Raw Walnut Spread & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

This walnut spread is so tasty, easy to make and is packed with nutrients for you. Walnuts are great because they are a source vitamins, minerals and the sought after omega 3's essential fatty acid that everyone needs in their diet. Along with the walnut spread I made quinoa stuffed peppers for my husband and daughter.

Walnuts need to be soaked for a shorter time than most nuts approximately 2-4 hours depending on the recipe. Which is great if you are a late planner or are just really busy.After soaking your walnuts rinse and drain well. Today I made a walnut spread, however you can also easily make this into a taco meal. I usually make the taco's, however today I wanted to experiment a little and also I was missing some ingredients. Never fear...I will share the taco recipe next week.

Ingredients
1 cup walnuts soaked and drained
1 clove chopped garlic
lime juice
tamari
Chopped cilantro
touch of sweetener (agave, raw honey, birch syrup)


Blend well in a food processor. Taste and adjust accordingly. Isn't that the most simple dish ever. You don't need to add salt because the tarmari is salty. If you are having trouble getting it smooth then add about a tbs or more of water, but remember to start slowly. This walnut spread is so versatile that you can change your flavor profile easily to spicy, sweet, Mexican or Asian. You could stuff a vegetable of choice or put it on cracker or in a wrap. I actually ate mine on the side of a salad and some red peppers.


For all of you that are looking for a non raw dish this one is great. Even though I am making raw food, I still have to cook for the rest of my family. Tonight I made a quinoa stuffed pepper adapted form Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Cookbook.

Cut the pepper in half and clean out the seeds. Rub a little bit of coconut oil on the inside and outside of the pepper and place in the oven. While the peppers are softening in the oven lightly saute some celery, chopped zucchini, corn, red onions and a few raisins. Saute lightly in coconut oil and then add cumin, salt and pepper. I added some raisins too.



Mix with pre-made quinoa and scoop into peppers and put back in the oven for a few minutes. I topped with some walnuts that I had left over from the above recipe. (I used one cup dry quinoa to 2 parts water and cooked for 15 minutes.)


I had tons of leftover quinoa that I will be able to use for lunch in a salad. Enjoy!

Please stick by as we will be having a lot of contest and product reviews in the next couple of weeks.

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Broccoli & Daikon Salad...Yum

The beauty of raw food is that it is good for you and the more you eat the more your body craves it. When your start to incorporate more raw and living foods into your body, lots of things start to happen. You start to have more energy due to increased nutrients from your food. Your body has to work less to digest raw food because the enzymes are intact and the enzymes in the food help partially digest itself. With cooked foods there are no enzymes present and therefore your body has to use a lot of enzymes to digest those heavy grey fried meals. The greatest thing of all is that your body wants this food and you will start to seek it out more and more.

Don't know where to start? You can start to buy more fresh fruits and vegetables. Eat more salads and start juicing and doing smoothies.

Today I felt like peppery arugula again so I made the salad from the last post without the veggie burger. I added in some beautiful organic cherry tomatoes.


Then I made this tasty broccoli and daikon Salad. This rustic looking fellow is not so pretty... but it packs a good nutritional punch and has a lot of health benefits. It can be used in many raw dishes, made into a tea and more.

They can be found at your local store. They have lots of great health benefits and is used for a number of raw dishes. I actually used to use it as tea years ago for PMS.

Ingredients

1 cup broccoli cut into small pieces
1 half a daikon shredded (or less if you just want a mild taste)
Black sesame seeds for finish

Sauce
1-2 tbs Tahini
1 tbs of Tamari ( start slow and add more if needed)
1/2 chopped garlic
water

Add all together and whisk. Pour over daikon and broccoli. The longer you let sit the better. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Note that the water is just help you mix the tahini into a smooth texture.



For the non raw version like I made for my husband. First quickly saute some spinach and chickpeas in a little bit of coconut oil. Then add sauce to the mixture and take off heat. Pour over a bowl of brown rice.



Enjoy being healthy.!!!

Reflection on Stress and Eating Well

Today and last night I ate this nutrient packed arugula salad. Arugula is a great addition to your shopping cart. It is part of the mustard family. It is a source of sulfur which is great for your hair, nails and skin and it also contains several vitamins and is a source of Vitamin C.It tastes slightly peppery and is great in salads and juices.

Today I am reflecting on stress and how it influences my eating. Yesterday was a hard day for me and here is the quick lowdown on why I was feeling so overwhelmed.

1 semi sick daughter home from school
1 very sick son(with special needs so the illness was an urgent matter)
1 sick husband
1 food processor lid melted and stuck to the stove top
1 batch of sunflower cheese sitting in the processor waiting...
3 hours of sleep last night
1 trip to on call clinic at 7:30pm
1 trip to the pharmacy

Hence I was feeling stressed and when I feel stressed I want to grab things that are quick, pre-made and satisfy my hunger and cravings. And let me tell you the cravings were for things that are not healthy. Since I was so busy yesterday I ended up skipping a couple of meals and low and behold I was starving and tired and ready to jump off my health eating. However I am happy to say that my will power and Arugula won out.

So why am I telling you this story? Well because I think that a lot of us have some type of trigger, event, person or mood that might causes us to make less than ideal food choices and routines. However it is these quick choices that add up day after day, week after week, year after year and eventually create our overall health and vitality or lack of it. So yes it was a small choice...but I won.

For this easy salad add the following ingredients:

Organic mixed greens
Sunflowers soaked overnight with a little garlic and tamari
Tomatoes
Arugula chopped
Nutritional Yeast

Make a quick dressing by mixing some apple cider, agave and olive together and that's it. I also added some chopped up Walnut Veggie Burger on top. I got the idea of the veggie burger on top from a fellow blogger.(Ginger is the New Pink)



I also added in two shots of wheat grass juice


And a Yoga magazine to look at for my down time.( Whenever that comes)

What makes you want to give into your cravings or eat poorly? What types of food do you eat under pressure? Do you have a system to deal with your challenges on the road to eating healthy? I would love to here about them.

Keep posted for some great giveaway contests coming soon.

Herb and Flax Crackers

These healthy crackers are loaded with good stuff and they taste great. They contain ingredients that are easy to find in most kitchens. As well here is a link to Jordan Rubin's new e-book called " Raw Truth".

Now more about crackers. One of the things that people often ask when you mention raw food is can I eat bread. Really commercial bread is not good for you. I think it is key to find some raw breads and crackers that you like when you are in transition from cooked food to raw food. That way when you are craving a piece of bread, instead you can grab a healthy cracker.

Making raw crackers and bread is really quite easy once you give it a try. The neat thing about it is that you can than add any flavor profile that you like.


Here is my cracker "dough". It has been all mixed and is ready to go into the dehydrator.


Ingredients

1 tomatoe chopped
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup kale pulp or shredded kale
1/2 cup soaked flax seeds
1/4 cup hemp seeds
couple of teaspoons of nutritional yeast
pinch of Himalayan salt or sea salt
1/3 cup or more ground flax seed until a light dough is formed

Now you can add your choice off seasoning such as thyme, chopped onion, cumin. Just remember that the spices may have a slightly more intense flavor when the are dehydrated. Dehydrate about 7-8 hours and make sure to flip the crackers half way through so the underside gets dry.

For the non-raw version. Oil a pan with coconut oil and place in the oven on a low heat. Remove when dry.


Add on some avocado, nut cheese and tomatoe and you're all set.

I would love to hear about your healthy bread alternative. Do you make your own raw crackers?

For my new health enthusiasts you can make the transition away from commercial bread by switching to a Ezekiel bread, found in your health food store in the freezer section. This is a much healthier option for you.

Remember to check out the link for Jordan Rubin's (the founder of Garden of Life) e-book. It has some useful information in it and also contains a bit of history. He does talk about his own line of supplements but also about foods, enzymes, digestion and more.


Stay tuned for sunflower cheese and walnut spread.....

Rockin' Raw Nori Rolls

Really this is a great appetizer or main meal to share with your friends and family who are interested in raw food. If you haven't tried raw food than this is for you. It is simple but packed with flavour. Just for the record...there is no raw fish here.

In my personal opinion this is an easy, fast, yummy dish! I remember when my sister tried this. She is also an avid foodie. She loved it and kept talking about it for about a week or more afterwards. It is really simple to do and of course as with most raw food it is GREAT for you. HINT...This is one time that you might want to double the ingredients.

This recipe is adapted from Cafe Gratitude. So let's get started. The first step is to go buy some organic pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds are great for you and are a good source of protein and zinc. Soaking time varies from about 4-6 hours. I just put mind in water before I go to bed. Soaking nuts and seeds helps start the sprouting process and increase the nutritional value of it. As well it removes enzyme inhibitors present in nuts/seeds that keep the seed dormant. After you have soaked the seeds make sure to rinse them off and drain well before using in any recipe.



Put the pumpkin seeds in the processor with some ginger, scallions and tamari or Nama Shoyu. Add any Asian seasoning of your choice. I do love cilantro so I added a little to mine. I used just over one cup of pumpkin seeds. If you have a smaller amount it can be a little harder to get smooth in the food processor. I add about 1 tbs of water to mine to help it get nice and smooth.



Once processed it looks like this. Scrap out and put into a bowl.



Next take a Nori wrap and get started. You will notice that my nori wrap below is a black. This is actually a roasted wrap. Raw Nori are available on line and at some health food stores. Depending on where you live you may have to do a special online order. Today this is all I had at home so I used to. Start to put the pumpkin seeds mixture on the wrap, followed by the toppings of your choice. I put avocado, red pepper, shredded carrots and shredded lettuce. The sky is the limit.



Roll up and enjoy. You can make a dipping sauce if you like or add some hot peppers or wasabi depending on your taste buds. You could do a simple asian style sauce with a little lime and tamari or namu shoyu..



Dig in and enjoy.

Yummy Kale Chips and Green Smoothies

You will be glad to know I have some yummy options for all of you out there who want to eat healthier. Yummy kale chips, a loaded salad and kick --- Green Juice. I promise you that if you are busy and don't think you have time...you do. I thought I didn't but guess what, I did. Plus the energy you get from all this good food will help you with the clean up.(especially the juice)

First I stared with some easy to make kale chips. I have never tried them before and I am not quite sure why. If you have not used kale before you can find it in the produce section and it looks like this. It may look intimidating but it is not.



I often used kale in green juices, salads and vegetarian dishes. To make Kale chips you can do the prep in about 10 minutes and they will probably be eaten up faster than that. Wash your kale and pat dry. Cut into medium size pieces. Keep in mind that they will shrink. Add your seasoning of choice and some olive oil.

For the raw version
dehydrate for about 4-6 hours until they are crisp.

For non non raw version put them on a tray and pop them into the oven on the lowest lowest setting and keep in until dry.

They will look like this.






They taste even better than they look. I put a little olive oil, some sea salt and nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is not raw but is often used by vegans, vegetarians for it's b vitamins and cheesy flavor.

Next I moved onto a salad with parsley, celery, red peppers and some kale chips.


This morning I made some green juice. Green juice is amazing for you and probably one of the best things that you can incorporate into your routines. It is packed with nutrients and is easily absorbed by your body. The fiber is removed in the juicing process making it like liquid gold for your body.

Juice of 3 green organic apples, 1/2 a celery bunch, handful of parsley and 1/4 of a lemon. It tastes amazingly light and fresh. Sip on an empty stomach.

Mmmmmm Enjoy!


Eat The Green. Juice The Green. Love The Green

The Almighty Coconut

My husband and I ventured into the kitchen today with the very versatile Thai Coconut. If you have never used it before you should try. It can be used in everything from desserts, to smoothies, to savory dishes, soups or on it's own. Actually that was part of the problem today. What to do with it...there were just to many choices.

Did you know that coconut water is a perfect match for human blood plasma. It is full of great nutrients such a potassium, trace minerals and can be used in place of a sports electrolyte drink. It can even be used as intravenous for a transfusions. Low and behold I just happened to see this exact thing on an episode on the tv show :"Off the Map". Sports companies are looking to use the coconut water in their formulations. So very interesting don't you think? Raw foodies have been using coconut water and milk for a long time for many different uses. Not only is it nutritious, but it also has a nice mild, sweet flavour that can work well in a zillion dishes.

If you are looking for it in the store...this is what you will see. If will be wrapped in plastic. You can also order them online. Try to get an organic one preferably and see if you can find out how long it takes to get it shipped to the store. There is talk a lot of these young Thai coconuts are being dipped in formaldehyde to help preserve it. The above link talks about how to find out how fresh they are and signs to tell tale signs of when they are bad. I always take a little sip before to see if it is okay before I start using it for a recipe.



Today I used the coconut a couple of ways. Really it would be ideal to have maybe at least 2 on hand at one time. We first cut a square opening in the top and poured out the water. It is slightly clouded,liquid. It is best to strain the liquid if you did not get a clean cut to open the coconut.

The liquid is in the glass pictured below. The meat of the coconut is the nice white silky substance in the coconut. We scraped most of it out. But just wanted to show you in case you haven't seen it.



I then blended the coconut water and coconut meat in the Vitamix to create a nice smooth white milk.



Then I made a smoothie.

Ingredients
coconut milk
1 scoop amazing grass (chocolate)
1 banana
1 cap of blue green algae ( my favorite)
cacao nibs

Blend in the Vitamix and enjoy.




Then I moved onto dinner. I made a Pad Thai "ish" meal. It is a take off of the Pad Thai recipe in I am Grateful book listed in my recommended books. If you have not heard of this book and are into raw foods it is a really great addition to your collection. right now I have my sister's copy. Shhhhhh.

Below is a non raw version made with Soba noodles for my husband. I cut up some veggies and then mixed it with the noodles and sauce. The Pad Thai sauce that I made contained organic nut butter, lime, coconut juice, and some spices and herbs. I blended it in the Vitamix and poured over his dish.



For the raw version which was mine. I cut up some vegetables and then added some raw cashews and poured the sauce over top.



Don't be afraid to experiment with raw food. Start small, start big...whatever feels right for you. Once you get a taste of it you will be hooked.

ps. You don't need to cut your coconut like the first photo. We were just having fun with the camera and the coconut. Maybe soon we will start posting video's.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Hope you are all having a special day! I love Valentine's Day. I got engaged 7 years ago today. Here are some beautiful raspberries to celebrate the morning with.



This is a lunch I created the other day. It is so easy to make and it tastes great.



Ingredients
shredded carrot and zucchini
handful of mixed sprouts
onion
cucumber
cubed green apple

Dressing
Olive Oil
Agave
Lemon
turmeric
lots of pepper
pinch of Himalayan salt

I added some mashed avocado and some raw carrot crackers that I bought the other day.



Wishing you all a great Valentine's Day! I am working on sprouting quinoa so we will see how that turns out and what else the day brings.

Delish Raw Chocolate Cheesecake

Last night I made a Delish Chocolate Cheesecake. It is pretty easy to do. Don't get me wrong there are many versions of this raw desserts that are out there that are more complex. These day's I tend to go for easy. I have a four year old and a 2 year old with special needs, so my time is limited. So I tend to pick some easy recipes if I know that I am going to be in a rush.

This one includes the following ingredients:

Filling
3 cups Raw Cashews soaked overnight and rinsed
1/3 Lemon Juice
1/3 Coconut Oil (also called coconut butter)
2 tsp Vanilla Powder
Cacao Nibs (for sprinkling on top)
Pinch of Salt
Cacao Powder (depends on your craving for chocolate)
1/4 Agave Nectar (I always cut my sweetener, so you could add more)
1/4 Almond Milk

Crust
Walnuts crushed
Raw Coconut
Agave Nectar

First blend the cashews, lemon juice, coconut oil and vanilla in the food processor.



Depending on the flavor that you want you can either add in cacao powder as seen below or leave it plain. You could also do fruit. Everything from raspberries to mango works. Note if you want a 2 layered cake, let's say part white and part chocolate take out a little more than half of the white. Once it is taken out then add in your flavor choice.



Now you need a base. I usually use walnut and coconut for the base. This recipe I was in a rush so I used agave nectar and mixed together well and placed on the bottom of my glass dish. Make sure it is padded in well. It should look like this. For the best version pulse all the ingredients int0 the processor for a few minutes until it creates a ball. Then place in dish. I cheated a bit and just crushed it in the dish itself so that is why it is a bit thicker of a crust.




Then layer the first batch of cashews, which is the plain white mixture.



Then add on your second layer of the mixture, which is the chocolate mixture. Add your cacao nibs on top. If you are doing a different flavour you can add the fruit on top. Just make sure it is not one that is going to bleed all over the cake. If it is blueberries for example, I will leave the sauce separately until I am ready to serve it.



Stick in the freezer to settle and solidify a bit. I love mine a little bit frozen so I just keep it in the freezer until about 10-15 minutes before I want to eat it. For a fancy cake you can put this in a spring form pan or a round dish and decorate with a raw chocolate sauce.




Enjoy, this is a guilt free cheesecake!!!

Raw Veggie Wraps and Messy Kim-Chi

I am all over the map today and yesterday. My 2 little ones have been sick with things that your don't really want to hear about when you are visiting a food blog. So I have been scrambling a bit. Eating this and that. No huge gourmet meals here these last couple of days.

Today I made the easiest veggie wrap. I used a lettuce leaf and filled it with avocado, shredded carrot, red onions and some sprouts. It was quick and easy. You could use collard greens or cabbage for a the wrap. I do have an awesome recipe for tacos that I will post in the next week or so.



Pick your choice of veggies, wrap and enjoy.


Yesterday I got a chance to go to the health food store. So much fun. I picked up a lot of yummy things. I have really been interested in some fermented foods and that is where the Kim-Chi came in. I will get to that in a minute. First look at all the goodies that I picked up.

Some Kimchi, raw crackers, and a bottle of Kombucha.


Some yummy sprouts.


A coconut


And then to the Kimchi. I have truly learned my lesson. When eating fermented foods please, please open them over the kitchen sink. I have had lots of fermented foods but this has never happened. So red, so spicy so messy.!!!!



Well that was fun. Well not the mess, but shopping of course. What's your favorite fermented food?

Rise and Shine Juice and Cereal

To help your body heal and feel good, homemade juices are a great option. I felt that I needed to skip the smoothie this morning and head straight for some juice. Both of my kiddo's are sick this week and thus I have been having a lot of really late nights. I mean up till 4:00am type of late night.

This juice contains celery, beets, green apples, one carrot and some swiss chard. It tasted nice and mellow and not too sweet, just the way I like it. I recommend organic produce for your juices.



This is what it looked like after the juicing.



Juice pulp that is left over. Don't throw this out. All this fiber can be used in treats, crackers and other raw food or even salads.



Juices are a great way to get your nutrients and lots of them directly into your body. Juicing takes out the fiber from the food and leaves the nutrient dense liquid. This allows for easy absorption with all enzymes intact. It can help to heal the body. Juices should be taken on an empty stomach for best results. If you are new to juices, take it slow and try a basic juice first, then after a little while start to experiment with flavors. You will be amazed and how they taste and how your feel.

You can also juice:
Apples
Kale
Carrots
Celery
Garlic
Ginger
Beets
Swiss Chard
Herbs
and much more.

I also had my homemade cereal for the last post. It turned out really good and I am pretty happy with it. The only problem is that I didn't make enough. As promised here are a few shots of the cereal after dehydrating.

Cereal in the dehydrator



Finished dehydrating. Could break into small or big chunks.



Final product



Yummy!!