Salsa

I found a picture of salsa and decided to post about it. It's one of the most easiest things to make and it is so amazingly delicious. One thing I love about it so much is it turns out different pretty much every time you make it. Every time you buy any of the ingredients you're not guaranteed the exact taste as last time. So it is a lot of fun.

Main ingredients:

Tomatoes, preferably roma's. They seem to have the most flavor.
Cilantro
Vinegar
Lemon or lime juice
Hot Peppers
Sweet onion

And that's about it. All you have to do is chop up all the ingredients however chunky or liquidy you like, put in a bowl, and you're done! Nothing is ever measured so it's all about your tastes. Even better, right? I hope you enjoy!

Red Raspberry Leaf Tea

Good morning! Recently I have rediscovered the wonderful taste of coffee and it's effects. It's amazing how quickly I ended up having two cups in the morning and drank less water throughout the day. And it seemed no matter how agitated I got throughout the day the taste and energy took over. So this morning I decided to have tea instead. I have such a big variety of herbs and teas in my cupboard theres absolutely no reason to drink them up!

Normally my reaction would be to have green tea. It's good for the body in so many ways and has that caffeine boost for the morning. But, no matter how tired I felt this morning I chose to have something else for flavor. I decided on Red Raspberry leaf.




I think usually the first thing people think of when they hear red raspberry is that is what the flavor will be. Not with the leaves, because the leaves simply don't taste like the berries. However, it is delicious and I highly recommend it. I get mine in bulk at the health food store, but you can also find the prepackaged tea bags in some mainstream stores.

One of my favorite tea books is called "20,000 Secrets of Tea" written Victoria Zak. Often when I have tea or have a simple ailment I look to my tea book to see what the herb is good for. Red raspberry leaves have vitamins A, B-Complex, C, E, citric acid, malic acid, calcium, niacin, iron, magnesium, pectin, potassium, selenium, silicon, sodium, and zinc. Some of the good stuff our bodies need! But that's not all. It also helps with canker sores and bleeding gums, and extreme diarrhea. It does all that and tastes good!

The Sandwich

Sandwiches are one of my most favorite meals whether it's for lunch or dinner. This is my idea of a raw vegan sandwich. It's delicious. You can put whatever you want in it. For the bread I use collard greens. They are great because they are thick and hold your sandwich together, but not so thick to where it's chewy. And of course it tastes good! There is one thing you do have to do to it though. It is necessary to take out the ribs (I think that's what they're called!) down the middle. After that I like to put lot's of mustard on it, sprouts, avocado, and tomatoes. The best way I have found to put it all together is to just roll it up. I suppose it's more like a wrap. Delicious! I encourage you to try it if you haven't yet. Even the kids like to take bites out of mine. Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

I Call it...The Christian Sandwich

Because it was specially made for my son, by request.

He originally requested a raw vegan sandwich for lunch. (Super proud Mom!!) But when I told him I'll use collard greens as the "bread" he said, "No, I need bread." So wheat bread it was! I asked him what he wanted on his sandwich and he requested peanut butter, strawberry jelly (homemade with organic strawberries), ketchup, mustard, "leaves" (lettuce of course), and tomato. Oh, and for the side, "baby cabbages" (Brussels sprouts). Geez I love that kid! He sure does make me a proud mom.

I was a little skeptical if he would even eat the sandwich since it's just a little different than a normal sandwich, but sure enough, he ate it up. And all the sprouts! He wouldn't let me cut open the sandwich to take a picture so I just put one up of him chowing down.

Asking the kids what they want for lunch is one of my favorite things to ask them. The responses I get sometimes are amazing and awesome. Although, we have had a couple of rough rounds where the food didn't quite come out as planned. Trial and error I suppose!

Banana Sandwich

Bread not included...

Someone made a post on facebook the other day that included this link which leads to a video from abc news. In the video is mentioned a banana sandwich, which, to me, looked like it had peanut butter in the middle. I thought, "What a great idea!" My daughter loves banana's and I thought it would be a great way to mix things up a bit. Sure enough she loved it! And of course, I had to try it out too. All I had to do was split the banana in half then spread some peanut butter on it, and put it back together. Easy and delicious! I think almond butter would also be delicious on it too for those who don't want the peanut butter. I didn't have any almonds or almond butter on hand to try it out.

What a great way to get in more fruit with an excellent source of protein! I dare ya, try it out and let me know what you think!

The love for carrots!

Raw, vegan, and of course, delicious!! My kiddo's love snacking on these throughout the day. So I thought I would make a special note about them today. These wonderful roots can be large, like the ones in the pictures, or cute little babies.

Fun Fact:
Most people have always known carrots to be orange, but did you know you can find white and purple ones too? (I'm growing some!) How cool is that?

Carrots are most widely known to be a wonderful source of Vitamin A. (True fact!) I'm not sure if they can actually improve your vision, but they are definitely helpful to keeping your eyes healthy. That's a start, right? Sometimes, just eating one or two of those big bad boys are sure to get you your entire vitamin A for the whole day! So easy, right? No need for supplements!

How to eat them? Raw, of course. Maybe dip it in some peanut or almond butter. (Yum!) But if you don't like them raw, or just want to mix it up, try steaming them and adding your favorite seasonings or try cooking them up in a veggie soup! Or how about baby food? Steam them until soft enough to mash up. If you have a Vita-mix or food processor, put the carrots in and make carrot mash! You could even call it carrot sauce! (You know, like apple sauce, but it's carrots...).

Remember to eat the rainbow!

And then theres exercise

Along with healthy eating is exercise. Of course it's optional, but definitely recommended. Whether you have a gym membership or not, getting adequate exercise everyday is easily attainable. Of course, a gym membership is easier! But for those who can't afford it or don't have one close by there, there are many other options. So no excuses! (Just giving you a hard time!)

Some examples: You can run, walk, or ride a bike almost anywhere. If you live in the mountains or near a beach that is even better! You get even better exercise because of the hills or the sand. Going out in the yard and gardening or any kind of yard work is also a great way.

If it's too hot or too wet and cold to go outside there are some options for exercising indoors as well. Some cable companies have menu's with special exercise channels that are free which have a ton of different types of exercise video's to choose from. Or you can buy your own online. One of my favorites is Turbo Jam (www.beachbody.com/turbojam). And if you have kiddo's, you can always lift them and get them involved. Makes it pretty fun actually!

Remember to try to always keep it fun. Push yourself, but don't hurt yourself. No pain, no gain. And last, but not least, don't forget to park at the back of the parking lot and take the stairs! They are simple ways to start on the right track. And usually, its really not that far.

Til next time!

"Green Lemonade"

Sounds a little on the weird side, right? Well as weird as it may seem it is delicious! While looking around at "cook" books, I found one written by Natalia Rose called The Raw Food Detox Diet. I have found her way of eating/detoxing to be fabulous. Well one of the recipes she has in this book is the Green Lemonade. She says to devour it! On an empty stomach of course. There a couple of variations you can use and here is the recipe that I used:

1 head of celery
5-6 stalks kale
1 apple
1 lemon - peel and all

I put all this through my juicer and it made a huge cup! It's a really weird goodness. It's very lemony, but also green. Great mix if you ask me. It's easy to swallow, tastes good, there's no pulp, and it's extremely refreshing. If you have a juicer I highly suggest trying it. I also highly recommend picking up the book. It's on the lines of food combination. Very interesting.

Raw Health Expo 2010

The expo was held on July 31 - August 1 2010. I was only able to get a ticket for one day because I had to work. I should have taken both days off! Either way the expo was a lot of fun for me. I went alone which, for now, I think was for the better. That way I got to do whatever I wanted! Every hour there was four different types of seminars going on. All of which were informative and I wish I could have gone to see every single one of them. However, I could only make one at a time, of course.

I got to shake hands with Brother Echo and hear his amazing story about how he became raw vegan. Listened to Esther van der Werf talk about eyes and we can free ourselves from glasses and contact lenses. Learned how to take full advantage of my food dehydrator. I found more information about deficiencies in vitamin B-12 and how us vegans can avoid that deficiency. (Hint: you'll need a supplement!) And last, but certainly not least, my favorite was Chef Sara Siso. She didn't get to quite do the seminar like she wanted to because her projector wasn't working, but she was so full of information and I found her quite hilarious.

I didn't get to take any pictures. Of course I remembered my camera! But the batteries were dead... I was so upset! If anything I wanted to take pictures of the super delicious I got to eat. I tried the pizza, taco, and lemon cheesecake with strawberry drizzle. !!! Super good!! I savored every bite! Oh how I still wish they had recipes to hand out. There were a lot of others foods to buy as well, but the ones I had were so filling I couldn't eat anymore!

There of course were also a room full of vendors. You could sign up for their newsletters (which I did), some were having drawings to win prizes, and some had tasters. Probably one of my favorite vendors there was Kaia Foods. Probably because of the tasty food they had available. My favorite was the Cherry Pie Buckwheat Granola. Oh ya, I bought a bag. They also had wonderful fruit leathers that were absolutely delicious. I tried the Spiced Apple. Reminded me of apple pie. I bought that one as a snack because I was starving!

I met with Diana Stobo who is the author of "Get Naked Fast!". It's a book about getting rid of all the foods in your life that are weighing you down. She also had a seminar, but I missed it. I was bummed, but she does have a website if anyone is interested in checking it out: www.dianastobo.com .

There was a lot more there. Most places were based out of the bay area here in California. In a way that's pretty convenient for me even though it's a little bit of a distance for me. The bay area has lots of famous raw food chefs out there. One of these days I'll get myself out there to try something from a real chef!

I really did have a good time at the expo and plan to go again next year. One other thing I got there was a post card looking thing from Raw Bay Area to go see Matthew Monarch and Angela Stokes in Oakland on Wednesday, September 8. I'm going to go. I have to admit I don't know a whole lot about Matthew, but I've seen a lot about Angela. She lost a ridiculous amount of weight when she transfered over to the raw vegan lifestyle and now looks amazing and is incredibly healthy. If interested in going you can find more information at www.rawbayarea.com .

Chocolate Almond Mylk

About a week ago I got a brand new Vita-Mix! Sooooo excited! We have been so busy around the house though lately that I haven't gotten the chance to use it a whole lot. However, I did get to make some Chocolate Almond Mylk. I got the recipe from Ani Phyo's Ani's Raw Food Kitchen "cookbook". Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup pitted dates
3 tablespoons cocoa powder or cacao nibs
Pinch of sea salt
5 cups water

Put the almonds, dates, cocoa powder, salt, and water in the blender and blend until smooth. Will keep for four days in the fridge (Phyo, 2007).

So that's what I did except I didn't use salt. I don't have any and care to not use it.

I tasted it right when it was done and it was delicious! Aside from the warm part because it was just made. So in the fridge it sits so I can have cold chocolate mylk! And although this one was good, I want to find other options on making mylk. Of course there are a good few different types to make like vanilla, or just plain almond mylk.

I would also like to make a quick mention that I went to my very first Raw Health Expo over the weekend. I'm not going to post anything now, but I will in a different post. It was fun and I learned a lot!

Reference:
Phyo, A. (2007). Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. New York, NY: Marlowe & Company.

Vegan Pizza

So the rest of the family was going to have pizza and I wanted some too! But of course i didn't want all the pepperoni, cheese, and salami. And normally I like things raw, but this time I went cooked.

For the dough I made the regular recipe (since it's vegan anyway) but with wheat bread flour. I have a bread machine so I just sat back and waited until it was finished.

For the ingredients! (My favorite part!) I did use jarred pizza sauce. There were no additives or anything in it so I felt safe. Then I added tomatoes, green bell peppers, olives, mushrooms, zucchini, artichoke hearts, fresh basil, spinach, and I topped it off with some jalapeños. They were smoking hot! Baked it in the oven for 30 minutes and there ya have it! Vegan pizza. It was delicious! Super guilt free and super healthy. Really, it's the only way I like it.

The photo is of the pizza when it just got pulled out of the oven.

I realized though later that I could have probably just baked the dough first then put all the toppings on afterward so it would have been almost raw. Maybe next time. Hopefully though still I will have found a good raw vegan recipe for pizza crust and bread for sandwiches!

All on my own!

It got a little tough for me to be raw vegan with life happening and all. But I'm excited to say that slowly, but surely, I'm well on my way back and I have been feeling great. Especially since I made up a new dessert all on my own.

I was trying to just use what I had in the cupboard and just experiment to see what I could come up with. Here it is:

Fudge

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 cup cocoa powder
1/8 cup water as needed

First chop the nuts up in the food processor as powdery as it can get before it starts to turn into butter. Then add in the dates. Mix together well, then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until you get a fudge like consistency.

Since I'm the only one who eats it in my house I just scoop it out into a bowl and put it in the fridge for a couple hours to be a little more solid. Sometimes I can't wait and just grab a spoon. However, I did make it once for a pot luck and tried to make it "pretty" by spreading it into a baking dish and putting it in the freezer for a couple hours. I suggest the freezer because it seemed to solidify much better and quicker and was able to actually cut it into squares.

I'm proud of this one and the only few people who have tried it say its great! Yay me! Maybe I'll make a large batch and put it in the pan for pictures. We shall see what my schedule is like...

I hope you enjoy! And if you try to make it let me know how it turns out. I would love to hear how you liked it.

Sloppy Veggies!

Last night I made sloppy tom's for the family and was determined once again to make a raw vegan creation. The recipe I used had a few things I could use in mine. So that was a good start. Then I just started to add more veggies in and used some of the same seasonings as the tom's.

The "Meat"
1 1/2-2 zucchini's
1 can olives chopped
@ 1/2 cup sweet onion chopped
@ 1/2 cup red bell pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic (they were huge!)
pepper to taste
chili powder to taste
garlic pepper to taste
garlic salt to taste
1 Tbsp mustard

Tomato Sauce
@ 6 roma tomatoes
Handful of dates
1 Tbsp psyllium powder to thicken

Everything was chopped and blended in the food processor. (I love that thing!)

Mostly everything was not measured. I just started to throw stuff in together. When I made the tomato sauce I actually was experimenting with the psyllium powder. I heard it was good to thicken so I tried it. When I checked it out it was like tomato pudding! I was so excited! lol

Sorry no pictures yet, but they will soon to follow with an update.