Kitchen Helper

Arabella loves to help me make my green smoothies in the morning. Yesterday she wanted to help me make my dinner. For dinner I made zucchini spaghetti with pesto and nutritional yeast (a yeast that is yellow in color and has a nutty cheesy flavor. It is an inactive yeast that is a favorite amongst many vegans because of its unique flavor and similarity to cheese when added to foods.) It was a great meal and hit the spot with me. Jay tried it and he said it was really good. Maybe I will be able to get him to eat raw food after all.








I know some of you may still think I am crazy for doing this raw food "diet" but I have to tell you that I feel great. I am working out twice a day and in less than a month, I have lost over 10 pounds. For me it is about incorporating small changes in my diet (as well as Jay and Arabella's). We have started to cut out many processed foods. All of the meat that Jay and Arabella (sometimes I will eat meat, but it is not that often) eat is organic. I am on my third book about raw food and when I am done, I will have a separate post on them. It is so interesting to read about how small changes can have such an impact on your overall health and well being.

Yummy!

As some of you know, I am trying to incorporate as much raw food as possible into my diet (and sometimes Jay and Arabella). I am doing this for many reasons, but that is another post. Anyway, I know that a few of you are curious about what raw food is and what it looks like. If you think it is only fruits, veggies and nuts, you are right and wrong. Take the following for example:



Looks yummy, right? It is La Fiesta from Crudessence in Montreal (www.crudessence.com) and is rosemary nachos with guacamole, salsa and sour cream. This dish is completely raw, vegan and organic - which means it has no meat or dairy in it. You might be wondering how sour cream doesn't have dairy...it is made out of nuts and it tasted just like regular sour cream. And I am not kidding. It was so good and filling. You could actually taste the ingredients instead of all the fat, salt and preservatives in regular chips and salsa. Needless to say, I am hooked and will be going back to Crudessence to eat again, next time with Jay and Arabella.

And just in case you were wondering, it passed both the Jay and Arabella test.

Karine's Raw Food Recipes

For those of you who asked for the recipes that Arabella and I enjoyed on Tuesday, Karine was kind enough to share them with us. THANK YOU KARINE!! Enjoy!!!

Crudites with sunflower seed pate

1 1/2 cups raw sunflower seeds, soaked overnight, and then allowed to
sprout for 3 hours
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup tamari or 1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon fresh ginger

Process the above ingredients through a food processor using an S
blade. Serve on sandwiches or on salad. Add some chopped celery for a
tuna-salad substitute.

Zucchini Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Marinara Sauce:

*For the zucchini, you can use a Spiralizer or vegetable peeler to
make a more “linguine” type noodle.

Sauce:

2 Cups tomato, chopped
1 Clove garlic
½ cup fresh basil leaves
¼ cup olive oil
½ lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon pitted dates
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes

Blend everything together in high-speed blender, adding sun-dried
tomatoes last. They will absorb excess moisture and make your marinara
sauce thicker.

Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVe0vz5tBtw
So you can see how it’s made step-by-step!

Raw Cacao Truffles



¾ Cup Raw Cacao Powder
2 Cups Ground Organic Raw Almonds
¾ Cup Raw Agave Nectar
½ Cup Raw Cacao Nibs
Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt
1 Cup Dried Organic Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

Combine all ingredients except for the coconut flakes in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Roll up your sleeves, take a small amount of the mixture, and roll small balls between your palms. Add your love! Dip each ball in a separate smaller bowl containing the coconut flakes.

You can freeze or refrigerate the truffles overnight to harden them. I keep them cold until they are ready to serve.

She also provided me with additional recipes to try:

Raw Sunflower Banana Energy Balls

½ Cup Ground organic Raw Almonds
2 Tablespoons Raw Almond Butter
2 Medium mashed ripe Bananas
1 Cup Raw Sunflower Seeds
½ Cup Raw Organic Cocoa Nibs
Pinch of Celtic Sea salt
Additional Raw Sunflower Seeds for coating

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Roll up your sleeves, take a small amount of the mixture, and roll small balls between your palms. Add your love! Dip each ball in a separate smaller bowl containing the additional sunflower seeds and coat them.

You can freeze or refrigerate them overnight. I keep them cold until they are ready to serve.

SPROUTED LIVE HUMMUS


1 cup sprouted chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 garlic clove
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tbsp raw tahini
¼ cup pine nuts
1 tbsp ex-virgin olive oil
½ cup parsley, chopped
¼ tsp cumin
1 tbsp nama shoyu
Pinch Himalayan sea salt
Pinch of cayenne
1/3 cup purified water

Blend all ingredients in the food processor or until smooth, adding more water, if necessary.

MEXICAN BURRITOS

Wrap: 6 large romaine leaves

Filling: 1 ripe avocado
1 zucchini, diced
1 large ripe tomato, diced (no seeds)
½ cucumber, diced
¼ cup fresh corn kernels
¼ cup lentil sprouts
2 green onions, finely sliced
½ cup red and green pepper, diced
1 ½ cups finely shredded cabbage
2 tbls fresh cilantro, minced
¼ tbls cayenne pepper
¼ tbls celtic sea salt

Combine all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Spoon each serving into a lettuce leaf and roll up. Filling can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

TACO MEAT

2 ½ cups almonds, soaked and rinsed
1 cup cilantro, packed
3 garlic cloves
2 green onions, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 tbsp cumin
¼ tsp Himalayan Crystal salt
1 ½ tbsp chili powder
½ tsp coriander
Juice from 2 lemons
Juice from 1 lime
1 Jalapeno, minced
12 dried tomatoes, soaked
½ tbsp virgin olive oil
Pinch of Cayenne

Blend all ingredients in a food processor using the S blade until thoroughly mixed, but still coarse textured. Spoon meat on romaine leaves and roll up, or lay on top of salad.

HEMP PESTO

Blend in food processor with S blade:

2 cups hemp seeds
2 garlic cloves
2 cups fresh basil, chopped
2 tbsp raw tahini
2 tbsp miso
2 tbsp hemp oil
pinch of Himalayan sea salt

Garnish with chopped basil, toss with zucchini pasta or salad

Yummy Mummy Lunch & Learn With Wee Wiggles

On Tuesday, Arabella and I ventured into Montreal to meet up with other Wee Wiggles and attend the Yummy Mummy Lunch & Learn. We learned how to "cook", but that term is used loosely as there was no really cooking involved, a raw vegan meal. This Lunch & Learn could not have come at a better time, since I watched Food, Inc. over the weekend and I have no desire to eat any type of meat...but that will be for another post.

Veganism is a type of vegetarian diet that excludes meat, eggs, dairy products and all other animal-derived ingredients. Many vegans also do not eat foods that are processed using animal products, such as refined white sugar and some wines. Most vegans also avoid the use of all products tested on animals, as well as animal-derived non-food products, such as leather, fur and wool. Vegan refers to either a person who follows this way of eating, or to the diet itself. Benefits of a Vegan or Raw Food Diet include: increased energy, improved skin appearance, better digestion, weight loss and reduced risk of heart disease. The Raw Food Diet contains fewer trans fats and saturated fat than the typical Western diet. It is also low in sodium and high in potassium, magnesium, folate, fiber and health-promoting plant chemicals called phytochemicals. These properties are associated with a reduced risk of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Tera Werner and Karine Ionesco hosted and prepared the lunch and learn. They are amazing women. I left feeling inspired and ready to try and tackle the world of raw cooking.

Tera is the creator of The Raw Divas (http://www.therawdivas.com/index.php). She has currently been living the raw food lifestyle for 8 years. In addition to creating The Raw Divas, she is a passionate online entrepreneur and she has created an online network as a means of building an international community to support women seeking health through nutrition and working to achieve a natural, sustainable lifestyle. For more information on Tera's projects please go to: http://www.greensmoothiequeen.com/ or http://www.therawdivas.com/index.php or http://www.rawinmontreal.com/

Karine is currently in the process of becoming a certified health counselor and she teaches private/group raw vegan culinary classes. For more information on Karine please go to www.karineionesco.com (please note that she is in the process of revamping her website, so you may have to check back to see if it is up and running).

The meal did not contain any refined sugars, gluten, dairy or animal products. We started the meal with fresh green juice and a banana, hemp seed & kale smoothie. They were both delicious. Arabella liked the banana smoothie the best.



Arabella and Tera enjoying the banana smoothie!

We then had veggies with a Sunflower Paté. It was similar to hummus only thicker. And it was sooooo good on sliced cucumbers. This is going to become one of my new favorite veggie dips!



We also enjoyed a Pizza with tomato and basil, Zucchini Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Marinara Sauce and a Baby Greens Salad. Everything was very good, filling and so easy to make. I can't wait to make the Pasta but I just need to get a Spiralizer to do so.


Baby Greens Salad


Zucchini Pasta


Pizza

We were also treated to desserts. They were to die for - Raw Cacao-Coconut Truffles and Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake. I was amazed to learn that the cake's frosting was made out of avocado. Who knew you could frost a cake with avocado??? I would have never guessed that it had avocado in it since you couldn't even taste it.



The following is a link to the youtube video to see step-by-step how to make the cake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVe0vz5tBtw

Arabella enjoyed the food. And I am looking forward to trying out the recipes on Jay. I am not sure how much he will like eating just veggies, but at least he will try anything once. And even if her doesn't like it, I will still be making Raw/Vegan meals for myself and Arabella. I will post Karine's recipes in a separate post in case any followers would like to try them out.

Thanks again to Tera and Karine for this informative and delicious afternoon. I look forward to particpating in other events with you both!