fruit!

i love fruit. fruit is an easy thing to love. and it's an easy thing to prepare. it also reminds me of summertime. it makes these dreary, snowy/rainy days more bearable.


easy fruit salad

1 large perfectly ripe banana, sliced
5-6 medium strawberries, diced
1/2 cup halved grapes
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and diced
splash of fresh lemon juice
sprinkle of shredded coconut

makes 3 small servings or 1 large serving.


i am very excited about this:

it's an amaryllis bulb, that i've had for about 3 years now, and hasn't bloomed once. until now. i can't wait to see it! it's a bit late in the season, but better late than never :)

green goodness

a green smoothie you really must try!

2 handfuls of spinach
1 fresh banana
1 frozen banana (in slices, estimate)
1 cup frozen peaches
1 cup fresh pineapple
1-2 tbsp chia seeds
protein powder
1-2 cups water

throw everything into the blender with 1 cup of water. too much water won't make it as creamy as it's suppose to be, so just add 1 cup to start with then if it's too thick, add 1/2 cup at a time. i think i ended up using about 2 cups total.

this will make 4-5 cups worth. it is soooo delicious. try it asap!

lately

yeah, i disappeared again >.<

just wanted to update kinda quick on how my raw diet has been going. i wouldn't say i'm eating high raw, it's been about 50/50. which i'm fine with for now. i never did go 100% that one week i said i was going to. i sort of realized that i was already detoxing my body with the raw/whole foods i was eating. so i didn't feel the need to go that far.

i've cut out gluten by about 90%. which is great. it's something i had wanted to do but it didn't seem possible. i've noticed a huge difference in how i feel after meals. no bloatedness. yay! i still enjoy the occasional slice of bread with earth balance, and maybe once in a great while i'll have some pasta. that's about it!

i love making my own almond milk! who knew it could be so easy? well, lots of people knew, but not me til i tried it ;)


this spinach manicotti is one of my favorite meals. totally raw, totally delicious.


and the desserts. i think desserts are better raw!


one of these days i'll share a recipe or two, heheh.

seeing green

ok. so.

as i said in my last post. i'm going raw. not completely, but mostly (hopefully).

enter the green smoothie:

i have a feeling i'm going to be making a lot of these ;) the taste is a little funky as i'm not used to them yet. i've had only a few before. the one pictured was made with a partially frozen banana (i was impatient), a non-frozen banana, a large handful of spinach, some water, frozen cranberries, and chia seeds.
the one this morning, which i didn't take a photo of because it looked pretty much exactly the same as the one above, was made with a banana, hemp milk, handful of spinach, chia seeds, and frozen strawberries.

my poor cuisinart food processor got a lot of action today. i felt bad for it. it's not used to it. but a couple weeks ago, i broke my ninja! i was processing dates and they must have been too hard or something because suddenly the motor was smoking. i freaked and unplugged it. sadly it had to go in the trash. soon i'll be buying a new ninja, an even better one, and i'm so excited.

raw tabbouleh, anyone?

oh yes please. my second new favorite food. it's actually quite delicious! see instead of bulgar wheat, you use cauliflower! amazing! recipe was found here. the original recipe seems to call for powdered sugar, which i omitted. this tastes lovely and very close to tabbouleh made with bulgar :)

oh yes, one more amazing discovery i made just yesterday, and also my first new favorite food. raw falafel. didn't know this was possible lol. didn't even require a dehydrator, which i do not have. so yay!


original recipe found here. i didn't use maca powder, and subbed almond butter for tahini. worked great! and also, no cilantro. can't stand the stuff. used parsley instead ;)

i'm really happy with the way the day turned out for me. no, it wasn't 100% raw but like i said before, i'm fine with that. i am just happy that i now have delicious ways to get in more vegetables and make them taste good raw!

i'm also really happy that there is leftover tabbouleh and falafel in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch ;D

lurking

sorry for kinda disappearing for a month, heh. i have been a bit uninspired. and detached from a lot of things. i'm hoping to get back into keeping up with my own blog!

what have i been up to? honestly, not much. been thinking a lot about my goals. general and future plans alike. the new year is approaching fast. hannah will be going to school next september. at that point i'll be looking for a job. things will be changing suddenly.

my veggie garden for next spring has been planned. unfortunately it started snowing and we never went out and prepared the land. hopefully the snow will melt and stay gone long enough for us to do that ;)

as for food, well, i'm going to give raw a go. it's always seemed so far-fetched for me. because i love cooking and baking so much. but it's something i've been intrigued with ever since i went vegan. i will probably never be 100% raw. and that's ok. my ultimate goal is to increase the amount of raw food i eat and decrease the amount of cooked food i eat. that's it.

with the new year, i like to participate in whole living's action plan. so when i start it, i think i'm going to go completely raw for a week and see how it makes my body feel. it would be an amazing cleanse. then as i re-introduce more food i will also re-introduce a few cooked foods as well, but sticking to mainly raw.

i'm really going to do it. i'm ready. i've done a lot of research. i've read a lot of articles, watched a lot of videos, i feel i'm educated enough to make the right food choices. and i'll be making a slow transition, as to not deprive myself so quickly of things i love.

anyone have experience with a raw food lifestyle? if not is it something you'd like to try? it can't hurt to try, right? :)

a wordless wednesday

pumpkin muffins

the love for pumpkin continues.....

while searching for recipes for pumpkin muffins, i came across one from family fresh cooking, they looked irresistible! had to make them. i changed a few things in the original recipe, so here's how i made them:

yummy pumpkin muffins

1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup nut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup so delicious coconut milk
1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree

preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
grease a muffin tin, or line with paper liners.
in a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, salt, and spices.
in a medium mixing bowl, add the nut butter, vanilla, coconut milk, sugar, and pumpkin and mix well. pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a spoon until just combined.
pour into muffin tins. bake for 25 minutes.
this recipe made me 11 muffins.

they will be moist.
they will not be too sweet.
they will be perfect.
enjoy that pumpkin!