested in their health try them out. They may look like something out of a Science Fiction movie but they are absolutely amazing for you and taste positively divine!

Another drink I made this week was my watermelon/Lime juice. The recipe call for you to juice them both but with my Vita-Mix its really not necessary. It turned out wonderful and I have had to keep Jayden from drinking every drop!

Yummmmmm!!!!!

It was the perfect compliment to the wonderful weather we had today! It was quite windy, but 64 degrees and super sunny! The rest of the weekend is supposed to be equally as beautiful and warm so I am looking forward to hiking with the boys and getting in some other outdoorsy fun in!

Today I made some more wraps. Previously I had made Russell James' Mediterranean wraps which were yumms personified, however, this time I opted for a little recipe of my own. 

Laura's Yummy Raw Wraps:

 All prepped and ready to go!

1/2 C Cold Pressed EV Olive Oil

1/2 C Water

3-4 Peeled and cut Zucchini (I used more like 7-9 because mine were quite small)

1/2 C Flax Meal

1 Red Bell Pepper

2-3 TBS Chili Powder

1-2 TBS Red Pepper Flakes

2-4 Garlic Cloves

1/4 tsp Himalayan Sea Salt

1/2 C Fresh Basil 

Put everything into a Vita-Mix or High Powered Blender and mix!

Filled to the brim!

Mixin'

When everything is nicely incorporated and smooth poor onto non-stick dehydrator sheets and dehydrate 6 hours or so and flip on the dehydrator screens and dehydrate another 1-2 hours or so or until pliable but dry.

Next I made some breaded eggplant. The recipe options for this are endless so I wont go too in-depth but essentially you just take about 1 C of flax meal seasoned to taste.....

And eggplant which has been salted (for about 30 minutes to bring out the moisture and then rinsed) and dried and then dip each piece in both sides, as you would when breading anything else (minus of course the nasty eggs!)......

One side....

Two sides!!!!

Once you do this for all you eggplant pieces place them on a non-stick dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for about 2-3 hours or until slighty crispy on the outside. If you are using these for involtini or some other type of wrap then you want to keep them pretty pliable. If you are using them for lasagna or some other raw recipe then you can dehydrate until the level of crispiness is achieved. Be very careful, however, as they can get quite crisp quite soon. It helps to use a mandolin as I did for slicing the eggplant so that your pieces are relatively uniform and thus dehydrate at a even pace. 

Ill be sure to post some photos of the wraps and the eggplant when finished!

Well I am off for now to enjoy the weekend! 

In the interim remember to be calm and still at least once a day and to keep negative thoughts at bay! Manifest all that is good and prosperous in your life!!!!!

A Round Up Of Todays Food!

Ive been trying to incorporate more liquid breakies in the morning and so today I opted for a raspberry and pineapple smoothie. I added a bit of bee pollen (which I fall more and more in love with daily!) and a spoonful of almond butter. It was amazing, so much so that I had it gone before it dawned on me to take a photo ;)

Next time, perhaps!


For lunch I stuck with the left over sushi from the previous night and a lemongrass chili soup.

I do not typically eat much fish but the craving for some sushi was far too strong to ignore.

The soup was a recreation I attempted. I love the lemongrass chili soup that is made by House of Tsang. I took lemongrass that I had ground in the dry container of the Vita-Mix with some garlic and chili oil in a soup pot, allowing the tastes to mix. I added about 2 cups veggie broth with 1 cup water and 1T miso.
I added things here and there to taste, soy, chili powder...etc. It turned out really well. I had some left over rice noodles and added those as well.

For dinner I had a zucchini wrap with marinated veggies, raw falafel and some pepperoncini peppers. I added a side "sloppy" salad to complete the meal. This recipe draws upon Russell James' creation

For the tortilla

3 cups peeled courgette (zucchini)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pinch cayenne
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flax meal*

- Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.

- Add flax meal and blend again until smooth.

- Pour mixture onto 2 dehydrator sheets and spread evenly into a circle on each.

- Dehydrate for 8 hours at 105 degrees F, or until able to peel of the sheet.

- Once the dehydrator sheets are removed, return to the dehydrator for 30 – 60 mins, until both sides are dry to the touch but still pliable.

* Flax meal is flax seed that have been ground in a coffee grinder or similar, to produce a fine flour.


For the falafel

1 cup pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoon cumin
8 sun-dried tomato halves, soaked for 1 to 2 hours and then chopped
3 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro)
1 clove garlic
2 shallots
1/4 cup olives, stones removed
2 teaspoons oregano
Pinch cayenne
Pinch pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice

- Process all ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly mixed.

- Form into Falafel and dehydrate on a Paraflexx sheet at 105 degrees F for 6 – 8 hours.

Optional “roasted” Mediterranean vegetables

1/2 cup courgette (zucchini), sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1/2 a medium red onion, sliced
1/2 cup fresh tomatoes, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

- Marinate all ingredients for a couple of hours, then place on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 105 degrees F for 1-2 hours, until soft.

- You could just miss out the marinating & dehydrating part of this recipe to save time, and eat the veg crispy.


Today was also a kitchen day as I ran out of raw marinara, involtini and tortilla chips.

*I marinated the tomatoes, basil, thyme, parsley in some olive oil before dehydrating.*

*After about an hour in the dehydrator

Once they appear "roasted" just pulse a few times in a high powered blender for a delish marinara!*

*These are by far the BEST tortilla chips Ive ever had, and so healthy for you!*

They are all dehydrating nicely in the Excalibur now and once done I am going to go from savory to sweet and make some banana crepes and some raw cookies.


All that aside I have to admit that I have had one of those weeks thus far that remind me just how fortunate and blessed I am to have all that I do. There are just some days/weeks/months where everything aligns perfectly and doors open for you around every corner and that is how this week and frankly this entire month has been for me. I have had such wonderful and exciting developments in all areas of life and my life as a whole is exponentially better for them! It is proof positive that one can manifest anything they desire in their lives and that nothing is beyond our grasp if we want it bad enough. To want is to HAVE, as I tell clients!

I wish to express gratitude for all that I have and pass that gratitude on to everyone else. I hope that each and every person who happens across this blog also experiences an amazing day/week/month and even year!

Bless!

Lots-O-Cookin'

Its been a while...I have been extremely busy but also still uncooking and cooking up some lovely dishes here and there!
I finally got my Vita-Mix 5200 as well as my 9 tray Excalibur Dehydrator. Both of these items have made my life not just easier but FAR tastier! Lets do a round up of some of the lovely treats Ive made.


Up first....Raw Falafel...Courtesy of Russell James

For the falafel

1 cup pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoon cumin
8 sun-dried tomato halves, soaked for 1 to 2 hours and then chopped
3 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro)
1 clove garlic
2 shallots
1/4 cup olives, stones removed
2 teaspoons oregano
Pinch cayenne
Pinch pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice

- Process all ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly mixed.

- Form into Falafel and dehydrate on a Paraflexx sheet at 105 degrees F for 6 – 8 hours.

In the processor!

Ready to dehydrate!

All done and served with a lovely salad!

Next I experimented with making some Pine Nut Cheeze. You can see the finished product above on the salad...here is what it looked like going into the dehydrator....

Very yummy!

The recipe is quite simple..

Pine Nut Parmesan 3/4 cup water 1 1/2 cups raw pine nuts 3/4 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon probiotic powder (2 capsules) Place the water, pine nuts, and salt in a Vita-Mix or blender and process until smooth. Add the probiotic powder and blend briefly to mix. Spread the pine nut mixture thinly onto Teflex-lined dehydrator trays. Set the dehydrator to 105 degrees F and dehydrate until completely dry, about 24 hours. Crush the Pine Nut Parmesan by hand and store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 2 weeks.

I was feeling up for some Italian and had to come up with something that would allow me to make the boys the lasagna they were asking for without succumbing to the tastiness myself! Introducing Raw Involitni! 

Hmmmm

Well I dont think mine came out quite as picture perfect as the chef's but it was still quite yummy. I was out of spinach and also let a few of the rolls dehydrate a bit too long as is evident by the bottom left involtini but alas it was still AWESOME. Even the hubs liked it and I find it difficult to come up with raw dishes that he will like. 

Now on to some sweet treats!

I recently purchased Heathy's ebook which is filled to the brim with AMAZING desserts and sweet treats! I wanted to try a few of them now that I had gotten my dehydrator as well as the vita-mix. First up....Double Strawberry Macadamia Nut Ice Cream....

I cannot give out the recipe...you will have to get her ebook yourself ;)

But I can tell you its BEYOND worth it!

I was in the mood for some cookies the other day, thus.....

Coconut Macaroons!!!

These are super yummy and super easy as well to make!

Today, I decided to go for a Green Smoothie! I admit that its taken me some time to adjust to them. I was never one who could stomach blended salads or any of the like but this was really good and very filling!

This lovely was made with...

1 bunch of Kale, torn from the stems

1 bunch of cilantro, stems and all

2 Apples, unpeeled and chopped

2 Pears, unpeeled and chopped

1 T Agave

2 C Water

1 Handful of dried cherries

Blend everything in a high powered blender and enjoy!

I also made some raw corn tortilla chips and guacamole! 

This was a turnip pasta that I threw together with some olives, tomatoes and cherry peppers. I threw on some Italian dressing. Im sure its not raw but together the entire thing tasted delish!

Thats all for now! I have to get back to working with the little guy on some school work and also start cleaning this place up. The bad part about having only half a kitchie right now is that it takes less than half the time to get it quite messy! 

Enjoy your Monday, have an awesome week and remember to smile often and be HAPPY!

XOXO

Butternut Tofu Stuffed Shells

I made this recipe awhile ago but I dont think I ever posted it. Its something I have been craving like crazy lately and will likely make again here soon so I thought I would share the recipe. You can find the original here

    1 pound firm tofu, drained
    1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped
    3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
    1/4 cup lemon juice
    1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
    1 teaspoon onion powder
    1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, or to taste
    1 teaspoon salt
    16 to 20 large "shell" shaped pasta (the big ones you can stuff)
    1 - 24 ounce jar pasta sauce


Directions:

1) Steam squash until it is tender. You can also use other winter squashes. They all taste good.

2) While the squash steams, boil the pasta shells per instructions. You will want them more on the "less cooked" side since they will be baked again. Once boiled, drain and rinse with cool water to cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

3) Once squash in ready, combine the squash, tofu, and seasonings into a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher to break up the squash and tofu. Mix together to incorporate the seasonings into the mixture. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. I tend to like my food a little more "bland" - this really brings out the flavor of the squash, which I like.

4) Prepare a 9x11" baking dish by spreading a thin layer of sauce on the bottom. Take each shell and spoon in some filling. I like to stuff mine well and usually have leftover shells. More diligent stuffing should make sure all your shells have some filling in them. Depending on your squash, you might have a little more or less than what I had. Once the shell is stuffed, place in pan and continue until all shells are stuffed. Once done, pour the rest of the pasta sauce on top. You can put some vegan cheese on top or nutritional yeast. I use nutritional yeast.

5) Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated though and the top is starting to brown. Enjoy!

Source of recipe: My friend used to make something like this for me when I first started eating more vegan foods. I pimped it out.

Makes: 4 to 6 servings, Preparation time: 20 minutes, Cooking time: 45 minutes 



This was very very good! Everyone in the family loved it. The squash gives this dish a very earthy flavor whilst keeping the fat to an extreme low. I used a hand held mixture rather than a tater masher as I wanted it to be quite blended and fluffy. I believe that for spices I used ample amounts of garlic (a staple in nearly every recipe in this house!) and nutmeg. You could top this with some veggie cheese and broil it quickly for some bubbly goodness!!!

On another note last night (before 3 hours of stripping cabinets, arg) I made some raw brownies. The hubs has the USB to upload the photos so I will do a separate blog covering that this weekend and include some photos from our skiing adventure.Let me just say that they are quite delectable!


xoxo

In Gratitude!

Today has been an AMAZING DAY! I finally bought my dehydrator and its en route! I am super excited to start in on making all sorts of awesome goodies!
Today was also amazing because I had several new clients come in to set up contracts for Life Coaching. I feel incredibly blessed to do what I do, be able to help support my family and all while helping others! Its truly gratifying on many levels!

That said I did some cooking today!

For breakfast and lunch I had Complete Vanilla Chai by Vega. Its awesome! It was so filling, not like other supposed meal replacers and actually tasted really good! It is well worth the cost, in my opinion.

For a mid day snack I had a huge salad! I got the recipe for the dressing and the salad from this blog which I have been following diligently! Everything from the recipes to the information provided has been so helpful!
Anyways, I am going to post it here with any variations I added.

 

About 3-4 Cups torn Kale

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 Roma Tomatoes

1-2 TBS Diced olives

1 handful sunflower seeds 

Place torn Kale in a large bowl and massage with lemon juice. The recipe called for salt but I didnt want to add additional salt to an already salty salad. 

Dressing:

2 avocados

2 chipotle peppers

1/4 C olive oil

2T agave

¼c lemon juice

Water as needed or to get desired consistency

Blend everything together!

This dressing is spicy but OH SO GOOD! In fact I had so much left over that today for dinner I made it into a lovely soup. The spice gave the evening some warmth which was greatly needed. Even though today was quite sunny and unseasonably warm (60 degrees!!) I have been eating all raw foods for the entire week and doing a mini raw cleanse and as such my temp has been hard to regulate. 

As many of you may know from reading this blog I have been very low raw up until this week when I kicked it into high gear. My hope is to stay rather high raw from this point forward but understand as well that it may still take quite a bit more time for the transition (patience, Laura!).

That said I made the dressing into a lovely soup garnished with chopped tomatoes, cilantro, green onions and drizzled with hot oil....

And I added this lovely "pasta" salad. I got my first spiroli this week from a lovely woman via freecycle (you should check it out!) and have been having tons of fun experimenting! 

 

Pasta:

1 Turnip, spiralized

1/2 fennel bulb, shaved thinly

1 unpeeled red apple of your choice

Dressing:

1 T Dijon Mustard

2 T Apple Cider Vinegar

1 small garlic clove, minced

1/4 C Olive Oil

juice from 1 lemon

Whisk together or blend if you prefer a smoother consistency. 

Marinate the turnips in the dressing for at least a half hour. I did mine for about two. This softens them but also marries the tastes together. After your desired time add apples and fennel and allow that to marinate as well. You can add salt and pepper to your liking. Since this called for vinegar I went very easy on the salt and added lots of pepper!

If you have a big fork you can spiral it in the salad to make a pasta nest but I didnt so I just threw it in a bowl ;)

Either way this was an awesome dish and I loved its cool lemony twist to compliment my rather spicy soup!

Tomorrow I am gearing up to make some raw cupcakes, Almond mylk and another salad (love them!)

Until then.....

Have a wonderful evening and sleep tight!

I was a cookin'

Today has been a very busy day in the kitch!
I started with a lovely morning sun (variation on Sarma's drink in her book, Living Raw Food). I was out of ginger so I improvised a bit. It turned out really good though I would have preferred the bit of warmth that the ginger provides.

Then for lunch I had a salad which consisted of julienne daikon radish, carrots, parsnips, red bell pepper on a bed of spinach and a sesame dressing which included:

3/4 C Raw Tahini
1TBS Miso
2 TBS Olive Oil (it calls for sesame but I was out!)
juice from half a lemon
1/4 C water (or to taste)

I added a bit more water as I am not keen on really thick dressings, however, you can adjust the water to make it as thin or thick as you prefer.

It was really good. I think I put too much Daikon on it as I started to feel the heat and general head congestion I get from eating daikon too much and too fast but I still really enjoyed the meal overall. Next time I will likely reduce the radish considerably.

You will notice that I didnt really place any measurements with regards to the veggies... this is one of those things you can adjust anyway you wish to suit your liking and thus I just added things willy nilly in mine.

To go with dinner I made some flax crackers. I do not YET have the Excalibur dehydrator so I used the oven at the lowest temperature and kept the door ajar. This worked out pretty well but to save on energy and such its not something I would do too often. Fingers crossed that a little blue bird brings me a dehydrator for my birthday in a few weeks ;)

 

  

Dinner tonight is going to be a salad which was profiled on Ms. Lisa Paris' blog
If you do not already follow the blog I suggest doing so; she is great!This salad consists of...

And looks like this when done! Yummmmm

Also I made a lovely little choci treat which I will be posting in another blog along with my review of Heathy Pace's e-book, Just Desserts.

Oooooohhh!

I forgot to mention that I had the privilege of speaking via email to Heather Pace, who runs an AWESOME blog, about her Chocolate Turtles which were featured in this video.
If you are interested in doing the same please email her at heathypace(at)yahoo.ca
Please note that Heathy is only in the US until March 16th. Shipping is MUCH more reasonable while she is stateside. Once back in Canada the shipping goes up. If you are interested, EMAIL NOW!

If you happen to visit her blog you will see how incredibly luscious everything she makes looks and I imagine these turtles are no doubt the same! She has been a HUGE source of inspiration since I began my Raw journey earlier this year. I just recently snagged her E-Book covering all things sweet and tasty.







Now I am off to grocery shop after taking the little guy to martial arts. Then its back working on the kitchen! The sooner this project is done the sooner I can get back to creating my own yummy food!!!


Happy Saturday!


xoxo