Day 59: I couldn't resist!

I had to share a few things today, like I said - I couldn't resist!

I told you the story how my husband came back from a trip and offered my chalupas - the saga continues ...

He has been out of town for roughly 3 weeks now and just got back last night - this time he came bearing gifts ... 'green' gifts in fact.  I love my husband dearly ... but I guess his 'green' and my 'green' are a little off these days! 

He brought me ...

 

Green Ice cream 

and 

 

Green Flowers!

BUT ... Let me say - there are NO complaints in this household ... beggars can't be choosers.  And no, I didn't eat the ice cream - maybe some this weekend!

On a different note, I made a YUMMY salad yesterday - super quick and easy and the girls loved it.  You know how I love my avocados!  Here it is:

Mango Avocado Salad

Ingredients
2 Ripe Mangoes, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 Large Avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 Tablespoon Lime Juiced
2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Cilantro Leaves
1 Tablespoon Black Sesame Seeds

 

Directions
Hand mix all of the ingredients together and serve.

 

HAPPY GREEN!  

Day 54: Friday Delight!

Happy Friday!  I am trying new recipes this week as you know - but today called for a little bit of a treat, two in fact!  I will admit that I l.o.v.e desserts - and we all have to indulge a little to keep us on track.

So here goes ... ENJOY!!!!

Raw Key Lime Pie

Crust:

1 ½ cup pecans

1 cup walnuts

1/3 cup mixture of dates

(medjool, barhi, etc) & monuka raisins

¼ cup of coconut oil/butter

Dash of sea salt

Base Filling:

3 large avocados

1 large young coconut (use extracted meat)

1 tablespoon of young coconut water

3 tablespoons of cashew butter (raw)

2 large limes (juice of)

½ cup of agave nectar (sweeten to taste)

1 teaspoon of almond or vanilla extract

Dash of sea salt

Shredded coconut flakes and grinded lime rinds for garnish

Preparation:

For crust, in food processor or high speed blender, process nuts.  Next add dates, raisins, coconut oil/butter, and salt.  Process until ball forms.  Press crust into pie dish and set aside.

For filling, in food processor or high speed blender, process all ingredients.  Once smooth and creamy, pour into crust.  Place pie in freezer for 3 hours or until set.  Allow to thaw before serving.

Garnish with grated lime rinds and coconut.

Raw Blueberry Pie

Crust:
1 cup raw walnuts
1/2 pitted dates
1 tsp organic vanilla
1/2 tsp organic ground cinnamon
pinch of Celtic sea salt

Process all the above ingredients in a food processor. Mix until smooth. Press into a pie dish and put into fridge to harden. 

Filling:
4 cups organic fresh blueberries
1 tbsp agave nectar

Puree filling ingredients in food processor.
Pour into chilled crust. 

Chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge. 

Happy Green & Happy Weekend!

Day 53: Recipe Time!

Happy Day to all!  It's another recipe day...

I have tried to keep my recipes easy yet delicious all at the same time.  There is nothing worse (I think) than coming across a great recipe then reading the ingredient list to realize you will have to go not only go to the grocery store but also spend lots of $$ on spices you don't own, much less a cart full of groceries for one recipe. So ... hopefully these are recipes that you enjoy and can use items already in your kitchen.  Or next time you're at the store - buy a few of the items listed for staples and you'll use them...I promise!

Today's Recipe

Spinach/Cannellini Pasta Power Meal

(serves 4-5) 

12 oz. curly rainbow veggie pasta (or any whole wheat pasta)
3-4 cups  spinach, chopped
15 oz. can of cannellini beans, drained
3/4 cup Nutritional Yeast flakes (optional)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
garnish: red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Boil salted water. Add pasta.

2. Two minutes before pasta is done, toss in the beans.

3. Drain water.

4. Fold in your greens - toss well until heated/wilted.

5. Fold in your flavors. You can use pasta sauce, veggie puree or a simple nutritional yeast sauce like the one in this recipe.

6. Serve warm or store in fridge for easy grab and go lunches/dinners.

 

 

 

I am hoping most of you are saying right now, 'pasta??' - she can't have pasta!  Guess what, YES I can!  It's all about the food combinations and as long as eating pasta (whole wheat pasta) in the evening and there are no fleshes (chicken, fish) then it's a raw way of eating that by morning my body will have properly digested it and it's a clean/raw day to start all over for another great day!

 

 

Happy Green! 

Day 51: New Recipe - It's chili time!

Happy March! It is sunny outside and we are all smiles today ☺  Here are some things that I picked up at the store today for my YUMMY cooking all week long... just want you to see how colorful and easy it can be!

I know I said it's sunny and spring is approaching so making chili may sound crazy ... but it's not a warm chili like you are thinking, it's refreshing and filling.   AND a beauty of it is I have leftovers which are perfect for lunches and dinners while the hubby is traveling.  This is quick and easy to make (a plus!) and you can throw things in your food processor if you don't want to do all of the chopping.

On today's menu

Tomato Chili with Taco Nut Meat (Ani Phyo)

TOMATO CHILI

• 3 cup tomatoes, chop
• 1 cup red bell pepper, chop
• 1/4 cup celery, chop
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, chop
• 1/3 cup mushroom, chop
• 1/3 c corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon garlic, mince
• 1 – 2 teaspoon chili powder, to taste
• 1 teaspoon cumin, powder
• 3/4 teaspoon oregano, fresh or dry
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl, toss to mix well.  Place half of your mixture into your food processor or blender and puree. Scoop back into bowl with mixture and toss to mix well.

NUT MEAT TOPPING

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cumin, powder
• 2 teaspoons coriander, powder
• 1 teaspoon bragg’s or nama shoyu, or 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Place all ingredients into your food processor, and process into small pieces.  To serve, scoop raw Tomato Chili into bowls. Top with Taco Nut Meat. Enjoy.  Tomato Chili will keep for 1-2 days in fridge. Taco Nut Meat will keep for a week or more.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE ...

HAPPY GREEN!

 

Day 46: Rainy Day Blues (I mean Greens!)

It's raining outside ... and I mean raining! Usually on rainy days (aka PK, 'Pre-Kids) I used to l.o.v.e to snuggle up on the couch and have lots of munchies around and watch old movies with a nap here and there.  Life has changed - all for the better but yes, life has changed...

Fast forward to my present life.  I still snuggle on the couch but there are two beautiful little girls snuggled under each arm and instead of munchies around that tasted 'oh so good' as they went into my mouth but later regretted are replaced with yummy smoothies, raw almonds and endless bowls of delicious fruit.  My new snacks keep me in the moment, enjoying my kids, ready at a moments notice to dance the rainy day away as they both love to do ...  and keep me loving my energized, vibrant life!

Rainy days - I didn't know they could get any better!

My goal over the next week is to try a new raw recipe for dinner - I will post pics and share the good and the bad!  Stay tuned ... and please share any recipes you may have!  

Happy GREEN!

Day 32 - It can be done!

Going raw can seem crazy - it sounds too hard, too weird and overall not fun.    I think most have a picture in their head of eating carrots and celery all day long and starting have a permanent smell of 'green' surrounding them at all time.  Not the case, I tell ya!

Not only has this journey been wonderful for the obvious reason but I also have talked to so many people that I haven't spoken to in YEARS and now are intrigued by Going Raw for a Reason.  I wanted to share with you an email I got yesterday that hopefully will convince you that it's not hard, it's not weird and it IS fun!  I didn't put the entire email ... just the good stuff for you! 

'Erin ...

I have been living the raw food detox diet life for a week and a half now and I'm loving it! (My husband has signed on, too). I've lost 10 pounds already and it seems too good and easy to be true. I ended up buying a Breville juicer and we use it several times a day. LOVE it. My 16-month-old loves the green lemonade, so I'm thrilled to be pumping him full of kale, spinach and romaine.

How insanely good is avocado spread on toasted Ezekial bread? I had the classic chopped salad with Golden Elixir dressing for lunch and then just had the above mentioned treat. I have baked some sweet potatoes to have as a snack a little later.  This is the easiest "diet" I have ever been on, and I plan to stick to it for the long haul. Thanks for the insight and heads up about this way of life. I was clueless when it came to eating "raw." I suspected that it would be miserable and that I would miss terribly all the sinful and delicious food out there. Now, my cart is FULL of nothing but fruits and vegetables.

PS-- I can still drink WINE. That made me a very happy girl.'

L and her cute little man.

This made my day - maybe even my week!  I will admit that I am a sucker for 'success stories' - when I go to buy a new fitness DVD (or anything for that matter) I always read the reviews and especially the success stories, am I the only one??   This is a GREAT success story in the making that I wanted to share.  Please, send me more!

FYI - she is talking about the RAW FOOD DIET DETOX by Natalia Rose that I have mentioned regularly and I had to throw in the wine comment for you girls out there : )  So you can have sweet potatoes, whole wheat pasta, and much more - it' how and when you eat them to allow for proper digestion ... so you can do it, I know you can!  Even having a green smoothie every morning and/or lunch is HUGE and that is a great way to clean your system and shed those extra pounds that our bodies hold on to which is mainly waste.  Ok, enough of my rambling.  

THANK YOU L for my email!  Happy Green to all!

Day 28 - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Twenty eight days, isn't that a movie??

I'll get right to it ... it has been a rough week!  As most of you can agree with - being stuck in the house (and I mean stuck - as in NOT leaving) is rough.  The hubby was out of town for the week so the girls and I honkered in and stayed put in the foot of snow.  I didn't do horribly but after day two I was suddenly out of my 'greens' and found myself lost!  Then I got hungry, then I got crabby, then I was going stir crazy with cabin fever - you get the picture.  I all of the sudden was back to way I used to eat - and that is not bad by any means and as good as it tasted (the homemade pizza one night was melting in my mouth) it wasn't good in the long run.  I was tired again, didn't have the energy I was used to and hungry all of the time.  The yummies that I was eating - weren't so yummy all of the sudden.  So ... that is the bad and ugly part of everything.

Here is the better part, the Good of the week.  My friend who you all have heard about (and who is doing AMAZING by the way with her eating habits) got her blood results back and they were GREAT!  I would give you specifics - but I may incorrectly report them to you ... but I can tell you that her Dr. is slowly reducing her medications which is HUGE!  Praise God, that is amazing news!   All of the sudden, that homemade pizza didn't seem really worth it.  

Here is what I learned from this crazy week ... 1) I am over the snow 2) faith can move mountains (with a little bit of greens to help out!) and 3) to be realistic about my raw eating.  If I have to have a few bites on the weekends of something yummy that I am craving - it's okay because it usually ends up for the better in the end. BUT, if I don't give in to them ... I may end up a falling off the cliff! 

Here's to NO SNOW this week and a week of greens and more!