how to beat a cold without drugs

Howdy folks. So for the past 4 days I have been plagued with sickness =( It's just a cold, but that doesn't make it any more enjoyable. What's worse? I virtually never get sick anymore since I've become vegan and predominantly raw.

Thus, I don't really GET colds anymore. Except this week, apparently.

It's my dad's fault! He brought the cold into the house and it was promptly caught by my big brother and myself. Luckily my dad recovered in about 4 days, so he's fine now. My brother and I got sick about 4 days ago... and today we're both feeling better! So it looks like this cold has run it's course.

On top of me never getting sick anymore, plus the crappy-ness OF being sick, this is was an unusually worrisome cold because we are leaving for Tofino soon! I don't wanna be sick on vacation. No one does.

I had to beat this cold fast and naturally. I was successful!

So what, you may ask, did I do? Let me share with you. 

First of all, you need the common-sense basics: LOTS of water and sleep.

(Yes, my bed is awesome.) I was drinking about 4 of those mason jars a day, and sleeping 10-12 hours.
You will also want to get TONS of vitamin C in your diet, I ate mostly grapefruit and kiwis the past 4 days. You can also take vitamin C pills, but getting it in whole foods is a much better idea.

Along with vitamin C, which helps fight colds and sickness, you'll want to eat some spicy foods. Another good idea is garlic, ginger and onions, they are great for strengthening the immune system as well. I had some delicious veggie curry last night and it helped LOADS. Not raw, but honestly, at this point you just want to get better.

The spices in the curry, along with the hot sauce (Frank's Red Hot or Sriracha work great, they're basically liquid chili pepper) cleared my nose, my throat, and made me cry!

Okay here's something that that you may not hear about much, and it seems really weird.
BUT I swear - it's a miracle worker. I was skeptical about it for many years, even though my mom kept urging me to try it, before I finally DID try it last year. It is amazing. It clears your sinuses like nobody's business. Just don't do it in front of people. It is called the Neti Pot.

You get the idea. Basically you fill the pot with warm salt water and pour it in your nose, it comes out the other side, cleaning your whole nasal passage. It's also great for headaches, ear aches, and sore throats. I know, it looks totally bizarre. But I highly recommend this. I use it whenever I feel a little plugged.

Okay, what else? Well, I love baths, and that doesn't change when I have a cold. I take lots of hot bubble baths to which I add Epsom salts and essential oils.

These essential oils are magic. I LOVE essential oils at all times, but especially when I'm not feeling 100%. I use them in facial steams, baths, shampoo, soap, to help me sleep, focus or relax, and I burn them to make my room smell lovely and be balanced.

You may notice when you have a cold, you really get to know these guys: 

Well, you may ALSO notice that when you spend a lot of time using tissues, you tend to get dry, irritated skin around your nose. Thus, you should be moisturizing like a mad person. I favour coconut oil, but use whatever works best for you. Vaseline is also a great option. Something else to consider? VapoRub. This stuff is great for clearing you nose, throat, and therefore - your mind! Because my brain seems to get clogged up just like my nose when I'm sick.

Okay, I'm just about done giving you my cold-fighting strategies. To finish up, drink lots of tea; peppermint and green tea are great for headaches and flu-fighting antioxidants. And lastly, I hadn't used them until now, but they practically saved my life. Fisherman's Friend. Wow. I did not think they'd work so well. And surprisingly, they're fairly natural!

Okay - that's about it. I hope if you have a cold, these ideas help you out. It's important to remember that when you're sick you shouldn't stress your body further. If you can, take a few days of work or school (lucky for me it's reading break). Don't try to exercise too intensely, perhaps just walk around the house or yard. 

Last but not least - let the cold happen! You can alleviate your symptoms and make yourself feel a bit better with the above methods, but at the same time - there's no instant cure. May as well embrace the opportunity to be lazy! 

So just a head's up, I won't be posting for awhile as I'll be quite busy with mid-terms coming up, among other things. But in a few days I'll give you a recipe for lip scrub! And yummy veggie wraps with hemp sauce. PLUS some awesome news!

raw fudge brownies: YEAH BABY!

Thank you, Mother Nature.

These sexy things are delicious and packed with nutrients to keep you living long; enjoying life and all it has to offer... like brownies.Raw desserts are pretty much the easiest food in the world to make, because usually they consist of just dates, nuts, coconut oil, and whatever else you want to add. These are no different.

Normal brownie ingredients? White flour, white sugar, butter, and cocoa. What're those gonna do for you?! Make you sleepy and gain weight. In these brownies: there's prunes, dates, hemp, chia, flax, cocoa, mesquite, cinnamon, vanilla and oats. Yummy in my tummy, good FOR my body. 

Yours too.

You can make these in like 5 minutes, and they'll disappear even faster. The best part (aside from eating them) is telling people they're healthy and made from whole foods! It's a magical world, my friends. These are also great for pre- or post-workout snacks!

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Raw Fudge Brownies: makes about 8 large brownies

1 1/2 cup oats

1 cup dates & prunes

1 t vanilla extract 

3 Tb coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup honey/agave/maple syrup

2 Tb mesquite powder (optional)

1/4 cup cup hemp seed

2 Tb flax seed

2 Tb chia seed
1/3 cup cashews (preferably soaked)

1/3 cup cocoa/cacao

1/2 t cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Put dates and prunes in bowl of water. Set aside.

Blend 1 cup of the oats in blender until it becomes oat flour. Then in a food processor, process dates and prunes (with about 1/4 cup of the water) with all the other wet ingredients until smooth. Now add all the dry ingredients, including the remaining 1/2 cup of whole oats and oat flour. Good consistency? It should be thick, but very moist. Press it into a pan lined with tin foil or plastic wrap and set in the fridge for a little bit so the coconut oil can stiffen them up.

Then cut 'em up and serve! Make a chocolate sauce for them, or have with fruit and nut butter!

*You can make these even simpler by just blending dates, cashews coconut oil and cacao. But I always like to add a bunch of stuff for more flavours. I cannot help it. It's up to you!

super food sundae

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could indulge in your favourite guilty pleasures (like a giant ice cream sundae) but feel GOOD about yourself for doing so?

Guess what, folks. You can!

This ice cream is made of mainly coconut and cashews; the chocolate sauce is agave, cocoa, and coconut oil; and I topped it off with figs and cashews. If you Google any of those ingredients, you'll find that everyone says you should eat more of them.

(Sorry the pictures aren't that great)

I ate this up and enjoyed every bite, knowing it was bringing me better health. You should too! And mix it up anyway your healthy heart desires. You could use nut butters, berries, bananas, different kinds of ice cream, whipped coconut cream, whatever!

Below I give recipes for my raw ice cream and chocolate sauce, but it's a sundae so there's no rules. 

Raw Vegan Ice Cream: makes about 3-6 servings

2 cups soaked raw cashews 

Coconut meat from 2 young Thai coconuts (about 2 cups)

1 cup of water/coconut water from the coconuts - don't use more

1 cup agave/maple syrup

Seeds from 1/2 - 1 vanilla bean (I love vanilla so I use a whole one)

2 T vanilla extract 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup plus 1 T or so of coconut oil, melted

Blend all ingredients except coconut oil in your blender (Vita-Mix works best!) until lusciously smooth and creamy. Melt coconut oil in a bowl that's sitting in a larger bowl filled with hot water. Add in and blend until mixed. Try it now... Yeah. I know. 

Now try to resist eating it all before it's frozen: if you have an ice cream maker use that. 

But if you're like me and don't have one, put the batter in several small jars or freezable containers (single servings!) and stick them in the freezer. Check back every 30-60 minutes and stir until they are eventually frozen, creamy delights.

Chocolate Sauce: Makes a small bowl

3 T cocoa/cacao

3 T melted coconut oil

2 T agave/maple syrup

1 t vanilla extract 

Pinch of cinnamon and salt, if you want

Coconut flakes, if you want 

Mix it all together and enjoy! Feel free to add anything you want to it, the possibilities are endless.

OH MY RAW caramel apples

You have not lived. 

Not until you make these. I didn't think they'd be so darn delicious. But yet again... I was wrong.
All the different textures and flavours make for an incredible experience.

The best part? These are GOOD FOR YOU. Your body wants them. 

Why? Because they're full of nutrients and vitamins that will help you live long. 

Being "caramel apples", they clearly consist of an apple being covered in caramel. All I did was change my definition of caramel! In the raw food world, my caramel is just dates, water and spices. 

I covered a couple organic apples in that, and chopped up some fresh pecans and threw them on one (I put peanuts on the other). For the final touch, I drizzled on a simple chocolate sauce: cocoa, agave, almond butter. 

Who says raw vegans can't have any fun? These are way better than your regular caramel apples not ONLY in taste, but also because you feel good after eating them. NOT GUILTY. 

Food is love, love is happiness, and happiness depends on health.

So eat healthful foods! It's simple. Sometimes I crave some kind of processed cooked food for a second, like pizza, cookies, chips or other vegan goodies. Then I remember: I can make a BETTER version of it that my body will actually thank me for in the long run. I mean c'mon, you've got no excuse to eat crap when you can eat stuff like this:

I wanted to get a few photos with a bite out of an apple, so I had an excuse to try them =) I took a big, messy, caramel-apple bite... literally stopped chewing and said "oh my god no freaking way" out loud in the kitchen by myself.

I talk to myself a lot.

But with good reason! These taste ridonkulous. And I don't say ridonkulous, so you know they're gotta be nuts (no pun intended). Really though - try these out and share them with your loved ones. Everybody will appreciate it. They're a great Valentines Day present, heeey?

I was noble today and gave mine to Dad after taking a few bites. It took a bit of will power but I HAD to share it with someone, it was so delicious. I only made two, so I'm saving the other one for my brother Greg. 

He's trying to eat healthier and get in shape since he's struggled with his weight for awhile. He actually started his own blog about it! Check it.

He's doing a vegan-week so last night he went to The Naam with his girlfriend and brought me back their raw pie! As a thank you, I made him a caramel apple =) 

It makes me really happy and excited he wants to get healthy. I can tell he's serious about it this time. So I wanna support that as much as I can, and show him how ridiculously delicious and easy eating well can be. 

CRAZY Raw Caramel Apples: makes 2, but you can effortlessly make more

2 Apples on skewers (try to get organic!)

1/4 cup dates   

2 Tb melted coconut oil

Cinnamon, salt & mesquite if you have it

Water, as needed

1/4 cup finely chopped nuts 

2-3 Tb cacao

2-3 Tb agave/honey/maple syrup 

2-3 Tb nut butter

3 Tb melted coconut oil

Blend dates with coconut oil, cinnamon, salt, mesquite and water to get a smooth, thick consistency. You can add more sweetener if you want. Cover the apples completely with the "caramel" and then dip them in the chopped nuts so they stick. 

Then mix the cacao, sweetener of choice, nut butter and coconut oil until smooth. Drizzle it all over the apples and VOILA! Om nom nom. 

EAT THIS NOW.

Nom. I don't say that a lot, but I do when it's necessary. I don't know what it is about this meal, but I've made it several times and I always want more.
It's not mind-blowingly amazing when you first bite into it... but after a few minutes you start to realize how simply YUMMY it is!

That's all I can say about it - it's pure and simple yummy.

Sorry, the pictures are kinda lame today. I didn't have the patience - I just wanted to eat this! Plus, our house has terrible lighting.

Anyhoo - These are basically just rice paper OR seaweed (I'd prefer nori seaweed but we didn't have any big sheets, just the mini ones) with a mix of veggies and avocado inside, and a spicy-savory asian-y sauce! Everybody you know will LOVE this.

Note: I never measure anything, and this is always a total improv dish, it really doesn't matter. But I've given general amounts for the sauce. 

Savory Spicy Veggie Wraps: serves 1-2

1 Avocado

1/3 cup corn

1 Bell Pepper

2-3 Mushrooms

Red onion?

Cucumber?

Tomato?

Carrot?

Any other veg you like/have

Chop all the veggies (and avocado) roughly, put in a bowl and pour on a little tamari. Let them marinate while you do the other stuff.

Spicy Asian-y Sauce: makes about 1/3 cup?

1 Tb mustard

1 Tb miso

1 Tb nut butter

2 Tb nutritional yeast

Salt & Pepper

I also add hemp seeds and other spices if I want. 

Blend all the ingredients until smooth, adding water as need to make it creamy. This time, I added black sesame seeds at the end to add some contrast. Do whatever floats your boat!

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Finally - prepare some rice paper by soaking it in hot water for a minute or two until it's super pliable. OR just get out some nori seaweed sheets. Spoon a little of the sauce into the nori or rice paper and then load on the veg mix! Wrap it up. Repeat until you use up all the veg.

Want another really easy way to do this? Don't even make the sauce - just put tamari on all the cut up veggies and mix in the avocado with your hands, mashing it up a little - it creates a salty, creamy avocado sauce all on it's own! I did that the other night and it was great; saves you time.

I usually make two or three wraps, and eat the leftovers outta da bowl. YUM!

My brother's reaction to this?  
"Dang, why do you vegans always get to eat better food than us!?"
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lavender ice cream with dark chocolate

Luscious, light, and lovely. That's what this ice cream is.

Oh my goodness. It's better than any ice cream I've ever made; and guess what. It's full of raw whole foods that will bring you closer to excellent health. There's not much else to say about it. I suggest you make it ASAP, and enjoy the wonders our planet full of plants has to offer. 

No stealing the milk of another species here! Nor is there any disease-causing refined sugar, or freaky-deaky preservatives and stabilizers. Just some coconut, cashews, chocolate and lavender!

Before I made my lavender cheesecake, and now this ice cream, I didn't think I'd dig the taste of lavender in my food. 

I was wrong.

It's divine! I've grown up with the smell of lavender emanating through the garden and home. My aunt is also a lavender NUT, so whenever we visit each other you can bet there will be lavender gifts involved. 

I also use lavender oil to calm my nerves, keep my skin clear, scent my baths, and put me to sleep! It's a wonderful flower with endless uses. One of which being flavour! I want YOU to experiment with lavender in your food. Seriously. You won't regret it. 

It brings out this dimension in desserts I didn't know existed. Light, summery, delicate notes that remind you of the sun, wicker chairs, and busy bees traveling from flower to flower in the afternoon light. 

Okay so I said there wasn't much else to say and then wrote a paragraph... my bad. 

Bottom line: make this ice cream! 

(By the way I'm just using my basic raw ice cream recipe and adding a few things.)

lavender ice cream with dark chocolate: makes 3-6 servings

2 cups soaked raw cashews 

Coconut meat from 2 young Thai coconuts (1-2 cups)

1 cup of water

1 cup agave/honey/maple syrup

Seeds from vanilla bean

2 Tb vanilla extract 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup plus 1 T or so of coconut oil, melted

3 teaspoons dried lavender

1 bar dark chocolate, roughly chopped (optional)

Blend all ingredients except coconut oil and chocolate in your blender (Vita-Mix works best!) until smooth and creamy. Add in the coconut oil and blend until the chocolate chunks are the size you want, and the oil is mixed in. 

Try it now... Yeah. I know. 

Feel free to add some lemon to this - I bet it would taste heavenly.

Now try to resist eating it all before it's frozen: if you have an ice cream maker use that. 

If not, stick it in the freezer and stir it every 30 or 60 minutes until it's solid.

The Best Chocolate Pudding of RAW SUPERFOODS

*Check out my other chocolate pudding recipe here. 

I love avocado. It's a magical, unique fruit that's chockablock full of nutrients, vitamins and fiber. It's actually been called "the most nutritious of all fruits"! And it's toted by countless health authorities as one of the key foods for superior nutrition, with good reason.

Here's some facts about the creamy green guy.
Research for yourself too!

Besides it's endless list of health benefits - it just tastes darn DELICIOUS. Like no other food. It's creamy, rich, and can be used in a butt load of creative or simple ways for your food AND cosmetically. Seriously, whenever I eat an avocado (almost every day) I put like half of it on my face, neck and arms to make my skin soft and glowing. Mmm...

I came home from a long day of school quite hungry and ate 2 giant heads of broccoli, which totally filled me up. But yet I made this pudding for dessert and ate it all because it was actually irresistible. I dare you not to eat it all. So without further ado, here's an uber simple recipe for a super food chocolate pudding.  
I'm not exaggerating when I say this BETTER than regular pudding, and it's SO good for you. 

You can eat a giant bowl of rich chocolate pudding and feel PROUD of yourself, not guilty.

It's a wonderful world, people. 

(Sorry, the pics aren't so great today. How can you expect me to be patient and take tons of pretty pictures when I have the best chocolate pudding in the universe sitting right in front of me? You can't.)

The World's Greatest Chocolate Pudding: serves ONE

1 very ripe avocado

1-2 Tb honey 

2-3 Tb cacao 

Pinch of salt

Feel free to use agave or maple syrup instead of raw honey, I prefer it because it's a super nutrient-dense food though =) 

Also go ahead and add mesquite, cinnamon, and/or coconut oil. They all add new dimensions to the flavor. I just wanted to keep the recipe simple.

Blend all ingredients until smooth, adding water as needed to make it creamy. EAT.