BLYSSFUL HEALTH

Raw Apple Pie & Crumble

2012-02-07T23:58:00.001-08:00

Come join me on my new site and get your FREE Raw Food Pantry List and 3 Easy Recipes To Revive Your Diet.

www.blyssfulhealth.com

Sunshine Aloe Smoothies

2012-01-19T21:59:00.001-08:00

Make sure to come over to our New Site to read about the benefits of Aloe in your life. Sunshine Aloe Smoothies!!

You will not want to miss adding it to your diet!

We Have Moved...

2011-12-17T20:36:00.001-08:00

I am happy to say that we have moved to a new site. Please join us over at Blyssful Health: Reclaim| Renew|Revive with Raw & Vegan Food.

I will still be keeping this site open as there are a lot of recipes and information here. However all of my new posts will be here

Hope to see you over there. Once you have made the switch please make sure to let me know by saying hello! Also if you have this site on your blog roll please make sure to add www.blyssfulhealth.com as the new link.

So come on over and join the fun...

Raw Food Book Giveaway.

2011-11-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

It is that time again. Time to enter my contest for a new raw food cookbook. I am sharing one of my favourite books with you.

The contest starts today November 20th and ends November 25th.

The catch is if you are coming to this site, I will need you to transition over to my new site. Over the last couple of months I have been working on a new project which happens to be my new website.

It is still a work in progress, however I wanted to share it with you today. This is where I will do all of my posting so make sure to add it to your blog roll.

So hop on over to Blyssful Health and have a look at one of my all time favourite raw food cookbooks and then make sure to enter for your chance to win!!!

Thanks for all of your support in the transition. Hope to see you there.:)

Loaded Smoothie

2011-11-09T22:55:00.000-08:00

Being a mom of two little children under five can be hectic some days. Okay who am I kidding most days. Then add in two parents who are entrepreneur’s and that takes it up a NOTCH. So one of my favourite things to do is create a “loaded” smoothie.

It means that you can be strategic about what you are choosing to eat and you can “load” up on some key ingredients to give your smoothie an extra nutritional punch! Instead of just a fruit smoothie make it a Super Energy Boosting Smoothie.

Now how does that sound? Just look at this amazing drink and the inspiration for this post. It is loaded with so much good stuff that you just feel great drinking it.

Ingredients: 2 Cups of Water, 1 scoop of raw vanilla protein powder, lecithin, mint greens, cacao nibs, 1 frozen banana, and raw cacao. Vegan DHA oil added at the end and topped with cacao nibs. Yummy.

One of the things that I learned many years ago is that you can take advantage of every opportunity that you have to fuel your body with amazing ingredients. To be honest if you make any kind of smoothie you should give yourself a HUGE PAT on the back, because that is awesome!

Here are some great things that you can consider adding to your smoothie to make it “LOADED”. You don’t need to add all of these at once but you can pick and choose and start to add in some of your favourites.

Here are some of my top options:

Raw/Vegan Protein Powder
Extra Green Powders ( wheat grass, spirulina, blue green algae, raw greens powders)
DHA Oil (I opt for a vegan source of DHA and EPA)
Lecithin (helps emulsify fats and contains some great nutrients for your brain)
Fiber (ground flax seeds and chia seeds are great)

The key is that you want to buy great ingredients with no fillers or artificial ingredients. The great thing is that once you get comfortable making smoothies these ingredients don’t have to mean “awful taste”, on the contrary they can blend really nicely and still taste amazing.

I would love to hear from you. What are some of your special ingredients that you use in your smoothie? I also wanted to let you know that I have been working on a special project-my new website. I have not make the full switch over there yet but it will be soon. So go check it out

Rich, Happy & Hot!

2011-10-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

I was able to go to NYC on October 21st for a weekend of fun, inspiration and dancing. Yes lots of dancing. I attended the Marie Forleo's Rich Happy & Hot Live, otherwise know as RRHLive. For those of you that have been following me for a while you may have heard that I took an online business course in the spring called RHH B School and it rocked. This trip was the RHH Live event.

Kris Carr Speaking at RHH Live

This trip hit the amazing barometer on so many levels that it is hard to explain. Let me just say that I took a leap of faith, organized the kiddo's at home with my husband and a few great helpers and headed to the airport. I have never left my 2 children. Partially because life has been a little crazy and also with my son having special needs he needs some constant care. However the event and all the possibilities called to me.

Upon arriving in NYC I was fortunate enough to connect with a friend that I haven't seen in years who just happened to be there for 2 of the days that I was there. We went to a vegetarian restaurant and got fresh juice and smoothies at a local health food store.

The first night at RHHLive featured Josh Pais who shared Committed Impulse with us. We were all barefoot in yoga attire.

It was a beautifully grounded way to start the weekend. Body movement, being present, breathing and much more led to a very special intimate evening among 250+ amazing women and a few men. We were all dressed in yoga gear.

The next two days were jam packed with amazing speakers who came out to inspire, challenge, educate and share their stories with a room full of entrepreneurs.

The speakers totally rocked it and inspired us to live the dreams we want to, create the business that we have been striving for and to be authentic to our true selves. Yes of course they did much more than this, but in reality I have no way to articulate what it felt to be at this event. I remember another woman at the event calling it a business conference, matched with a dance party and a sleepover. A huge SISTERHOOD is what comes to my mind. Whatever way you describe it-it was pure magic. A gift that will keep on giving.

As I sat on the plane home looking through my Rich, Happy & Hot Journal, a handful of business cards from some amazing women and books to help me keep on learning-I just felt so grateful to be present and share in the combined energy of this event.

For those of you that are starting up your own business or are looking for some inspiration and fun, I have listed a lot of the sites below for you to check out. You can sign up for their free newsletters and learn so of the topics below and so much more.

Juicing and detoxing your body.
How to use twitter/FB and blogs effectively
Steps to build your business today
How to deal with fear
How to create online products
Finding what inspires you and so much more
How to dance and get your grove on
How to have fun and passion in your life

Here are a few links!!
Marie Forleo
Kris Carr
Danielle Laporte
Simon Sinek
Laura Roeder
Mama Gena's

Okay so these are not all of the speakers, but definitely enough to get you started and inspired.

I think one of the most amazing gifts of this weekend was connecting with so many beautiful, powerful, inspiring women at the event. Having lunch, going out for dinner and sharing in some karaoke!!!

I had the privilege of connecting with the women behind 2 amazing projects and I can say that they would love your support! So please go check out bodyheart inspiring women to love their bodies.

As well go stop by the Legacy Boutique and see what the lovely Karen is up to with her photography and inspiration.

Oh yes and the foodie stuff will come next post. Let's just say their were lots of vegan/raw options there!

Raw Detox

2011-10-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

Detoxing is such a key part of being healthy. Year after year we put strains and stresses on our body in the form of food, environmental toxins, stress, cosmetics and much more. Detoxing allows your body to get rid of this toxic overload and it also gives your body a chance to repair. If your body does not have to work hard at digesting it can turn it's attention to repairing itself and getting rid of toxin.

This month I have been doing detoxing. Now I know there are numerous ways to detox out there. If you walk into any health food store you will see product after product on detoxing. For myself I prefer to focus on detox through my food choices as opposed to some of the herbal products on the market. However there are some great products out there that can help you if that is the route you choose to take.

The interesting thing is that when you enter a detox you will find a lot of practices that you could actually add to your daily routine.

Most detoxes will have most of these components in them.

Increase your water consumption
Eliminate salt and sugars from your diet (including raw sweeteners and dried fruits)
Add exercise into your daily practices-Sweat baby sweat and get the toxins out.
Eat organic fresh fruits and vegetables
Take a break or naps when needed.
Remove oils and fats from your diet
Some include food combining principles
Baths, skin brushing and oil pulling
8 or more hours of sleep
Relaxing
No refined products

I don't know about you, but a lot of these things sounds great to add into your everyday practice such as organic food, 8 hours of sleep, relaxing and reduction or elimination of sugar. Even my daughter got involved in the raw detoxing and relaxing by being a great support.

I actually choose to take bits and pieces from a couple of detoxes and work that into my own plan. For me this was very important. I didn't want to cause stress to my body with the detox. So instead of being rigid with it I created my own plan to fit into my lifestyle. If you are still eating cooked food the Kris Carr detoxes is a great places to find some inspiration. Even if you are eating all raw food it offers some nice affirmations, ideas and structure. The Raw Diva's also has a great information on detoxing too.

I focused on green smoothies, water, fruits and raw meals. No sugar, cacao, dried food and minimal fats. Since I love my raw cacao and raw desserts I thought this would be a challenge for me. As well I do enjoy salt in my meals. However eliminating these was much easier than I thought.

Looking at the emotional detox I personally think is harder than leaving behind some of the food. So having a good emotional plan in place is great. Be prepared to journal, do some meditation and be gentle with yourself on your detox. Do yoga, breathe, take nature walks to nourish your soul.

If you are feeling sluggish, tired, rundown you may want to consider doing a detox in the near future. Have you ever done a detox? What were some of your triumphs and challenges? I would love to hear from you?

Time to Play

2011-09-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

Someone told me this morning that I have been working too hard and that I should enjoy a day of play.

Hmmm. Let me think about that for a moment.

Check
and
Check

Can I just say. Check, CHECK, check, CHECKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

Not really complaining! Life is good. I have been working on some great projects. I have a new website in the works, along with some raw food cooking classes and Health & Raw food coaching. As many of you know I have been studying nutrition and raw food for a while. I am so excited to be putting everything together in some fun ways.

Sometimes it is just important to take a BREAK. I think it is great to stop while you are in the midst of a project and just allow yourself to relax, play and have fun.

So today after dropping my daughter off to school and my son off to preschool for a few hours I took a trip to Chapter's. I had fun checking out the raw food and the vegan sections and also the nutrition area. I ended up picking up a new book and a journal for an upcoming trip.

Then into the kitchen to have some fun playing with food.

My husband and daughter made zucinni and squash noodles.

I used a tomato sauce. This one is from the book RAWvolution by Matt Amsden. This is one of my favourite raw books. I added some shitake mushrooms, fresh basil, black olives and a little bit of kale. Can't forget the kale.

Then I made a cashew/ macadamia nut cheese. I think this one is my best yet.

Cheese Recipe

I cup raw cashews
1/4 cup macadamia nuts
pinch of salt
lemon
paprika
onion
nutritional yeast
agave

Raw Play= Yum!!

So I am suggesting that you find some time for play, to relax and just have fun with whatever it is that you enjoy. For me it is often food related.

I would love to here what you are going to do to nourish your sense of play?

Make sure to join my FB page on the right so we can stay connected.

Raw Banana Coconut Cream Pie

2011-09-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

I was craving something sweet today. I had cashews in the fridge that had already been soaked overnight and drained and just sitting there waiting for me to do something.

If you know me I am kind of crazy in the kitchen. I just get on these whims and throw some of this and that together and see if it works. For my family this worked great today. Either they have been lacking some sweet treats or this hit the spot.

When I ate cooked desserts I never really choose a banana cream pie. I was always and apple pie kind of girl, blueberry girl second. However I thought of this raw Banana Coconut Cream Pie.

Simple Yummy Crust:

2 cups of macadamia nuts
4 tbs of ground flax seed
10 Pitted dates

Put nuts in the food processor and grind until fine. Start adding dates and process until a ball starts to form. Add 2 tbs of ground flax seed and gently pulse into mixture. Scrape out the mixture and place in a spring form pan or tart tins. You can sprinkle the bottom if needed.

Press mixture into a pie crust formation. I use a bottle to help smooth it down. However you can also just use your hands. (see all my bottle marks-just smooth that out with your hands)

Pie Filling Ingredients:

I cup of processed raw cashews that have been soaked overnight
1 cup coconut water
2 Frozen or fresh bananas
2 tbs of agave
pinch of sea salt
2.5 tbs of extra virgin coconut oil
nutmeg to taste ( I went a bit heavier on the nutmeg)

Flavoured stevia is a nice addition to this recipe. I used a little bit of hazelnut Stevia in the crust. You can make any flavour combo that you want. Cacao banana would be great and you could do this by adding cacao powder to the crust layer.

Blend the cashews in the food processor and make sure to use 1 cup blended. Then add in the coconut water and oil. Proceed to add in the bananas. Then lastly add in salt, agave and nutmeg. Pour into pie crust.

Decorate with sliced bananas and grated nutmeg. Add sprinkle of cacao nibs for a nice crunch. Put in freezer for about an hour or until you are ready to serve. This is a light and fluffy texture so I enjoyed it not frozen and at room temperature.

This is my daughters which she devoured= happy mama

This is my husbands with more bananas, creams, and nibs! Let's just call it LAYERED

As always have fun in the kitchen and ENJOY your healthy treats! Make sure to jump on over and LIKE my facebook page.

Summer Fun, Road Trips and Raw Eats!

2011-09-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

The summer has been really fun and it has also flown by so quickly. As I am starting to get the house and children ready for school I can't help reflect on the summer. I am really proud that as a family we ate pretty good. Raw food and lots of coolers were packed with yummy treats and eats on all of our trips. I think "road trips" are going to be a big part of our future. Here is a little recap of our adventures. A trip to several beaches, a whirlwind tour of Niagara Falls, lots of indoor parks and many fun car rides. Chance to go to Blue Mountain and relax in the natural springs. Listened to David Wolfe in Barrie and went on a car ride to collect some SPRING WATER. If you have never tried it you don't know what you are missing. Coolers full of raw bars, juices, smoothies and sprouts. Traveling raw was a little bit of a challenge on our first road trip. However I LEARNED my lesson and packed better for the future road trips.

Here are some photos of raw granola, chocolate elixirs that I bought at the David Wolfe event, some raw bread that I also bought and a bottle of spring water that we collected. I also threw in two of my favourite photos of the children having fun. Coolers full of raw bars, juices, smoothies and sprouts. Traveling raw was a little bit of a challenge on our first road trip. However I LEARNED my lesson and packed better for the future road trips. It also helped that the 2nd last day I was able to refuel by shopping at the David Wolfe event in Barrie.

Enjoy!!

What is your INTENTION?

2011-08-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my husband and I celebrated our 6 year Wedding Anniversary. Yeah!! If you know our story well, you will realize that this is a great day for us. Don't get me wrong, it is not that we are having problems. It is just that the amount of things that we have had to deal with and withstand in the last couple of years ranks pretty high on the stress level. Want to read more: My story is the 3rd one down.

This weekend turned out really great. We took a road trip into the country and had a raw picnic which of course included fresh fruit and cashew cream:). We also had a chance to look at some amazing paintings and jewelry while touring an art gallery. My daughter was away at my Aunt's house for the weekend, while my son stayed with us.

Even though life can be CHAOTIC and busy and crazy sometimes or a lot of the time. Setting your intentions for the day, week or even year can add focus, clarity and purpose to your days. So I new this weekend that even though it maybe busy and hectic that if I set the INTENTION to value our weekend and all of the time and effort that we have put into our marriage and family over the years that the outcome would be good.

Intention is defined as being a GOAL, a PLAN, an AIM or OBJECTIVE. It is a conscious thought or goal put into place in efforts to reach a desired outcome or experience.

You are probably wondering why I am talking about this on a raw food blog? To be honest I like sharing a little bit about myself and my family so that you get to know me a little better. However the main reason is that I think that to be healthy you need to take a holistic approach. Yes food is really important, but so is our thoughts and actions.

Intentions are POWERFUL and they can help you along your journey to better health and wellness. They can help align you in a direction that you desire. It just takes a few minutes at the start of the day to sit and write out your intention, or just to simply think of it before you jump out of bed to start your day.

So what is your INTENTION?

Is it to make a juice today?

Go to the local market and buy some fresh produce?

Or maybe make a fun new salad?

Maybe it is something even bigger than this. Whatever your goals and dreams are, start with your intention and you might be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

Take action now and set your intention for the week. I would love to hear from you. Share what you have set into motion for yourself this week.

Peaches and Cashew Cream

2011-08-15T10:18:00.001-07:00

I just love fresh fruit in the summer. This is dish is so yummy and easy that you will be surprised. Right now in my community there are a lot of fresh local peaches on hand. We have been going through peach after peach after peach. However this would also work with strawberries too.

This dish provides you with a healthy cream to dip the peaches into. My daughter and husband had this eaten up in record time. I won’t tell you how fast, but I bet you can use your imagination. The great thing is that my daughter didn’t care what the cream was made of, she just loved it. To my daughters I add a sprinkle of ground flax and hemp seeds to give her some fibre and protein. The flax seed mixes in nicely with the cashew cream.

Here are the ingredients that you will need to make the cream:
1 cup raw cashews (soaked for 4-6 hours in water)
2 tbs and 1 tsp of Extra virgin coconut oil
2-3 tbs of sweetener (agave, maple syrup, yacon or raw honey can be used. Or any combination)
3 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla powder
3-4 tbs water (more if needed to make it fluffy)
ground flax (optional for added fibre sprinkled on top)

First prepare cashews by soaking them in water for 4-6 hours.

Rinse and drain cashews and put them in food processor and blend well. Add the rest of the ingredients. You can choose the sweetener of your choice. I used a combination of agave and maple syrup. Maple syrup is not raw however often used by raw foodies for it’s flavour. You could also use raw honey if you wanted.

I prefer mine on the slightly less sweet side and with a heavier vanilla flavour. So you can adjust yours accordingly. Blend and blend until cream is fluffy and add to your peaches. This stores nicely in fridge, however it won’t last long!

Enjoy!!

Just a note if you have not voted yet. Please go and "Like My Sunwarrior Raw Smoothie" . First you must "Like" the SunWarrior Page, then like my smoothie pictured below.

Contest ends August 18th.

Thank you.

Tropical Infusion!

2011-07-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of summer and the hot weather I have decided to come up with a new smoothie recipe.

I also was inspired to create this by an email I received from SunWarrior. SunWarrior just happens to be my favourite raw protein to use in my smoothies. So if you are wondering how to get protein on a raw diet this is one of the products that you can use. Here is a post on why I love it so much.

So here is my smoothie contribution. It is light, tropical and great for a hot summer day. I hope you enjoy! I am sure this would be great on a beach.

Tropical Infusion

500ml Water
1 Star Fruit
10 Organic Strawberries
1 Ripe Mango
2 Tbs Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
1 Tbs of Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
1 Scoop SunWarrior Vanilla Rice

Add water to Vitamix. Peel mango and prepare star fruit by cutting off ends and trimming edges. Take tops of strawberries. Add fruit, SunWarrior protein, lime juice and coconut oil. Blend until smooth. The smoothie will be nice and thick. Add 3 ice cubes to a fancy glass and fill. Garnish with starfruit slice .

Close your eyes and imagine that you are on vacation on a a beach relaxing and enjoy a healthy drink. (That's what I do)

Starting August 8th-18th please go over to Sunwarrior and Vote for my smoothie entry. A winner will be chosen based on how many viewer Likes it has. You must like the Sun Warrior Page First and then scroll through to find my smoothie in the photos.

Fennel Salad and Zucchini Stars

2011-07-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

I got a whole lot of zucchini and fennel this week in my CSA box. I love this box, you never know what you will get.

I know this concept does not work for everyone. Some of you may like to know exactly what you are getting each week. However for me this has been fun, it brings out my creativity in the kitchen. I imagine myself being on a TV show where you have a mystery ingredient and then you are off to the races to make something new....

So here is my Going with the Flow Fennel Salad

1 Fennel Bulb, sliced thinly
1-2 Oranges, peeled and cut into cubes
1-4 Sun dried tomatoes, chopped
Lettuce
Parsley

Assemble salad by laying fresh lettuce on a plate. Layer fennel on lettuce, followed by orange chunks and sun dried tomatoes. Sprinkle parsley on the salad.

Dressing

Olive Oil
Hemp Seeds
Orange Juice
Apple Cider Vinegar
Honey
Pinch of salt

Mix well and pour over salad.

Enjoy!

The sun dried tomatoes add some extra texture and colour.

I also got about 5 LARGE zucchini's, so I sliced them up for my daughters Birthday Party of the weekend. The zucchini had these great ridges on them and formed star shapes when sliced.

Zucchini Stars

This is from one zucchini!

I used these as veggie chips and offered it with a delicious hemp dressing.

So get out there this week and find a new ingredient to use in your salad or meals. Maybe it is something that you have wanted to try but have been afraid to experiment with.

Be open to new vegetables and tastes and you might be pleasantly surprised. I would love to hear what you come up with!!

5 Reasons Why You Should Try a Raw Food Meet Up!

2011-07-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a raw food potluck for the K-W Raw Food Meet Up. It was a success and the turnout was a great. Big thank you to all of the members!

5 Reasons Why You Should Try a Raw Food Meet Up:

1. You get to sample a multitude of raw food dishes. Having access to 15-20 different dishes to choose from is amazing.

2. The company is just as great as the food. You will meet all sorts of people from all walks of life and most of them are passionate about raw food whether they are new to the raw movement or have been in it for a while.

3, Share resources on raw food recipes, books, films and information.

4. You become part of a community. You can do a lot of things together like go see health related movies, have discussions and go to raw food events together.

5. The sweetest part is the SUPPORT. Whatever stage you are in on your raw food/health journey you can get moral support from other's in the group. I think this is one of the most important points. While you start to eat more and more raw food it is nice to have the support of others to help you along the way.

I hope you get out there before summer is over and enjoy some raw food with friends! Big THANK YOU to all my raw foodies for the great day.

If you haven't seen it yet, I would love for you to check out the guest post that I wrote on Crazy Sexy Life on "Raw Food Strategies For Your Family" and leave a comment.

.............Stay tuned for our next contest coming up soon.

Cacao Smoothie & Hazelnut Cupcakes

2011-07-13T21:55:00.001-07:00

Hope you are having a great day! First I would like to share this beautiful photo that my professional photographer took this week. Pretty good protege? Only 5 years old.

Check out my guest post on Crazy Sexy Life today on raw food strategies for your family. Here is a healthy cooked recipe that was featured as recipe of the week.

I am sure you are all wondering why I have been on this hazelnut kick lately. To tell you the truth, I found this amazingly huge bag of raw hazelnuts, that I rarely ever see. It has led me to some creative time in the kitchen. So I thought I would share a few photos. I actually made these a little while ago but forgot to share them.

My daughter and I made these together. She loves to get in the kitchen and get messy.

Next I want to share this quick smoothie. You could add many other things to this if you wanted to. The sky is the limit. You could also add ice to make it cold and frothy.

Ingredients:

Frozen Banana
Almond Milk
Touch of Maca-optional
Vanilla Powder
1 scoop sunwarrior vanilla protein
Cacao Powder
Bambu Alternative Coffee Mix

Blend together in the vitamix and ENJOY on a nice hot summer day!! This is definitely a guilt free treat.

Stay tuned for a new contest coming your way in a couple of weeks. You won't want to miss this one!!

5 Reasons Why You Should Eat Local Produce

2011-07-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about the summer is the chance to eat local produce. Have you ever gone to the grocery store and just looked at all of the food and how far it is come from? This year I signed up for a local CSA (Community Shared Agriculture), since my little furry friends in my backyard like to nibble away at night on my veggies. I wasn't sure I was going to find one so late, but I managed to get signed up and I am thrilled.

Here are my top 5 reasons that you should Eat Local:

1. FRESHNESS

Imagine picking up your vegetables right of the farm or getting a box of fresh vegetables just an hour or two after they are harvested. The quality can not be topped. Nutrients are not lost over long transit times from one side of the world to the other, not to mention the reduction of our carbon footprint. The vegetables are picked at their peak time, instead of being harvested early and ripened while sitting in a truck.

2. VARIETY

What you will often find on the farm or in you local CSA box is variety. Vegetables that you may have not seen before. Different herbs and wild greens. This new variety can force you out of your comfort zone and ignite your creative juices.

One of my favourites is garlic scapes, which are the flowering part of garlic. They are loaded with the same healing properties such as garlic such as boosting the immune system, a source of calcium and anti fungal.

3. EDUCATE YOURSELF AND FAMILY

This is a great opportunity to help educate your family on where food comes from. It doesn't just show up in the isles of grocery stories. This can help reconnect your children or even yourself to the earth and our food. Where and how it is grown and what it looks like in the field.

4. ORGANIC AND GREAT FOR YOU

You can find some great organic options in your community. Start talking to local farmers and see what organic produce they have. If you are like me and eat a lot of vegetables, you will want them to be organic and pesticide free. Just think of all the green juices and smoothies that you can make.

5. SENSE OF COMMUNITY

When you are out and about you have a great opportunity to MEET people. Yes to get out of our fast paced world, slow down and talk to people. Meet your farmers and others in your community. Just this week I was able to connect with some really nice people, that I maybe would not have met if I was rushing through a grocery store. We even went to an asparagus festival last weekend.

Hopefully I have encouraged you to go find some farms, join a CSA or even visit your market. I would love to have you comment about what your are doing in your community and if you are part of a CSA.

If you haven't already it would be great to have you join my facebook page .

Stay tuned for another one of our Blyssful Health contest coming up in the month of July!!!!!

Raw Ice Cream Sandwich Challenge

2011-07-01T16:29:00.001-07:00

Have you ever entered a cooking challenge? If you have not, you must try because they are so much fun and pretty addictive. Last time I got to enter a raw cake pop challenge and I was totally obsessed with it for a couple of days. It was so much fun and it kind of pushes you out of your comfort zone and gets the creative juices going.

I was planning on entering the 5 in 5 Raw Chef Contest this week, but did not make the deadline. However I caught a glimpse of some awesome Raw Ice Cream Sandwiches over on Rawkinmom blog the other night and I felt a twinge of sadness that I didn't enter. So I jumped over to Nicole and Lisa's Blog and found that I still had a little bit of time...less than one day.

So I decided to try and race against time and get one in before the deadline. So here it is:

1. Cacao Hazelnut Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich

Cookie Base:
1 cup raw hazelnuts
5 tbs raw cacao powder
1/2 tbs lacuma
3.5 tbs agave
5ml Vanilla powder
10ml ground flax seed mixed with 2 tbs water

Blend hazelnuts in your food processor until they are a fine powder. Add cacao, lacuma, vanilla powder and pulse. Add agave and flax mixture and process until mixture forms a dough. Take dough out and either roll into little balls and flatten into circle shaped cookies. The alternative way is to roll out the dough which you can place between two teflex sheets from the dehydrator. Note: rolling produces a thinner cookies, while rolling into a ball technique creates a thicker more rustic cookie. Dehydrate at 105 for 3.5 -5 hours depending on your preference. I dehydrated mine for 5 hours.

Vanilla Ice Cream Filling

1 cup homemade almond milk
( To make almond milk take one cup of almonds to 1 and half cups water. Blend & strain)
5ml vanilla powder
30 ml maple syrup ( or 30 mls agave. I used maple syrup)
1-2 bananas

Blend in Vitamix and then freeze well. Use cookie cutter to cut out ice cream patties for a perfect circle. Or pulse in the food processor a few times to get a softer fluffy texture.

Enjoy!!!

Summer Eats

2011-06-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of some dishes that I made last week. I have been on a cacao fix lately so I have been experimenting with some new recipes.

My two little ones are just getting over a cold, so this weekend has been pretty hectic and busy. It just so happened that my husband had to work some very long days over the weekend. On a regular night I am usually up pretty late watching my son who has special needs. When he gets a little cold, it makes his sleeping even more compromised so my husband and I were up a lot later. Both children are fine now, but needless to say that my husband and I are recovering from very little sleep this weekend after pulling some late nights. If you haven't had a chance to meet my son you can find more about him on my other blog.

So I will leave you with some photo's of some summer eats that I made the week before

Raw Chocolate Crackers made with hemp and flax seeds. Lovely on their own, but even better with fresh strawberries!

Homemade Raw Cereal made with pumpkin seeds, almonds with fresh raspberries and blueberries. You know I love my fresh homemade granola. You know exactly what you are eating, not like a lot of boxed cereals.

Garden salad with some fresh chives and lettuce from our backyard. This made for one great green salad.

That is all for now. I hope you enjoy !

Raw Food Meet Up @ Thrive Juice Bar

2011-06-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

One of the simplest pleasures in life is to go out for a meal with some great people and spend time eating and talking. Last night our Kitchener-Waterloo Raw Meet-Up selected Thrive Juice Bar for an evening of fun.

When I started the raw food meet up, I really just wanted an avenue to help people learn about raw food. I also wanted to have the opportunity to meet with like minded people in our community. To get together and create a feeling of community for people who want to eat healthy, but also go out and have fun too.

Our evening out was a huge success. Thrive Juice Bar provided us with the best service and the food tasted amazing. I want to send a big shout out to Jonnie the owner and thank him for his great hospitality. I must say this about Jonnie, he is passionate about food and health and this reflects in the food that he provides to his customers. The food is full of flavour, highly creative and the best part of all, it is highly nutritious. You will leave feeling energized, happy and just plain good about yourself and yes the prices are really affordable.

We started off with some drinks. We all got different things but one of the popular choices was the Coconut Cashew Medjoal Date Smoothie. Others tried the Thai Avocado Smoothie that incorporated the flavours of lemongrass, avocado and coconut water.

I opted for the Big Green Smoothie. (Yes I love my Greens) This is full of nutrients and flavour. It is jam packed with all things green including E3 Live, Wheat grass and fresh greens.

Then we proceeded to the BEST Raw Soup ever. A melody or carrot, curry & coconut blended to perfection.

For the main meal I choose a fantastic raw Pad Thai dish filled with vegetables such as cabbage, bok choy, carrots, snap peas & daikon to name a few. The veggies are mixed in a creamy cashew sauce and flavoured with chili, cilantro and mint. For all of you health seekers out there, this dish is a nutritional home run. I can't say more about a dish filled with my favourite daikon and cabbage.

And last but most definitely not least.... the desserts.

Here is a rich raw chocolate brownie plate that I enjoyed.

Other's went for a fresh mango marinated carpaccio with coconut ice cream.

So if you have not been to Thrive Juice Bar, go check it out.

Big thank you to all of the meet up members that came out to this event and to those also who helped promote it. I want to give a shout out to Mary, a fellow blogger from This is Vegan, who came out to this event and posted about our night as well. Stay tuned for our upcoming raw meet up events.....

For those of you that don't live in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, do you have local support or raw groups in your community?

Easy Raw Chipolte Taco's

2011-06-14T23:39:00.001-07:00

Now that the warm weather is upon us, it is a great time to incorporate raw food into your diet. Raw food is full of nutrients and enzymes. As we age our enzyme stores in our body decrease, so eating raw food is an excellent way to incorporate more enzymes into your diet.

I really love eating fresh foods, straight from the garden. If you don't have space for a garden you can always join a local CSA. They are amazing and they provide you with the opportunity to eat the bounty of food that comes directly from your community. This is also an amazing way to make connections and new friends in your community. I am always amazed at how many new stores, farms and projects that you can learn about just by talking with people.

Speaking of fresh foods. Here is a quick easy raw food wrap that you can make. You can fill it with whatever fresh ingredients you have. I love the simplicity of quick meals as it allows me to spend more time with my family, instead of spending time in the kitchen.

Raw Chipolte Taco's

Process some walnuts in your food processor. You can really make this any flavour that you like. I usually use cumin as the main seasoning for the walnuts. This time I opted for chipolte for a little change. Feel free to add in some onions, garlic and any other seasoning. A sprinkle of tamari works well. Pulse for a few seconds. Please don't pulse to long or all of the oils from the walnuts will come out and it will be rather mushy. The browny red colour is from the chipolte seasoning. If you use cumin, you will get a different shade.

I find walnuts to be the best for the mok taco meat. They are also a source of OMEGA 3 oils so this is an added bonus.

Next step...assemble your tacos.

Find your base. I used romaine lettuce. You could also use any other green leaf that you like. Collards work well too. Then just start layering your taco like you would do a not raw one.

Ingredients:
chopped tomatoes
some raw corn
avocado
scallion
sunflower seed cheese

As always the sky is the limit and you can really bring out your creativity here. Cilantro, chives and other herbs from the garden work well.

Make sure to have fun making your taco's and get your family involved.

You can roll them up or leave them open. Either way they are yummy!

Hope you enjoy!

If you haven't yet, make sure to join my FACEBOOK group and follow me on Twitter. I'd love to see you there.

David Wolfe on Cacao: Real or Not Real?

2011-06-08T20:51:00.001-07:00

Hello Foodies:

Just sharing an interesting link to an interview with David Wolfe and Len Foley on Cacao. Many of you who have been into raw food for a while may already know about this. However if you are new to raw food this maybe news to you.

Raw Cheesecake with Cacao

Real Cacao or Not Real?

Have you heard any of the buzz about cacao and it being hybridized? This is something that you should look into if you are eating raw cacao. I have just listened to a David Wolfe Video that is informative on this topic. You may have heard this already however as always it is presented very clearly on this call. Really it is talking about the fact that a lot of the raw cacao that we are getting is hybridized and called CCN-51 . I don't know about you but I really don't care to eat anything that is called CCN-51 . As you can imagine this is a complex issue that can not be fixed in a quick minute. As a consumer of any type of food, it is important to do some research on what you are getting. A lot of food in our world it is being tampered with, genetically modified and not in it's natural state. When this happens, the food no longer carries the same qualities. The main reason that this information is important is that you maybe thinking that you are getting the best product and in reality you are not. "CCN-51" does not have the same nutritional values of a superfood that most people are looking for when they buy cacao. It is not rich in antioxidants, minerals or have a high ORAC value.

What you should be looking for in your Cacao? Well in the interview they discuss that you should look for a species that is a native-born Ecuadorian species named "Arriba Nacional-Fino de Aroma". You can obviously find these products on David's site, however you can also find the products in selected health food stores. Another interesting point brought up in the video is that cacao paste could be a better choice that the powder.

Love to hear what your thoughts are on all of this. I do eat Cacao and use the above mentioned species. However I do have it in moderation and I don't go crazy with it. What are your thoughts on this? Are you buying the right cacao? Do you avoid cacao and use carob instead? Can't wait to hear what you have to say....

Raw Food: Struggling or Thriving?

2011-05-31T22:41:00.000-07:00

I would love to know how you are doing on your raw food journey? Since I often share how I am doing on my journey, I thought it would be great to see how everyone else is doing.

I know that some of you are totally new to trying to implement raw food into your life and that is okay. While others have been raw foodie for years. Wherever you are at I would love to hear about it?

Here are a few questions relating to you and your raw food consumption.

On average how much raw food are you eating?

Are you struggling with keeping raw food in your diet?

Do you feel like you just run out of time in the craziness of the day to make raw food?

Are you doing Awesome and keeping on track?

Have you converted your friends and family to raw foodies too?

Do your family members eat a non raw diet?

If any of the above questions feel like you, I would love to hear from you. In the meantime keep up the good work and give yourself a pat on the back for all of your hard work and awesome changes that you are making in your life.

Thanks for sharing and I am sending you all a big virtual tropical smoothie!! Yummy.

Stay tuned for another "Super Food Series" post coming up soon.

If you haven't yet joined me on facebook, come check it out.

Raw Food At It's Easiest!

2011-05-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

Raw food can be a lot of things. It can be complex, detailed, tasty and delicious. It can also be easy. Easy works for me this week, as many of you busy moms know, time is limited some days. Other days I have lots of time to play and experiment in the kitchen and make detailed creations. Don't get me wrong, I love those days and I have quite a few of them. However there are days well.... you know? Days were the clock goes faster than you thought possible.

But please don't grab for the undesirables on these days. You can actually still eat really well on these hectic days. They may just be in the form of a blended juice or a quick salads like this one.

I have been making a ton of salads and veggie plates this week because I have been multi tasking a little more than I normally do. Who would have thought that was possible. Anyways, I have been so inspired and in love with making "crazy salads" this week. They have been filling, messy and quick, but oh so yummy.

As long as you have a plentiful supply of vegetables and some staples on hand, you can make a super charged salad in a few minutes. Here are a couple of mine from the weekend. Be warned I am on a zucchini kick this week.

Veggie Plate # 1:

Chopped Spinach
Sliced Beets
Sauerkraut (Bubbies)
Sliced Zucchini
Chopped Tomatoes
Sprinkle of Kelp Powder
Sprinkle with a little Sea Salt or Himalayan salt

Process the beets and zucchini in a food processor. Do a large quantity so you will have lots for the week. Decorate you plate to make it visually appealing. Add bunches of veggies. You can use carrots, parsnip, broccoli or kale. I don't put any dressing on my salads lately. However you could always mix a little oil, apple cider vinegar, sweetener and spices for your own creation.

Salad Plate # 2 Or Nacho Plate:

Sliced Zucchini
Guacamole (avocado, lime and sea salt)
Sunflower Seed Cheese (sunflower seeds,lemon juice, tamari, garlic)
Sliced Red Pepper
Cilantro (chopped and sprinkled on top)
Nutritional Yeast

I used this plate while I was watching one of my season finale's last week. (Sorry just could not give up my shows). I added some salsa and it was so yummy and actually very filling. Love guilt free eating. The sky is the limit with what you want to add to this plate.

Then of course who could forget the green juice. This little glass of green liquid can help give you a good energy punch. This is always a staple in my home. I added arugula to my regular mixture of kale, lemon and apples. Not bad at all. Arugula is a good source of sulfur, so it is great for your skin, hair and nails. A powerhouse veggie that you will want to pick up or even start to grown.

What are your favourite salads? Do you have any ingredients that you always turn to when you are pressed for time? Love to hear from you.

Please be sure to join "Blyssful Health" on Facebook. I would love to see you there!

Nut Smoothies & Goji Chia Jam

2011-05-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite things to drink besides a fresh green juice is a nut based smoothies. I haven't had one for a while and after I made one this week, I could not figure out why I haven't been making this.

I think this is also a great drink to share with your friends who have never tried raw food or drinks. If you have someone who is skeptical that raw food tastes good then this is one to share. I love nut "mylk" because they are so nutritious and filled with trace minerals. They taste amazing and they don't have any negative anti-nutrients in them. They are not filled with sugars, chemicals or other additives.

This week I have made an Almond & Brazil Nut Smoothie and Protein Smoothie.

For almond milk, you will need to soak the almonds overnight. Put them in water before you go to bed and drain them and rinse them in the morning. Then you are ready to start. I use a Vitamix so I have some pretty powerful blending happening. However, you could use whatever blender you have on hand.

Almond & Brazil Nut Goodness:

1 cup almonds soaked and drained
5-6 Brazil nuts
Frozen banana
1 date (pitted)
Vanilla- I use powdered organic vanilla that is lovely.
Water

First add water to your blender with the nuts. Blend until the nuts are liquefied. You will need to strain the mixture with a nut bag. You will need to strain the mixture with a nut bag. Once you have strained you nut milk put the pulp aside for another dish. DON'T THROW THIS OUT. If you don't know what you are going to use it for you can freeze it. Add the milk back into the blender and add the rest of the ingredients.

I didn't put the exact measurements, because you can play around with the amount of dates and banana to get the sweetness you would like. As well if you are on a budget add a little more water to make the nut milk or "mylk" stretch.

Bring on the protein:

Later in the week I was feeling a little tired and this was in part due to the fact that I was rushing around doing to many things. Now who can relate to that? So I choose an nice protein packed smoothie to give me a lift. I am so loving Sunwarrior protein. I will give you my honest opinion, that I think it is the best out there. In this drink, you can not taste anything but pure goodness.

Vanilla Protein Punch:

1 scoop Vanilla Sunwarrior Raw Protein
Frozen Banana
Hemp Seeds
Vanilla (powdered vanilla)
2 spoons or almond butter
Water

This had the same amazing profile of the almond & brazil nut smoothie, however it was packed with a protein punch. Enjoy and take a moment to relax while sipping on this.

Now on to Goji Jam:

I have been eating a lot of goji jam this week. One raspberry and goji jam, one orange and goji jam and one ginger jam. However I think the best profile is with orange. If you don't like the goji flavour, then the raspberry mixture is a good one to choose. I originally got this idea from David Wolfe's recipe. However, I felt like trying something a little different.

Blyssful Health Goji Chia Jam:

1/4 cup goji berries
1/2 to 1 whole date (I don't have a huge sweet tooth, so you can up the dates to your liking)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup of chopped orange segments
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp of fruit zest (I used lemon and orange)
1 tbs of chia seeds soaked for a minute in 1 tbs water
pinch of salt (optional)
1/2 tsp coconut oil( optional)

Soak the goji berries in the freshly squeezed orange juice. Let the date sit in the water as well. I let it sit for about an hour or more. Place the goji berries and the liquid in your food processor. Add in the fresh orange segments and blend until smooth.Then stir in the lemon juice, fruit zest and chia seed mixture. You can add a pinch of salt. If you find the jam is to thick add a little more orange juice to the mixture. I also added about half a spoon of coconut oil to my mixture at the end.

If you want to hide the goji flavour, add some frozen raspberries to the mixture. You may need to add another date.

You can eat this on it's own, put it on some raw crackers or even use it in a salad.

Enjoy.

Please let me know what you think of the new layout? I would love the feedback.

Awesome Raw Deal: Only good for today!!!

2011-05-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hi All

This is a quick post. I am actually heading out of town. However I just got an e-zine from Russel James and he is offering a great deal on his e book collection. He is offering them for $50.00 instead of this regular price of around 90.00. If you are in a tight squeeze for cash and are still interested into getting his 6 book collection, he GRACIOUSLY is offering you another option. Pay what you can.!!!! So please check it out. I think this is so great for those that want to learn about raw food, but can't normally afford to purchase the books and resources needed. Click here. You can find the description of the 6 books on the link. I also posted it on my sidebar.

Sorry for the short post. I am in a rush, but just wanted to share the great deal.

Raw Weekend Part 1: A Rawsome Potluck!!

2011-05-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know I started up a raw meet-up in my community a few months ago. I wanted to connect to other's with an interest in eating healthy with a focus on raw food. We have met once prior to this weekend at WOW, a raw cafe.

For our second meeting we had a Raw Potluck on Saturday, that was hosted at a members house. Let me tell you it was a lot of fun. Fun to meet all of the new members and also great to eat all of the wonderful food.

Here is a picture of our RAW FOODIES who attended. I am taking the photo, so I am not in the picture. Also two members had to leave early. We had 15 people attend, so a big thank you to all that came.

As you can see we had lots of fun things on the table. Raw food book, a couple of bottles of kombucha, some marinated mushrooms and raw homemade salsa and dip.

Here is our raw food feast.

I am so happy that we had a great turnout and so much yummy raw food to share. Thanks to everyone for all of your raw food dishes. Take a look at this spread of raw eats. This is most, but not all because we could not fit it on the table.

Menu included:
Thai Coleslaw
Nori Rolls
Almond Nori Rolls
Pesto and veggie noodles
Cheesecake (not in photo)
Carrot Cake
Fudge
Mok Tuna
Mixed Seed and Fruit Salad
Kale Salad
Kombucha
Marinated mushrooms
Real raw salsa, veggie chips and guacamole
Cookie Dough Balls
Several Salads
Broccoli and Veggies
Fruits
and more (sorry if I missed anyone)

Can I just say how RAWSOME it was to have this great table of raw food to eat. I think everyone had a great time and had lots to eat.

This is one of the dishes that I brought. Thai Coleslaw from Rawvolution. It is always a hit.

We played a fun bingo icebreaker game and I also had two raw treats to giveaway. Some kale chips and a goji bar.

I had a great time and can't wait to meet up again and for our community to grow!!! Thanks everyone who came.

Stay tuned for the rest of the weekend in the next post.... and a belated MOTHER'S DAY to all my blogging friends.

Superfood Series: Goji Berries Jam

2011-05-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that in the next couple of weeks I will be doing a weekly post on superfoods. I love adding superfoods to my diet to help boost my immune system, increase my nutritional intake and to maximize my health.

Today I will be sharing about this wonderful little gem called Goji Berries. I often use goji berries in my diet, however to be honest I did not love them at the start. Since I have learned more about them and how to use them, they have become a favourite.

The Goji berries are small but they pack a nutritional punch that you will not want to miss out on. There are over 40 species of the goji berry. The Chinese culture view the goji berry highly and rightfully so:

Protein
They are a good source of protein!!! A lot questions always arise on where do I get my protein from? Goji berries can help you out in this area. They are a complete source of protein and they contain all eight of the essential amino acids that our body needs, but can not synthesize on it's own. Meaning we need to get these essential amino acids from our food and therefore goji berries are a great addition to your diet.

Fiber
A 1/4 cup or 30 grams per serving can offer you 10 grams of fiber to your day (organic traditions)

Antioxidants
They are a rich source of antioxidants. Luetin, zeaxanthin, beta-caroten are some of the antioxidants found in goji berries. The "goji berries contain more beta-caroten than carrots" (David Wolfe, Superfoods)

Trace Minerals and Vitamins
Goji berries are a good source of trace minerals and vitamins. They contain zinc, iron, copper, calcium, germanium, selenium, phosphorus, B6, and vitamin E. They are a source of Vitamin C and high on the ORAC Scale. However the amount of vitamin C in them seems to be a debatable point.

Immunity
Goji berries have been use to help deal with stress and build the immune system. Often suggested for people who need to rebuild their energy and strength.

How to Use Goji Berries:

1. Can be used as a fun easy snack and eaten on it's own.

2. You can soak and rehydrate them. Use the soak water in your smoothies. Or alternatively add the dry berries to your smoothie to add some bulk to your smoothies.

3. Make your own homemade trail mix or cereal. Mix some into a bag of nuts, buckwheat grouts, coconut and cacao nibs or dried organic fruits.

4. Add them to steep in your favourite herbal teas. Yummy. This is one of my favourite ways to have them.

Or use them in elaborate desserts, sauces and condiments. Put them in your homemade chocolate creations. The options are endless.

This is a my Goji Berry Chia Seed Jam. This jam is packed full of goji berries, fruit zest, chia seeds and lemon juice. Then blended in the food processor. I got this idea from one of David Wolfe's books and decided to make a few changes. Mainly adding chia to the mixture and a few other ingredients.

I have to tweak it a bit before I share the recipe. However it will be a keeper on my list. The really interesting thing about this jam is that it could be sweet or savoury depending on your choice of ingredients.

Goji Berries Jam on sprouted hemp bread.

I am excited to say that I will be growing my own goji berries this year. They will be the North American species, so we will see what happens.

Do you use goji berries in your superfood arsenal? What is your favourite way to use them?

Stay tuned for more on Superfoods.....

Living Libations: Natural Beauty!

2011-05-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

Truth be told, I love trying new health care products and seeking out the best of the best. This includes beauty products.

I am sure you don't know this about me, but I am a trained make-up artist and used to work in the make-up industry for a while. Of course this was many years ago. I have never lost my love for beauty products: creams, hair products and cosmetics. However I am proud to say that I focus on natural products these days as I am very careful as to what I put on my skin.

I have found this great company called Living Libations. Nadine makes the most amazing products. Last weekend when I went to the David Wolfe event, I knew that Living Libations was going to be a vendor. So I stocked up on a few things:

I bought a few things for myself. The Healthy Gum Drops and Rosemary Oil for my hair.
I also bought two things for my son. Dew Drops (For tiny lines, little bumps and blemishes) and SoothSayer Serum for a scar on his face that he has.

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE the Healthy Gum Drops!! You can use it by putting a drop on your toothbrush or on your dental floss. It is such an amazing product that I just had to share it with you. I have also used the SoothSayer Serum on my sons scar.

I highly you suggest you take a peak if you are looking for some new amazing beauty or oral care products. Nadine who owns the company has been featured in the Adoley Wellness Revolution Series and is well known for her amazing combinations and products. You should check out their bio.

Let me know what you think? What is your beauty regime like? Are you using all natural products? Wanting to make the switch to natural products?

**please note the above link is my affiliate link and if your purchase through me I get a small commission on the sale**

David Wolfe Live & In Person!

2011-05-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to see David Wolfe speak for two evenings at Downward Dog Studio in Toronto. It was awesome and I am so glad that I went. I first learned that he was coming to Toronto about month ago, so I jumped at the chance to go since I have never seen him do a lecture or seminar before.

I am taking David Wolfe's Ultimate Raw Food Course and just loving it. The course is filled with lots of information on superfood, herbs, raw foods, oils, seaweed and more.

To be honest I was trying to see if I could get an interview done with him to ask some key questions (comments from my lovely followers-you guys and gals). He did say okay, however on day two it never materialized. "Close but no cigar." Isn't that what they usually say. Maybe next time folks.

That being said I did get this picture above with my sister in law Erin who joined me for the second evening. I am so glad that I had some time to talk to him and ask him questions on both evenings. I also purchased a copy of his newly revised book, Naked Chocolate, which he kindly signed for me.

If you haven't had the chance to see him speak, I highly suggest it. He is a wealth of information and energy. He graciously did the talks for extended period of time. Each night he talked for an hour or two more than scheduled for the event. So definatley more than you money's worth.

Topics Included:

Hormone Health
Bad Estrogen
Superfoods
Mushrooms
Grounding
Cacao
Raw Food Diets
Supplements
Spring Water
Fermented Foods
Herbs
Autoimmune
Cancer
and more.

Seriously I took lots of notes(thanks to my fellow friend giving me some much needed paper).

I got to pick up some grounding shoes, fulvic acid and a msm/tumeric supplement and a few other things that I know I can not get in a local health food stores. I also got to meet a couple of local vendors. Stay tuned as I will be doing a review on a couple of their products too. I also made a few friends and connections which is always fun.

Stay tuned for more from this great event.

The Winner Is

2011-04-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the DELAY in announcing the winner of the FOODMATTERS DVD. I have a good excuse. I was at a 2 night lecture this weekend on Raw Food done by David Wolfe.!!!! So I was out of town and things were pretty hectic.

Thank you everyone for entering my contest. The winner was chosen by Random. org. and comment number 8 is the winner.

Comment number 8 belongs to Erin C!!!

Congratulations to Erin C. Please contact me via email or face book so I can send out your DVD.

Thank you for all of your questions that you came up with. I will be going over some of the answers this week, so stay tuned.
I have so many exciting things to share with you all, however I will have to get it to you in the next couple of days.

Giveaway: FOODMATTERS DVD

2011-04-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

It is giveaway time again. I am excited to announce that the 2nd giveaway here on Blyssful Health is a copy of this amazing documentary FOODMATTERS.

This documentary cuts through the mass of information out there today on Nutrition and Natural Healing and presents it all in an easy to understand format leaving you ready to take steps to improve the quality of your health and life today. It is packed with leading edge nutritionist and health experts. If you are wondering why so many people are sick and how you can change your own eating and health, then watch this documentary. It is very eye opening.

You can check out the trailer at the bottom of my blog.

CONTEST RULES:

1. The contest will only be open to Canadian and U.S. Residents.

HOW TO ENTER:

First answer the mandatory question?

"If you could ask a raw food/health food expert one question about your health or eating raw. What would your question be?"

AND THEN DO ONE OF THE FOLLOWING AND TELL ME IN YOUR COMMENT :

1. Write about this contest in a blog post and link back to this site.

2. Join my Facebook Group

3. Add Blyssful Health to your blogroll

4. Mention and link to this contest on your Facebook Page

5. Recruit a friend to join Blyssful Health via Facebook or email subscription

6. Tweet about this contest (@BLYSSFUL HEALTH: Giveaway: FOODMATTERS DVD http://t.co/cURdAJ0)

7. Join Google Friend Connect

Example: My question is how to get more energy? and I tweeted.

Want to enter more than once?

All you have to do is complete another one of the options listed above and leave a new comment.

Example: I joined your facebook group!

Contest ends Friday April 29th at 4:00pm

Good luck!!!!
I will not make comments until after the contest as I will be using random org for the draw and I don't want to have my comments impact the draw.

Just wanted to say thank you to FOODMATTERS for sending me this DVD for our contest.

Family Meal...Raw Style

2011-04-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

I firstly want to say a big thank you to my sister in-law Erin and her family for coming to visit us for Easter. I had a lot of fun preparing a raw meal for Erin and myself and having some of our family member's try it. You will have to go over to her blog Raw Therapy to see the pics of the food. Erin takes great pictures, so I asked her to take all of the photo's while I was getting the food together.

Our Raw Easter Meal

(Raw)Mock Tuna and celery
Falafel & Hummus Wrap with Mediterranean “Roasted” Vegetables
Kale Salad

The Mock Tuna was great. I got the base recipe from Animal Friendly Eating I have posted this recipe before as I think great tasting and it has kelp in it which is great for your radiation protection.

The Wilted Kale Salad With Creamy Chipotle Dressing and Falafel & Hummus Wrap with Mediterranean “Roasted” Vegetables were taken from Russell James. He also has some home study courses that you may want to check out Russell James . I adapted these a bit due to my ingredient on hand but they turned out great.

When I make raw food for myself I like to experiment a lot and do a whole bunch of different things. However I wanted to go out of my element and make something new. I was not disappointed at all. The Falafel & Hummus Wrap with Mediterranean were totally a new recipe for me and they were awesome. I am making my second batch of the recipe today. Yummy!!! I hope you will give these a try.

You will see eating raw can be so easy and yummy. Also check out April in the Raw

Medicinal Herbs & Upcoming Contest

2011-04-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

Oh YES and Easter Pics. I couldn't fit that all in the tittle. Happy Easter and belated Earth Day everyone! Hope you are having a great time with your family and friends. I wanted to share some photo's of my daughter's Easter Eggs.

This year we experimented with homemade colouring and some traditional ones. We got to use some rose hip tea for red, curry for yellow (I could not find the turmeric in time) and some raspberries too. My daughter had a great time doing this and she was truly delighted.

Then yesterday we went outside and planted some seeds. It was pretty cold. Both children were wearing winter coats.

We lasted outside for about 15-20 minutes. Then back indoors.

Loving the feel of the soil on our hands.

This year I am growing my own little medicinal garden. I am going to use the herbs for teas and tinctures(if I get time).

I love the open the package and dump all the seeds in the pot "method" that my daughter had.

We planted:

RED CLOVER
ASHWAGANDHA
MILK THISTLE
BURDOCK ROOT
MUCUNA(still to be planted)
DAIKON

and more to come...

I was really inspired to plant a more medicinal garden this year while studying David Wolfe's Ultimate Raw Nutrition Course. In the course I was able to get a very detailed explanation and view of what he grows in his garden. It totally makes sense to have at your fingertips the best vegetables and herbs for your daily use.

What are you planning on planting this year? If you can't grow your own garden due to space and time? Consider joining a CSA in your community.

Stay tuned for my next giveaway in a few days. It is another GREAT one. I am so excited to share it with you.!!! I love sharing things that I believe in and that have impacted my life in someway.

April in the RAW & Cake Pop Challenge

2011-04-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

I am not sure if you heard about the event April in the Raw. I think this is a great event to support raw food. It is always fun to get some new inspiration for the kitchen and share recipes with others. So thank-you Brittany at Real Sustenance for putting this on this event.

I have submitted my Chocolate Blyss Treats.

I also submitted my Wonderful Kale Smoothie Recipes.

So I know we are heading into the last few days of April......but go and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

CAKE POP CHALLENGE

Well this has been fun, truly I have been in the kitchen a lot trying to figure these little guys out. To be honest I have not eaten very many cake pops in my life time. Certainly not raw pop cakes. So when I saw that Nicoleand Lisa created a cake pop challenge I thought that I would try it.

Wow I am on a learning curve to say the least. It was fun and I have learned a lot and have a lot more to learn. My husband and my daughter have tried what seems like a zillion recipes. My daughter was helping me in the kitchen a lot. This evening she woke up from her sleep and was talking about rolling the cake pops.( I kid you not)

I just kept trying new ones and my main thing was not to look at any recipes. I wanted it to be from scratch. Here are a few that I made.

macadamia nut pops
cashew nut pops
carrot pops
and more......

They are not perfect by any means but yummy and definitely healthy.

The first one is a CACAO RASPBERRY CAKE POP!

The Cake:

1/2 cup raw cashews (not soaked)
1 tbs cacao nibs
20 ml golden flax seed (previously was soaked in 15-20ml of water)
2tsp raw cacao powder
2tsp flax powder
1/4 cup raspberries(frozen)
10 ml vanilla powder
7 drops stevia

(optional to add one tsp of agave)
Blend in food processor. Until mixture starts to create a ball. Roll into individual balls and put sticks into balls and keep in fridge.

Icing # 1: Hard Chocolate Coating

125ml of melted cacao butter
pinch of salt
2 tbs agave
3 tbs strained raspberry puree
2 tbs coconut oil

Mix all ingredients into melted cacao butter. As it cools dip cake pop into mixture and refrigerate. If you want a darker colour add more raspberry puree.

Option# 2: Soft Raspberry Icing

1 cup cashews
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
20 mls fresh lemon juice
3 tsp coconut oil
3 tsp agave
2 tsp water

Blend in food processor. Put icing on cake pop with knife and then add cacao nibs for decoration. Stick back in fridge or freezer until ready to eat.

This fun fluffy icing is my favourite of the 2.

Next....

Carrot Cake POP

Carrot Cake

1/3 cup shredded carrots
5 ml vanilla powder
10 mls cinnamon
1ml shredded ginger
pinch of salt
2/3 cup raw cashews
1 tsp agave

Blend all ingredients in food processor. Roll into balls and place sticks into each ball.

Carrot Icing

2/3 cup cashews
4 dates (pitted)
20ml pre soaked flax seed ( soak flax seed in 20-30 ml water)
1/2 cup fresh carrot juice
5ml cinnamon
2 tbs agave

Blend in food processor and cool in fridge.

Take carrot pops and dip into icing. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Put in fridge or freezer for icing to harden.

Enjoy. Have a little fun in your life...try making a cake pop!

Russel James: Raw Food Chef

2011-04-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

Okay can I just tell you that I am loving Uk Raw Food Chef Russel James. I first found him on a couple of blogs. So I got really curious about him and signed up for his newsletter. Then... he was posted in a contest on Raw Rehab this month. I have tried several of his recipes and I think they are great. He has put out some free video's and if you haven't checked them out I would highly suggest it.

I have made a couple of his dishes so far and really enjoyed them. I made a creamy kale salad that used avocado in it. I have made it twice and it is so yummy. Of course I adapted mine a little bit. I know you will all like this as you all love kale. Here is my version. His look a lot better than mine do. I am usually rushed and still trying to figure out my camera....so go check out his pictures to see the really great photo's.

So this is my own adapted version as I didn't have cherry tomatoes an I also added some sunflower cheese. So Yummy.

Then I also made a Mango Timbale today. The combination is so different that I just had to try it. I was totally intrigued because I would never put these things together on my own. Like avocado, mango, grapefruit, bee pollen and more. This dish was so easy to make that it will be one of my new staples. It took me about 10 minutes. It should have lemongrass foam on it, but I didn't have any on hand. I will give it a try next week. I do love lemongrass, so I bet it would be good.

I am going to purchase one of his packages I just haven't figured out which one yet. I like his e-books package and it has a great price. I found out that it is easier for me to have the e book on the computer or watch a video. Instead of looking through my hard copies. Of course I would love to take his home study program. However I am still finishing up some other courses right now. I can always hope that I win the Raw Rehab contest where the prize is one of his courses. A girl has to be lucky sometime, right?

I think one of the things I really enjoy about him is that his straight forward down to earth approach and personality in the videos.
If you haven't seen him, check him out. Just got an email today(Friday) that he is also launching his home study course and it's open to the public now.

Love to hear if you tried any of his recipes?

Raw food in a HURRY

2011-04-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

A lot of the time I make some of my raw food dishes at night and do my blog posting at night when the children are a sleep. I should have called this blog the "Midnight Foodie", or something like that. It has been a bit hectic this week. We were out all day for medical appointments for my son Wysdom. For those of you that may not know I started blogging about my son almost two years ago. I loved blogging so much that I then started this blog to talk about my raw food and health journey.

This week I have made quite a few new things. To be honest when I am in the kitchen I just throw together whatever I have. I have a lot of raw food books, but I often don't get the time to look through them. So I just wing it a bit. For the most part things go pretty well.

This week it has been really simple though.

A simple salad with marinated corn.

Ingredients:
lettuce
kale
avocado sliced
corn (marinated in cumin, coconut vinegar, splash of olive oil,salt, pepper and sweetener if needed)
tomatoes

I had planned to do more with the corn, but time did not allow it. The corn had at least 1 tbs cumin and I was pleasantly surprised how yummy it tasted. I left it sit in the marinade for a while and the cumin flavour was nice and strong and made the salad work.

Next I made a broccoli & carrot dish with a nut sauce. This turned out to be so yummy.

I added scallion, some cilantro, ginger, garlic,salt and a touch of tamari. The ginger made it work really well. Put all together and mix. I think the key is to let the broccoli to sit in the sauce for a bit and soften.

My husband who HATES broccoli and never eats it. Ate this dish and asked for more!! Loving it. He may soon be a raw foodie too.

Lastly I also made some dried apples with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Yum.

I also got an order that I placed last week and in it are some of the things that I talked about in regards to radiation protection. I am really interested in the the bag of Chaga Mushroom, but I haven't been able to try it out yet.

Love to hear what things you make when you are really REALLY pinched for time or on the road all day?

All Things Raw & Sweet!!

2011-04-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I do love about raw sweets is that often after tasting a raw dessert many people love it and want to try more raw foods. So if you know someone who is skeptical about raw foods, I suggest offering a dessert. In today's post you will find a yummy pink smoothie and my favourite Chocolate Blyss Treats.

First up...This lovely Pink Smoothie

Frozen Raspberries
Banana
Sunwarrior Chocolate Protein Powder
Hemp Seeds
Water

Blend well and top with some raspberries. Enjoy.

Next onto one of the staples in my home. Chocolate Blyss Treats. These are great, healthy for you and perfect for a little snack. You can't make this wrong. I posted these before but without a recipe. So here they are again. I have to be honest each time I make them a little bit different depending on my mood and what's in my pantry, however they are always a BIG HIT.

Ingredients for batch #1
1/4 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/4 Cup Raw Cacao Powder
1/4 Cup Organic Nut Butter
Vanilla Bean or Vanilla Powder
1/4 Shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1 Tbs Agave(or you could use honey, maple syrup, yacon)
2 Tbs Ground Flax Seed
2Tbs Coconut Oil

Hemp seeds and shredded coconut needed for decorating.

Mix together in a large bowl. If the nut butter is clumpy mash with a fork. If the mixture is dry add more coconut oil. If it is too wet add more seeds or flax powder. I ended up adding a little more flax and then one more tbs of nut butter.

Roll into balls. Use your hands and roll in your choice of shredded coconut or hemp seeds Put in the freezer and take out just before eating. I love eating them frozen and so does my family. They will look like this. You can substitute chia seeds, cacao nibs, carob or tahini.

My second batch has the following added ingredients. They are the dark ones that are not rolled in seeds or coconut.

Ingredients for batch # 2:
bee pollen
blue green algae
pinch of Himalayan Salt

These are by no means sweet in the traditional understanding. They are slightly sweet so you can adapt them to the level of sweetness that you prefer.

Next.....Just joking. I will save my raw chocolate making experience for a future post. But here is a sneak peak.

Don't forget to check out my guest post over at Healthy Heyday this Friday.

Enjoy!

Wonderful Kale Smoothies

2011-04-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

I am not going to lie, I am in love with kale. I never knew that I would have such a personal relationship with kale, but it just happened. It seems to be my go to vegetable these days. I am so looking forward to growing some this year as I keep consuming tons of it, mostly in my smoothies and for kale chips. I usually tend to lean towards my favourite green smoothie mix of kale, lemon and green apples. However since we have two huge watermelons rolling around on the table and consuming a huge amount of space, I thought that I better switch it up.

I am going to nickname this as my "welcome to green smoothies" drink. I made two versions and the first is just perfect to share with someone who is new to the green smoothie movement.( where you combine fruit and green vegetables into one healthy smoothie). It is so mild tasting and would be great with a frilly little umbrella on it and you can pretend you are at the beach.

Here is the first batch I made today.

You will need
2 cups of cubed watermelon
1 frozen banana (can use more if you want it sweeter or less)
1/3 cup of water
1/3 cup raspberries
1 cup spinach

Put everything in a blender and serve. I love the fresh light green shade and taste. It is perfect for those that have never had a green smoothie.

My daughter and hubby loved it.

If you have been drinking green smoothies for a while you could do this version. It is still light and fluffy and would work in a nice summer setting or really anytime of year. I added this to the recipe ingredients listed above:

6 kale leaves
1 capsule of blue green algae or E3Live

I blended in the kale and then poured out the mixture. To that I added the algae and mixed it around. This turned it a shade darker. You could also half the amount of banana if you don't need your smoothies to be sweet. I have also been in love with blue green algae. If you don't have it you could use spirulina or chlorella.

Followed the smoothie with a quick salad. Messy, but yummy.

Enjoy!!

What vegetable are you in love with these days? Are you having a green smoothie everyday? I would love to hear if you have tried blue green algae and what you think of it?

Asian Chickpea Salad & Curry Chickpea

2011-04-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

On any given day I am making a whole lot of food. Raw food and cooked food. My family is very willing to eat raw foods, but they don't eat as much as me. They try a lot of the things that I make, but they still have a vegan style meal a lot of the time. Their food is healthy and contains some of the best ingredient, so I thought that I would share a typical night for us. I make my raw meal and their cooked meal often by using the same theme.

I made myself this chickpeas dish which is not all raw, but still very good.

Salad Ingredients
Chickpeas
1/8 Cup Dulse
1/4 Cup Scallions
1/2 Cup Celery
Few Raisins (yes this is a weird idea with the dulse but it worked well)

Dressing
miso
apple cider vinegar
olive and algae oil
salt (this will depend on what type of seaweed you use-you made not need any)

For mine I scooped some onto some mixed greens and added a few sprouts. My daughter actually really liked this and took it to school for her lunch the next day.

Then....

I made a Curry Chickpea dish for my husband. This is a really tasty vegan dish that you can make for your family. It is so quick that I can make it in about 30 minutes and it is healthy for you. There is barely any oil, and the oil we use is good for you.

You will need:
Chickpeas (soaked and boiled or or canned)
I tbs curry powder
I medium sized onion
1tbs coconut oil ( Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil by Nutiva)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf & 1 sprig of thyme
1/4-1/2 Cup shredded cabbage
1 carrot slice or shredded
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk (Organic)
1/2 cup water
hot pepper to your liking ( I used about 1/4 green chili)
pinch of Himalayan salt or sea salt

Heat the coconut oil and lightly saute the curry, onion, bay leaf, thyme and garlic. Add in chickpeas, carrot, cabbage and stir to get all veggies coated with the curry powder. Add your water and coconut milk. Allow to come to a slight boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Add hot pepper, salt and pepper to your liking. If it is too thick add water, if it is too runny mash a couple of the chick peas and the curry will get thicker. Enjoy.

I like it when the vegetables are just slightly cooked and still crunchy. I have made this many ways and you can change the vegetables that you use. You can use kale or spinach and add it to the mixture just before serving.

You can serve this over steamed brown rice. Or even quinoa or millet. This is so quick that it a great meal to have in your recipe file. There is usually lots left over for lunch.

Now my favourite part. Use the left over coconut milk for a treat for all of your hard work in the kitchen. I use mine in my Matcha Green Tea.

I hope you ENJOY!. Does you family require different meals? How do you incorporate new foods into your family meals? I would love to hear from you on what works for your family.

Green Smoothies and Victoria Boutenko

2011-04-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Last week when I was detoxing from my computer I watched a raw food video that I bought many years ago. This video is of Victoria Boutenko doing a food preparation class. I haven't watched this video in a while. They don't sell it any more but there are a lot of other dvd's for sale. I was extremely fortunate to meet her and the family and hear them speak. At the time I was just getting into raw food and she shared a wealth of information and research. My sister and I sat in the front rows and soaked up all of the information she was talking about. I immediately lined up after the workshop and purchased a couple of books and a video.

The thing I liked most about watching the video this week was that it brought raw food back to it's basics. I love the ease and simplicity of her recipes. I feel the focus is not on gourmet raw, but functional daily raw. So after watching her video last week I found out that she was doing a free talk on Omega 3 this week. Not sure if any of you had a chance to listen to this call? I would love to know what you thought of it?

I found this talk to be very so interesting. The focus was on omega 3 and omega 6 and how our bodies are craving omega 3 fatty acid and how we have an abundance of omega 6 fatty acid in our food. She touched upon a lot of points that she has been researching. She brings up the topic that many raw food diets have too much focus on nuts and seeds which are more abundant in omega 6 fatty acids. She believes that we should be focusing more on the green smoothies and therefore getting more omega 3's which help with inflammation, brain development, vision and flexibility. The only seeds and nuts that she is consuming right now is flax seeds, chia seeds and walnuts. After she switched her diet and removed most nuts she began to feel better and loose weight.

She also touched upon being 100% raw vs high raw. ( Wow can I tell you that seems to be a big topic lately, but that's a whole other post). She also brought up the topic of how there is negative energy sometimes between different diets. For example raw food vs vegan vs non vegan. I do love all of her research but also her honesty. She is sharing a chart with all of her information on the percentage of omega 3 vs omega 6 in seeds and nuts. It is on the Green Smoothie Queen Blog

If you can try to listen to this call it is very interesting and challenges a lot of beliefs raw food. I am not sure how long this link will be available.

Also check some of the products that Victoria and the raw family offer. I did make a few things from her family books including a yummy raw soup and some cookies that I will post about later. In the meantime....drink your green smoothie and get your omega 3's.

My favorite is kale, lemon, apple and sprouts. Sometime a small piece of date is added for my daughter. However after a few smoothies, she doesn't need it anymore.

Love to hear what you thing about reducing the nuts and seeds in your diet? Omega 3's in the raw food diet? 100% raw vs high raw?

Radiation..What are you doing?

2011-04-02T19:22:00.001-07:00

Over the last couple of weeks I have been reading a lot of articles relating to radioactive material leaking from Fukushima plant and thinking about what I should add to my daily routine. Around the same time that the leak started in Japan there was also a leak in Ontario Canada at the Pickering Plant. I live in Canada about an hour away from the leak. If you are interested in eating healthy food, now it a great time to start incorporating more super foods into your diet to help offset all of this toxic matter.

I have included a few articles from some of the top health experts in my opinion. I read most of these articles and then made a list of what I want to purchase and incorporate into my diet or just simply increase. For example the soup above has some dulse flake in it. I also love adding my things to my smoothies such as algae, bee pollen, camu camu and more. So this is the perfect place for me to incorporate some of their suggestion. If you want a more detailed protocol they provide it for you.

In the articles you will notice that there a lot of common recommendations such as adding kelp and other sea vegetables into your diet by supplement or as food. Boosting your immune system with vitamins and herbs. Some other points touched upon correcting our nutritional deficiencies and eating chelating herbs. I think there is some great information here on how to support and protect our bodies at this time. I am not in a panic by any means, but I do want to be aware of what I can do to support my body in the best way and that's why I looked to these experts on what to do.

A summary of some of the supplements that are mentioned in the articles are:
Vitamin C
Kelp and
Sea Vegetables
Chlorella
Spirulina
Vitamin/Mineral Supplements
Ginseng
Ashwagandha
Fulvic Acid
Medicinal Mushrooms
Iodine
E3Live/Blue Green Algae
MegaHydrate

Natural News
Has up to date information on the current situation in Japan. Shares information on test they are doing in the US to see how much radioactive material has spread and is found in our food supply.

Body Ecology
Article talks about radioactive Iodine 131 and how it effects our bodies and why we need to make sure our iodine levels are not deficient.

Dr. Mercola
If you scroll down to the section on what to take there is a nice chart of herbs, vitamins and supplements that are listed.

David Wolfe
Amazingly detailed information on products that he recommends and what protocol to take. Very eye opening information on how radiation effects us and what to do to protect ourselves.

Dr. Gabriel Cousens
In depth look at radiation we face everyday and what to do in light of the situation in Japan.

This is my smoothie with an extra dose of blue green algae, vitamin c and bee pollen.

What are you doing to help your body deal with radioactive material? Love to hear if you are doing anything? Go ahead and post your link in the comments section sharing one of your kelp or seaweed recipe below for others to try. We might as well help each other out and swap some of the good stuff. I am sure you have lots.

Thanks to one of my fellow blogger's Kelli She has been posting some great recipes with kelp in them and information on radiation as well. Go take a peak.

WOW Cafe & Nut Cheese

2011-03-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

Last night I held my first local raw food meet-up and I had a great time. We went to WOW Cafe in Guelph, Ontario. WOW Cafe (Wild Organic Way) is one of my favorite places to eat. My sister and I found WOW Cafe many years ago and that was the spark that got us loving raw food. At the time we were driving around searching for an organic cafe. Little did we know, that it was raw. Isn't it funny how the universe just sends you in the right direction. After our first visit, we fell in love with Raw Food.

I am not showing any photo's because my camera was on the fritz and it just doesn't do their food justice. So instead I will just link to their cafe. I am getting a new camera and therefore I will have an excuse to go back soon and take some photo's and maybe try something new. There menu features a great selection of raw smoothies, juices, meals and desserts. I had a great raw pizza and awesome smoothie. I also picked up some of their yummy crackers and a bag of raw cacao butter.

Today I used some crackers that I bought last night from WOW and they have a great unique flavour probably one of the best I have tried. Not only do they taste great, they are sturdy and I love that in a raw cracker.

I added some avocado to one cracker and some macadamia nut cheese that I made earlier in the week on the others. I also have some cut up cucumbers and a marinated kale salad that I made. This was a great easy meal.

Simple Kale
wash,cut and dry kale leaves
olive oil
sea salt
nutritional yeast
Mix well and let marinade. The longer the better.

Macadamia Nut Cheese
I actually made this for a raw pasta but had some left over. I soaked the nuts overnight and then drained and rinsed them.
Blend all ingredients until smooth. Use for salads, on pasta or on crackers.
raw macadamia nuts.
red pepper
lemon
scallions
pepper and salt
nutritional yeast
water

This is the cheese below. It looks slightly orange and spreads nicely on the crackers. I usually use cashews for nut cheese but I had a few macadamia nuts left over and wanted to use them up.

Last night before the meet up my sister and to a local book store. I picked up this book, while my sister picked up 2 vegan cupcake books. I feel a cook off coming up.:)

What do you like to put into your salad? What is your favorite raw food cafe or restaurant? If you are in the local area here, stop by WOW and you will be hooked on raw food...I promise.

Hemp & Sesame Milk

2011-03-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

It's all about the milk. I am a fan of almond milk. I make my own and I also purchase unsweetened almond milk from our local health food store. This week I have really been hooked on Hemp Milk and I am loving it. I usually drink almond milk. Not only does Hemp milk have this great nutty taste but it has this power packed nutritional profile that just makes you feel healthy by drinking it . It is a source of calcium, omega's, magnesium, potassium, iron and more trace minerals. It has a nice earthy taste to it and has a slight browny white tinge to it. I love hemp seeds so much that they are very much a part of my children's diet.

Here is the brand that I used this week. When I buy any nut milks I always buy unsweetened milk. Then if I need to, I will add my own sweetener of choice. However I usually don't need to add anything. I will be making my own on the weekend.

I had a lovely cereal mix this week to accompany the hemp milk. I soaked some buckwheat groats overnight. Rinsed them off really well in the morning. They are a bit slimy but that can all come out when you rinse them. Then I put them to dehydrate for a few hours. (You could do this on low in your oven if you don't have a dehydrator).

Once they are dry I put them in the fridge in an air tight container. Each day I have had this lovely cereal combination.

Buckwheat
Chia Seeds
Walnuts
Hemp Milk (health food store or homemade)
Fruit of choice.

Enjoy. (next week it will be a new combo as I am almost out of this one)

I also made sesame milk this week and used it in a chocolate smoothie. Yummy. It was really easy and pretty good. First I soaked the sesame seeds overnight. Then put them in the Vitamix and gave them a quick blend. I used a nut bag to strain the milk. I threw out the left over sesame pulp and it left this amazingly white milk.

There is a bit of a stronger taste to the milk so I mixed it with a banana, cacao butter and a little agave. Really I did this because I wanted to see what my 4 year old would think of this new milk. She normally drinks rice milk or almond milk. She recognized the smell of sesame seeds, but loved the taste. This is great because sesame seeds are a source of calcium.

I usually use almond milk and I love homemade milk but I don't always have the time. However I am glad I stepped out and did the sesame milk which was new for me.What type of milk do you use in your house? Do you use one type and your children a different type? Is there a new milk that you want to try?

I also got my first blog award for Blyssful Health from Rawkinmom. So sending out a big thank you to Rawkinmom. I just need some time to think of who I am going to pass it along too.

Raw chips and Rejuvelac

2011-03-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

I have been all over the place these days with choosing what raw food to make. I want to try so many new recipes and I am finding out that some turn out well and other's not so well. Over the years I have collected quite a few raw food books and I also take some out of the library. No matter what the books say my critics are my family. They tell me what they think. My daughter is my biggest critic. She will tell me if it is a "keeper" or if it is a "flop". She doesn't use these words exactly but her expressions and actions say it all. I am lucky that my husband likes and tries everything.

Overall I am having a lot of fun with raw food. My goal is really to maximize my food choices and therefore increase my nutrient consumption and energy levels. Really who doesn't want more energy these days? I also want my family to enjoy more raw foods. For our meals I try to make a raw version and a cooked version that work along the same theme. So if I am making a raw pad Thai, I will also make a cooked version. For times when that doesn't work I put together my own little sampling of raw foods and make my family something else and then give them the option of what they want to eat.

So my keeper was this new recipe for nacho style chips pictured above. It was from a book I took out from the library called Everyday Raw. The base of the nacho chip corn and flax. I did it a little to safe this first time. However was pleasantly surprised that it was so quick and easy. I think if I added some scallions and more seasoning they would be better. I did like how sturdy they were as a chip as well.

My flop was my first attempt at making rejuvelac. I made that about a week and a half ago and let's just say I am not sure about it. I soaked and sprouted wheat berries as shown bellow.

Then I crushed them a little bit just to open the seed and then added water.

And let it ferment....

Well let me tell you, I could sure smell the fermenting. So could my daughter and so could my husband. When your daughter walks into the kitchen and says what's that smell. Mmmm well it doesn't help the situation.

I have had rejuvelac before but it was while I was working at a health food store and it was a product sample. It was good. The book that I got them from said that you will know if the mixture has gone bad. Well not exactly... because it is fermented I had a hard time telling if it worked or not. So I will try it again very soon. I picked up a new batch of wheat berries.

Do you have experience with rejuvelac? Do you like it? How do you make yours? I would love to hear your stories about fermenting. However never fear as I have a new little workshop that I am taking that will be helping me with fermenting! So stay tuned for more information on fermenting soon.

Detox from your computer?

2011-03-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

I have a funny story. Well it was not so funny at the time, it was actually very frustrating. I somehow happened to get a horrible virus on my computer this week. Not sure where it came from, however I new the instant that I got it that it was a bad one. When you see a HUGE waring sign on your screen and you can't get it off no matter what you do...it's bad. It attached itself and caused havoc!! That is why you have not seen any posts,tweets or comments from me in the last couple of days. I was on a forced detox from my computer for a couple of days and it got me thinking. Don't worry everything is cleared up and we are up and running again. The computer did have to go in for a repair for a couple of days.

However the interesting thing about this is that, yes it was very frustrating, but I think this event served a purpose. After the initial frustration had eased and I realized that my husband or I could not fix it, we just dealt with no computer. Has this ever happened to you? At first I missed it a lot. Then I really and truly realized how much time I spend on it and how connected I am to the people on it. When it was gone I somehow had a lot of time. Don't get me wrong. I love using the computer and blogging. However this new found time that I had was very useful. I got to read some interesting articles that I had around the house, I got to study a little and I got to create a lot more things in the kitchen.

So what have I learned? I have learned that yes we detox our body from toxins, but do we detox ourselves from technology enough? Do we allow ourselves to turn away from the "on button" and just relax and be? I think I am going to try to incorporate more of this down time each day. It is actually ironic that the article I was reading last night included a little bit of information on detoxing from our homes and part of it was about our computers, TVs and gadgets and the EM fields in our homes and what we can do to help reduce their effects in our life.

What about you, have you or will you be detoxing from any of your gadgets? Do you have a set amount of time that you use your computer? It would be really interesting to share and see how much time we use technology and what it feels like to disconnect for a while. I would love to hear what your opinions are?

This week try setting a computer free zone. Or a no gadget zone for a couple of hours and see how you feel?

The Winner is!

2011-03-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for entering my healthy book giveaway. This contest was a lot of fun and I loved learning about what things would make you healthier. Let's all work together to get healthy this spring. I appreciate all of you that entered the contest and helped spread the word about Blyssful Health.

Now the drum roll please!!!!

The winner was chosen using Random.Org

The Winner of the Healthy Book Giveaway is comment #45!

HiHoRosie said...
follow via GFC
March 20, 2011 12:48 AM

Congrat's Heidi!!!! Enjoy!!! Please pick the book of your choice and email me your shipping info. You can find my email if you click on my profile at top right of the blog.

And.... for those of you that did not win....don't worry I received a a nice package in the mail today that will be used for our next contest in a couple of weeks!

I have been making a lot of food, but just haven't had a chance to post about it yet. I am in the process of switching over to a new camera and we just have been really busy. However I wanted to leave you with the thought of making your own green smoothie.

This included 2 green apples, one pitted date, water and a handful of mixed sprouts. Quite a bit thicker than my juices, but very good and yummy.

Book Giveaway: Get Healthy With Us!

2011-03-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

Now is your opportunity to get healthy. Spring is approaching and what better time to get a new health book to help you on your journey to Blyssful Health. Please join us in getting healthy and enter our book giveaway contest. A big thank you to all of my followers. I love that you are all getting inspired, are trying my recipes, and making changes.

So now to the prize. The winner gets their choice of one book. Since there is an eclectic group of followers, I figured it would be good to give you some choices.

HERE ARE THE BOOK CHOICES:

HOW TO ENTER:
Please note this contest is only open to Canadian and US Residents.

Everyone must do a Mandatory entry by answering the question. How could you improve your health? Then do any of the following:

1) Tweet it! Follow me on twitter and say something like: @Sash_Campbell is having a Healthy Book Giveaway!! OR USE RE TWEET BUTTON ON TOP OF POST.

2) ADD ME TO YOUR BLOG ROLL!

3) BLOG ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LINK BACK TO MY POST!

4) JOIN US ON FACE BOOK BY CLICKING THE Join Our Group Button (blue box just to the right)

5) FOLLOW BLYSSFUL HEALTH BY JOINING "GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT"

6)SUBSCRIBE to Blyssful Health by entering your email.

*BONUS* GET A FRIEND TO SIGN UP ON EITHER FACEBOOK OR GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT AND RECEIVE 2 BALLETS FOR YOURSELF. JUST GET YOUR FRIEND TO SAY WHO SENT THEM. YOU CAN BRING AS MANY FRIENDS AS YOU LIKE. MAKE SURE TO ENTER YOUR NAME 2 SEPERATE TIMES.

Please leave a *separate comment* for each entry! (ie. I tweeted, or I joined facebook).

The giveaway will close on Monday March 21st at 11:30pm

I will announce the randomly-chosen winner on Tuesday, March 22nd!

Good luck!

Time For Tea: But not your regular tea.

2011-03-13T21:17:00.001-07:00

Lot's of exciting things are happening here at Blyssful Health. I am having a contest here this week for a great book, and I started a local Raw Meet up Group. As well there will be some great product reviews, some new information on fermenting coming your way and a new website. So it is pretty busy and exciting.

However as promised I mentioned that I would share about how I make my new tea. As some of you know I am taking David Wolfe's Ultimate Nutrition Course. I am learning so many things. One of the things that I am learning about is tea. I am not talking about a simple tea bag. I am talking about a multi functional tea. I no longer look at teas in the same way. My new saying is "What can my tea do for me?" The answer is a lot. It can nourish me, calm me, feed my body nutrients and help my immune system.

Here are some pictures of my tea experiment.

So below are some herbs that I bought at the health food store.

In a large pot on the stove I added some water(not tap water) and them some Nettle, Horsetail and Oat straw. I also added a handful of Goji Berries and some Vanilla Powder. The Vanilla gives it a nice flavor and the Goji berries are so good for you and help round out the flavour. I let it simmer but never boil.

Next strain the mixture and use right away our put some in jars for later use as a tea or as a base for my smoothies.

After all of the liquid is drained off the remains look like this. Don't throw this out. You can make a couple more batches of tea with the same herbs and Goji Berries. I took my large batch and put some in the fridge as I could not drink the huge amount I made all at once.

The first batch of tea I made was strong. The first batch is always the strongest. So for me I had to dilute it with some water. The next batch was milder and milder with the third batch.

For me these herbs are important because of their silica content which is good for hair, nail and skin. Many herbs these days have several different functions so it is good to do some research on what herbs you are using. Lastly I added some Reishi mushroom powder to my tea as that was the only mushroom that I had on hand.

A few days late I went out and bought these. No that is not BACON, it's Reishi mushroom slices that I will steep with my next batch of tea. I am learning about mushrooms and their medicinal qualities, I definitely want these in my tea.

It took me a couple of cups to get into it. Now I am more used to it and I actually love the Goji berries in the tea. Especially since I now know how good there are for you.

Hope you enjoyed this and now look at your tea differently. While you are sipping your tea...here are a few quotes for you to think about.

Whatever your mind can conceive and can believe, it can achieve.
Napoleon hill

The power of intention is the power to manifest, to create, to live a life of unlimited abundance, and to attract into your life the right people at the right moments.
Wayne Dyer Quote

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
Buddha

Corn Avocado Soup and Mexican Crisps

2011-03-10T20:49:00.000-08:00

Creamy soft avocado and corn soup! This raw soup is so easy to make. You will wonder why you never tried this or raw food before. I have been eating lots and lots of salads, smoothies and making lots of sprouts in the last couple of days. I wanted to switch things up a bit and add in a nice soup. I also made another smoothie and some little appetizers below.

This corn soup is adapted from The Raw Gourmet. I have had this book for years and although I don't use it that often it has some really great information in it especially for those that are new to raw food.

Ingredients
1 cup of frozen corn
1 avocado
1-2 tbs of chopped red onion
water or plain almond milk
cumin
sea salt
crumbled flax crisp
pea sprouts

Blend all of the ingredients in Vitamix. Add pea sprouts and few kernels of corn on the top. I added some flax crackers on top. You can add any type of flax cracker on top. Mine was a nice spicy Mexican Beet Fiesta crisps from Two Girls Cooking, which went really well with the soup. This really took about 5 minutes or less. The left over soup was used as a dressing for my salad the next day.

I used the same Mexican Crisps for this little appetizer below. Very simple but tasty.I like these crisps because they have a good flavor to them and they are definitely not bland. Actually they have a good amount of heat to them. You could used any type of flax cracker.

I just mixed some tomatoes, cilantro(my favorite), red onion and some of the thick creamy corn and avocado soup as a sauce. Yummy.

Lastly I also made another smoothie. This time I made a chocolate raspberry smoothie but added some Chocolate Amazing Grass to it. This is another brand that I like.

This has many different great ingredients in it and is not to costly. It has a great chocolate flavor. I think I am on this raspberry chocolate kick lately. Give me a couple of days and I am sure it will pass...and I will be onto something else. Speaking of something else I am trying to make rejuvelac, which I will report when it is done.

Want tips on detoxing, short inspiring movie clips and more...Come join our facebook group by clicking the "LIKE" button on the right.

Ps. Yoga was great!

Chocolate Maca Treats and Bean Salad

2011-03-08T11:55:00.001-08:00

Last night I decided to try a new recipe from a book that I took out from the Library called Everyday Raw. Raw cashews can be used in so many raw dishes that it is sometimes hard to decide what to make. I decided to try something new.

This truffle recipe uses maca which is a Peruvian root. It has kind of a mild or bitter butterscotch taste. You can find it in bulk or in capsules. It is often used with chocolate dishes like this or in hot chocolate drinks. I like the idea of this recipe, but I think the next time that I do it I will change a few things. For me it is a lot of maca and I might like it more if there was a little less. Really you could take the base of the chocolate and cashews and add your own flavor profile. I did love the texture of the dough that it created. However it was a little harder to clean out of the vitamix.(tip-scrape all you can out of the Vitamix then instead of washing with soap and water add almond milk to help remove all the chocolate and then you have a little bit of a bonus..Chocolate Milk)

I adapted the recipe and cut it in half. I usually cut the recipe in half when it is new just in case I don't love it then I haven't wasted a lot of high quality ingredients. This recipe uses maca and cacao powder.

Then some cashews, coconut oil, sweetener and vanilla powder.

Blend well. It takes a while to blend. I had to adapt the recipe and add some water to get it going. I also cut the sweetener down and replaced it with water. It turns into this thick dough. Scrape out and place dough in freezer for an hour or two.

Then roll into balls and coat with Maca. Note this is messy. If you plan on doing half chocolate and half dipped in maca, it is good to keep them separated. As you can see the maca powder gets everywhere.
My daughter Blyss was my little helper. We were covered in chocolate!!

Then....my sister Michelle came over and dropped off some lettuce and bean salad. This was great as my husband was out of town and I had no car and was craving a salad.

Top your lettuce with bean salad. There is a dressing on the bean salad so just put a huge scoop of the beans right on top of the salad.

Michelle's Bean Salad (non raw version)

Ingredients
Apple Cider Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Sweetener

Kidney Beans
Chick Peas
Onion
any other bean you would like to add

Enjoy!!! Yum. Even my daughter who is a picky eater loved this bean salad.

I am really getting excited to share a lot of the things that I am learning about raw food. I am studying at night and I am almost finished taking David Wolfe's Ultimate Raw Nutrition course. It has been really interesting and I have been learning a lot about the body and raw foods. I also have a few other courses to finish up in the area of cleansing and detoxing.(more about that later).

Please let me know if there is anything specific that you would like me to make or talk about.

Also I would love for you to join us on facebook by clicking the "LIKE" button on the right hand side of the blog. Now off to yoga...wish me luck it is my first class in a long time.

Chocolate Raspberry Sunwarrior Smoothie

2011-03-04T20:55:00.001-08:00

Move over old proteins, Sunwarrior Protein is here to stay.

Take a look at their profile.

100% raw
vegan protein
soy free
hypo allergenic
sprouted brown rice
great nutritional profile
non GMO
easy to digest
full of vitamin and mineral
contains all 9 essential amino acids

This really fit's in with my whole quest to get healthy with raw and living foods and use the best products out there, so I thought I would give it a try. I was still a little sceptical as I have Not used any protein powders for over a year. I have had a love-hate relationship with protein powder. I love the idea but never really enjoyed the taste of them, the extra fillers and the not so healthy ingredients in many of the other products on the market.

So I gave Sunwarrior Protein a try. First up a Vanilla Blueberry Smoothie.

Ingredients
2 scoops Sun Warrior Vanilla Protein Powder
1 ripe banana
1 cup of frozen wild blueberries
1/2 tsp vanilla powder (optional)
1 tbs coconut oil or butter

Blend well and enjoy!
Really good. I am impressed with that fact that the texture of the powder is very smooth and there is absolutely no gritty taste. For me the best part is that there is also no fake vanilla smell to it.

Next...on to the Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie.

2 scoop Sun Warrior Chocolate Protein Powder
1 tbs Cocco-Locco (or 1 tbs of coconut butter, cacao nibs and sweetener)
1 cup water
1/4 cup or more of raspberries
2 tbs coconut milk
1 tbs greens product of your choice

Blend well and enjoy! I loved having my greens in here because the chocolate is strong enough to cover it. So you get that little extra punch of nutrition. Look how thick this is. Yummy.

I hope you give it a try. Overall I would rate the Sunwarrior Protein very highly. I had a chance to look over their website and facebook page. They have some great resources on their site including 25 free recipes for smoothies. I am excited to go and sample their Ormus Greens product which is supposed to be really good too.

Check out other testimonials

Look for the black box on the right to "Like" our new facebook page!

Avocado Dressing & Curry Chickpeas

2011-03-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

Fresh papaya, a sprout salad with avocado dressing and a curry chickpea dish. That is what you will get here today. Oh yes and a few pictures of products that I bought today at the health food store. Love sharing new finds and old goodies too.

I had a busy day running around doing errands so I wanted to make sure that my diet supports me as much as possible. Sometimes it's hard as last night I had about 4 hours of sleep. So I really needed to pack in some nutrient rich foods.(hence the shopping trip)

Shopping at the health food store's is one of my favorite things to do. That why I used to work for one. I can spend hours there if time permitted. I just love looking at all the new products and picking up fresh produce. Today I got to go with my sister, who is also a health foodie who you will surely see here guest blogging.

This is what we picked up.

Pack of mixed sprouts, organic Thai coconut, coco-loco chocolate coconut spread, bag of sprouted buckwheat, kombucha tea and pea sprouts. I also picked up a small bottle of freshly made kale, carrot ginger juice. (oops drank that on the way home...yummy)

and this.....

Organic papaya. Let me tell you it was AMAZING. I was going to do a smoothie but just decided to cut it up and well all ate it. Don't you just love papaya? It is so good for you and your digestive system.

Then for our evening meal I was in a big rush so I threw together some pea sprouts and some of the mixed sprouts. The mixed sprouts had clover, alfalfa, broccoli and kamut sprouts. I shredded some daikon and cut up some red peppers. Then I used this great avocado dressing that I made last night. It is taken from Raw Glow which is a great raw food book. It has a lot of amazing pictures and great recipes. I adapted mine a little bit.

Ingredients
1 Avocado
1 cup of fresh orange juice
1 tbs red onion
lime juice
honey or agave
salt
pepper
and additional hot peppers if you like

Blend it all up and that is it. Oh yes you can add olive oil or flax oil which will cut the lime if you want. To be honest I forgot the olive oil and made it without and didn't really miss it.

Pour over salad and enjoy. This keeps in the fridge for a couple of days.

I also made an easy curry chickpeas with rice.

Ingredients

chick peas
1/2 can of organic coconut milk
2-3 spoons of curry
3 sprigs of thyme
3 cloves of garlic
some water.
1 tbs coconut oil
1 scallion
2 chili's (optional but a must for me)

Heat all of the above ingredients in a dutch pot if you have one or a just a regular pot. Heat slightly and then that is it. You can use this on top of brown rice if you like or on it's own. Very quick and easy meal. Sometimes I add raw kale on top.

Lastly some herbal tea and time to reflect....

I will be talking about making tea and what your tea can do for you as far as your health in the next little bit. Stay tuned for some very exciting things to come.

I also signed up for a yoga class today so I am really excited about this. I think it is so important to nurture your mind, body and soul. Tell me how are you nurturing yourself these days ?

PS. If you are interested in taking the yoga class with us just let me know.

Raw Walnut Spread & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

2011-02-28T15:54:00.001-08:00

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.

Don't be shy...leave a comment.

Broccoli & Daikon Salad...Yum

2011-02-25T17:58:00.001-08:00

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

2011-02-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-22T23:49:00.001-08:00

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

2011-02-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-12T08:56:00.001-08:00

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

2011-02-10T17:35:00.001-08:00

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

2011-02-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

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!!

Yummy Homemade Cereal

2011-02-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

Since the mornings are a challenge. I have to find ways to get the most out of my food. Usually I make a smoothie or even a juice. Sometimes I make my own cereal, which is really easy. You can take your ingredients that you want to use and put them in a mixing bowl. Add your choice of sweetener and then a little oil. Mix and put in your dehydrator for the raw version. If you don't have a dehydrator stick the mixture in your oven on the lowest heat for about an hour. If you do the oven route it will not be raw, however it will still healthier for you and better than the majority of the grocery store cereals.

My favorites ingredients are sesame seeds(black), almonds(crush them), sunflower seeds, chia and hemp seeds. Oats are another option. You can use oats too. Raw oats and oat groats are also another option

Get a large bowl and mix it together.

Then pick a sweetener, a flavor and an oil from below and mix it up and that's it.

Either dehydrate or put in your oven depending on if you want it raw or not.

Here are some options below.
Sweetener:
Agave nectar, Stevia, raw honey, molasses and maple syrup depending on your preference.

Flavor:
Cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, pinch of sea salt, cacao powder, carob powder

Fun stuff:
Goji berries, cacao nibs, shredded coconut, pumpkin seeds, chopped apple or pear, whole flax seeds.

Oil
Coconut oil is my suggestion.

Note: If you need to have more moisture you can use a blended up apple or pear. Also non sweetened applesauce can work.

When it is done you can serve with almond or any other nut milk. I like mine in chunks but you can break it up if it is stuck together. Keeps in fridge for a while...but will be gone in no time. Enjoy and have a great breakfast.

Mine is dehydrating right now so I will show the final pictures later.

Onion Bread and Spicy Avocado

2011-02-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

Well about 2 posts ago I was mentioning that I was making some Raw Onion Bread from one of my favorite raw books. I had put the mixture into the dehydrator but I didn't get it finished up in time. So today I want to show you what the onion bread looks like and what I did with it.

So after I mixed the ingredients. I put it in my dehydrator. Well actually my sister's. She loaned it to me for the last year-LUCKY ME!. This is what it looks like if you have never seen one.

The dehydrator can come in many sizes and it allows you to keep the temperature at a very low heat so that the enzymes in the food are not destroyed and thus easier for your body to digest.(I will talk about that in more detail in a later post)

So this is what it looks like. There is lots of room to make different foods and put them on each tray. You can get different sizes which would determine how many trays you have. There is a range of prices.

This is a closer look at the almost dry onion bread. You can see all of the onion pieces. I used the slicer on the food processor but I much rather use the "S" blade for smaller onion piece.

Then I mixed up some avocado, cilantro, red onions and cucumbers. Sprinkle a little Himalayan Salt. Lot's of pepper and Yum!!

Who says raw food is not delicious?

Chocolate Blyss

2011-02-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

I just love making these Chocolate Blyss Treats. My sister and I having been making these for the last couple of years. We always like to experiment with food and have many different variations of this over the years. My daughter's name is Blyss, hence the name and spelling. As luck would have it she was my little helper in the kitchen today.

These are a raw treat, but you can make them non raw if you choose. However I will tell you that if you are trying to do raw food this is one of the easiest things to do. Partly because I stick them in the freezer and the other part is that they always taste good. Here is a blueprint of what you can add. But almost anything goes with these. What ever taste you love you can add.

Grab a large bowl for mixing. Add a 1/4 cup of shredded coconut(non sweet, you want to add your own sweetener). Add some cacao nibs. I love these. They are bitter and give a good crunch. This is what they look like. You can buy them at your local health food store. They are great to have around and can be used in many raw dishes including smoothies. I added about a 1/4 cup again.

Cacao Nibs

Next I added some Organic coconut oil. COCONUT OIL is good for you. Go out and buy some. I just kind of poured this in maybe about a 1/4 of a cup or more. Then I added in a handful of sunflower seeds, goji berries,hemp seeds. Then a good sprinkle of ground flax seed. Lastly the key ingredient is cacao powder and lots of it.

Adding Goji Berries and Do Matcha Green Tea(sneaking some Matcha tea in because I love it)

Then mix and add your sweetener of choice either raw honey, agave syrup or stevia. Add more coconut oil if mixture is too dry and not all coated.

Mix it together.

Now time to get messy, don't worry you get to lick you hands after. Put your hands in it and roll into little balls. It will be oily but that is okay. If they don't stick that well you can add some nut butter or even more ground flax. It can help bind the mixture. They neat trick is that they don't have to be perfect or stick perfectly because you are going to pop them in the freezer.

Getting messy and rolling into balls

My little helper. I am thinking "Please don't touch the wall"

And Voila! Put them in a glass freezer safe dish and grab one when you are low on energy or have a craving. THEY ARE GOOD FOR YOU!!!

I eat them frozen, but you can slightly thaw them or keep them in the fridge. They seem to go faster in the fridge. For a party you can roll them in hemp seeds, sesame seeds or whatever you like to make them look all fancy. Enjoy.

A favorite Raw Book

2011-02-03T20:27:00.001-08:00

I was first introduced to raw food 3 years ago. I have been dabbling in it off and on. Sometimes I have eaten entirely one raw meal a day. Then a full day raw here and there. Then a couple of days raw at a time. In the spring I had my longest stint of being straight 100% raw and that was for 40 days. It was totally spur of the moment and I just felt like it was time. I feel that now is the time to get back into raw food and try to keep it in my life for good.

Over the years I have have gathered a collection of a few raw books. Maybe about 10 or so. So I am going to share some of my books and favorite ingredients, so that you can get started and enjoy trying raw food. DON'T WORRY if this sounds all foreign to you. I will also back track and explain the health benefits of raw food and some of the equipment used to make it in the upcoming weeks for those of you that are new to raw food.

I do have few favorites books. Today I am making 2 recipes from one of my the raw books that I frequent quite often. It has great pictures and I find the food easy to make any yummy. It is called RAWvolution by Matt Amsden. I haven't tried all of the recipes, but quite a few and I have never been disappointed.

As we speak I have a batch of onion bread dehydrating.

First processing the onions

Then mixing the bread and getting ready to dehydrate it. Trust me this may not look appealing to some but it is so yummy. Even if you don't dehydrate it you can eat it just like this.

Then onto some some Cauliflower Couscous that I made this morning. Again using the handy dandy food processor for the cauliflower.

Add some chopped up herbs(cilantro and parsley)

Add the last few ingredients and voila. I may use this in a salad or in a wrap.

I can't show you the finished bread as it has to dehydrate for 24 hours. Long I know..but so worth it. I post the finished product if it doesn't get eaten up to quickly:)

Get Me Going Smoothie

2011-02-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

This morning I had a glass of warm water with a few squeezes of lemon juice. Then I snuck in a few grapes. Truly I would like to eat a bit more but these last few days have been killer on the "Things To Do List". Anyways not really complaining just moving right along.

I was able do a smoothie. I have made this one once before and it seems to go down pretty well. It is not overly sweet. I am not a sweet smoothie person. I like mine less sweet than the general population. I tried to pack as much into it as I could do. I have a feeling that I will be experimenting with it until I get it just right. For now this is what was in it.

Amazing Grass Chocolate Powder ( 2 scoops)
Goji berries (for some body or thickness and nutritional value)
KLamath Lake Blue Green Algae (opened 2 caps)
1 Frozen banana
Camu Camu Berry Powder (small tsp for Vitamin C)
Powdered Vanilla (1-2 small tsp)
Coconut Oil

I put it all in my Vitamix and blended away. I must say this is turning out to be a keeper for me. There is still some tweaking, however it is a start. Last time I did add some Reishi mushroom powder to it as well.

I really love to try new things in my smoothies and food. I also know that it is great to make your smoothies more balanced with some protein and fiber. I could have added more protein but I am just in the midst of ordering some new ones that I want to try.

I think the key is to have fun with your smoothies. What are some of your favorites? If you don't have all the ingredients listed above. Fear not!! You can really put almost anything into your smoothies. If you are making your first smoothie you can just add in some fruits and almond milk until you get used to it and then explore!!

Simple Raw Breakfast

2011-02-01T15:49:00.001-08:00

This morning I was in a bit of a rush. As a family we had to head out the door for an appointment. So this was my quick fix. Some dark red/purple grapes, a cut up apple, some goji berries, hemp seeds and a few cacao nibs. It was pretty simple and really fast. I actually ate part of it in the car. (You will be happy to know that I was not driving and that I try not to practice this routine often).

However this little bowl was full of nutrients. Antioxidants, fiber, protein and lots of nutrients. As you can see I even had a second to take a quick photo. Definitely, not photo worthy...but you get the idea.

What's your favorite emergency breakfast?

Tahini

2011-01-31T12:08:00.000-08:00

Well 2 nights ago I made this yummy sauce for our meal. I have made it a couple of times before and it is so easy and simple but tastes great and is healthy.

Tahini is made from grinding sesame seeds. You can make your own tahini which I did not do for this sauce but will try after my I finish the jar I have. I used an organic brand that I had on hand from the local grocery store. My tahini was dry roasted and therefore not raw. If you want to use raw tahini look for unhulled sesame seeds on the label. Don't be alarmed when you open the jar and see a large film of oil. Just take a spoon and stir it around before you use it.

For those of you who have never tried it before there are many ways to use tahini. Tahini is full of health benefits including being high in calcium and containing iron, fat protein and fiber. It is most popularly used in hummus. However you can broaden your horizons and use it for smoothies especially banana and chocolate ones. This is also a great way to give it to your children as they won't even be able to tell it is in there. You can use it in your desserts, nut or protein bars. Put it on a flax cracker for added fat and calcium. Or just on it's own as in a spicy or mild sauce.

I made a quick sauce that tasted yummy and lasted 2 days. It would have lasted longer except we ate it all. The sauce included:

Tahini
Cilantro (I usually go heavy on it as it is my favorite herb)
Namu Shoyu (raw unpasteurized soy sauce) or Soy Sauce(start with a little and then add more if needed
chopped garlic
water(to get your desired consistency)

Adjust to your liking. Whisk together or mix in your blender. This creates a lovely light brown sauce that can be put over any grain dish. It has an earthy taste. If you like things more spicy add in some chili powder. If you are making a raw version you could put this over some veggies or make a larger amount and put it over an Asian style coleslaw. Yum.

A Must Read

2011-01-30T08:46:00.001-08:00

So I was just checking my blog roll and came across this post over at Health Sleuth which is pretty disturbing. Disturbing if you believe that we should be eating organic, non GMO Foods. Disturbing if you visit a lot of large health food stores and now learn that they are joining up with the exact companies that the public wants to stay away from, Monsanto.!!

It is a long read but if you have the time and want to know what is happening to the food we eat, have a peak.

Let's get started.

2011-01-29T12:54:00.000-08:00

My husband and I sometimes have a bit of a challenge in the health department. We are often very busy taking care of my family which includes our daughter and our son with special needs. So our challenge is how do we achieve our healthiest self in the middle of the chaos that is often called "Our Life". I think part of the solution is to be persistent and to be knowledgeable about how things such as food, stress, sleep, exercise can effect our life. We have decided again to embark on a journey of health and happiness but this time we are going to blog about it. I am no stranger to blogging as I have been blogging about our son's journey for over a year now. So here we go again with just a little bit of a different focus.

I have previously started blogging on here as you can see many months ago. That time was not the greatest to start this blog. However now as I am approaching the middle of my studies in my raw food course by David Wolfe and also in the process of completing 2 other nutrition courses at the Mind Body Institute. Now is as good a time as ever. I am hoping that some people will embark on this journey with me as I learn how to eat better to feel better and reach Blyssful Health!!

Gotta start somewhere.

2010-06-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

This blog is not a raw blog or a cooked food blog. It is a blog about being healthy at the most basic level, especially in times of stress and chaos. However it just so happens that today is my fourth day on a raw diet. I would say that I am at about 90% raw for the last 4 days. The crazy thing is that this is the second time that I am trying to do a raw program. By program I mean more than one day or a meal here and there. The first time was over 2 years ago. I had tried a raw challenge with my sister. We planned and prepared and even researched. We had previously taken a Alisa Cohen Raw food course too. However yummy I thought and found the food, I still found it a challenge and immediately craved cooked food. This time is different in some ways. I still have been reading and researching. I have also signed up for another course but the main difference is that I just woke up and decided that my meal should be raw. After this meal I just continued and it has led me to 4 days of raw food.

I have been reading some blogs that have been pretty informative and inspiring. One that I particularly like is "Oh She Glows". Also this time I am not too consumed with big fancy raw dishes like I was before. Don't get me wrong I love those elaborate meals, but for now I am doing simple. Things like sunflower seed cheese, nori wraps, salads and juices and smoothies. Really I think it is my determination and that fact that I need something from this raw food that is motivating me. I need energy. I need clarity. I need inspiration. I need many more things in my life now( I will elaborate more later). I hope on the way that I will learn lots and be able to share lots too. I am not sure how long this raw journey will be. Maybe a day more. Maybe weeks. Who knows. I am going to do what feels right.

Fresh Start

2010-05-24T23:51:00.000-07:00

Today is the day. Today is the day to start again on my journey to Blyssful Health. I am hoping to blog about my voyage from where I am now to becoming and feeling 100% healthy. I have been dabbling for many years in the health field.( Working at a health food store, being a frequent health store shopper and student to several nutritional programs. However the truth is this. I I have gotten sidetracked by life and stress and I want to get back..No I want to go forward. Forward to a place that I have not been yet. I am striving to be Blysfully Healthy! I am not certain exactly what this is going to mean or look like, but I am imagining what it would feel like. So this blog is my avenue to share my journey and meet like minded individuals out there.