The Post

Hey my darlings, I'm sorry I haven't posted in FOREVER. I've been preoccupied, but mostly lazy and forgetful. Today's post is just a plethora of photos and things I've been doing/eating for the last weeks. Enjoy. Regular scheduling will return shortly.

First: I made the ultimate sundaes with friends. Avec les sparklers.

They were obviously ridiculously good. I don't even remember what we put on them but it looks like figs, chocolate sauce, and peanut butter? It was a food party. We also made some amazing Thai noodles and sweet and sour tofu... thinking about it now makes my mouth water. Mmm...

I've been eating a lot of raw pasta lately because my dear friend Eva bought me a Spirooli. I usually make it with a nut butter and garlic sauce, or avocado. Here's some recipe ideas. I pretty much always use zucchini for the noodles. Carrots work as well but zucchini has the perfect texture and colour. I've used bell peppers in the past. Any wide vegetable will work. Get creative!

Another thing I've been making a lot for dinner is raw wraps. In seaweed sheets or rice paper. I have always loved burritos and anything else in a wrap. Something about it being packed with good stuff, picking it up in your hands and taking a big bite =) Normally I put in a mix of any or all of the following: carrots, avocado, bell pepper, corn, onion, tomato, zucchini, lettuce, sprouts... and probably a bunch of other stuff. I use the same kinds of sauces I'd put on pasta. Actually - in this picture I HAVE pasta in the wrap. I know - it's gettin' wild up in here.

Look at that sexy avocado... goodness me. 

My mom has been making tons of fresh juice lately in our Jack La Lanne Juicer. I'm a smoothie person myself because I love the fiber, and you take that out when you juice. Having said that, fresh juice is AWESOME! Make it. It's delicious and the since you DO take out the fiber, the nutrients enter your blood within like 15 minutes. Crazy. Juice definitely has it's benefits - it's great for fasting, detoxing and nourishing nutrient deficient individuals. Juicing has saved lives! 

And here's a smoothie I've been making after my workouts these past few days. We don't have any greens so for ONCE my smoothies are actually a pretty colour. It matches my pink glass straw =) It's a blend of a banana, kiwi, protein powder, coconut milk, hemp seeds, and strawberries. 

Okay... coming to a close soon - I made some more chocolate. Of course. For the first time it's TOTALLY RAW! In the past I've only been able to use cocoa because we didn't HAVE cacao. Now we do =) I can never leave things be so I also added mesquite, goji berries, coconut and jungle peanuts. Greg called it chocolate brittle.

ALRIGHT THE LAST THING. Mad Men premiered again after an 18 month hiatus! If you watch the TV show, you will understand the importance of this event, if you don't watch it - you should. It's an awesome show, not only for the sets, costumes and 60's era feel, but for the human drama as well. It's smart and different. 

Anyways, we made vegan White Russians - oh so 60's - and I made raw finger food... dates and nut butter with toothpicks. I suppose any small food with a toothpick in it could be vintage finger food, right? The drinks and snacks were great, and the show's premiere was like seeing a friend after 1 year and a half.

I will post a baked cupcake recipe tomorrow, and some links to recipes in this post! 

That's all for now, folks.

noodles with creamy almond ginger sauce, stir-fried veggies & crispy tofu

*clearly, not raw

Tonight was my night to make dinner, and I decided on a pretty simple yet (apparently) tasty meal.
I made a sauce with almond butter, ginger, garlic and other spices and poured it on whole wheat noodles. I also stir-fried a bunch of veggies and crispy tofu. My parents said it was really good!

It seems like an excellent dish to feed anyone you care about, especially if you're trying to get them to eat more veggies - AND see how delicious vegan food can be.

This meal is easy, scrumptious, and good for ya. Eat your veggies!

Noodles with Creamy Almond Ginger Sauce, Stir-fried Veggies & Crispy Tofu: makes about 5 servings

Crispy Tofu:

2 packages of chopped tofu 

Put oil in pan and heat. Add tofu and let cook, stirring/mixing often to get them all crispy. It'll take awhile. The secret is medium-high heat, oil, and time. (I added some soy sauce to the tofu while it was cooking, to add salt)

This method is the best way to evenly cook food in a pan. It's what I do. 

(Side note: check out these photos of food from the Modernist Cuisine cook book. They're so cool!)

Stir-fried Veggies:

4-5 mushrooms

1 onion

2 bell peppers

2 carrots

2-3 cups broccoli 

1 eggplant, if you have it

Put a pot of water on to boil for the noodles. (When the water is boiling and you have about 10 minutes left until your veggies are done, put the noodles in the water). 

Chop all veggies and add to a different heated, oiled sauce pan. Stir-fry until they're cooked as you like. I added soy sauce and hoisin sauce as they were cooking for more flavour. As the tofu and veggies are cooking, make the noodle sauce. 

Creamy Almond Ginger Sauce:

1 cup almond butter

2 cloves garlic

1 T ginger

Sriracha (or other thai hot sauce)

2 T sweetener

3-4 T soy sauce

1 T salt

1/4 oil (or use more water)

1/4 water

Blend all ingredients together and see if you like it, change it if desired. I also added mustard, chili, and some other things. When the noodles are ready, pour sauce on them until they're evenly coated. 

Serve with the noodles as the base, with a helping of veggies, and a bit of crispy tofu to top it off! Enjoy!

I had an avocado for dinner, as my family enjoyed the noodles =) 

And I drank this delicious smoothie earlier today:

It had a kiwi, 3 cups of kale, an orange, some frozen strawberries, water and stevia in it. I topped it off with some dried coconut and goji berries. YUM!

chocolate protein truffles & green smoothie recipe

Not that I'm back to my crazy workouts (it was just a matter of time... I'm an addict), I have to make sure I get enough protein. If I weren't raw, it wouldn't be something I'd have to think about.

Most people actually get 5 times more protein than they need everyday (USDA, 2005).

But the fact that I am raw PLUS my workouts are really intense, my protein intake is something I need to watch. Mostly because I love muscle, and always want more =)

One way I do this is by adding protein powder to my already protein-packed green smoothies, with hempseed and flax. I DO prefer getting protein from unrefined sources; even though my protein powder is high quality, it's still processed.

When I'm done with this container of powder, I'm not buying anymore. From now on I'll just be getting protein from nuts, seeds and greens (which I partly do already).

Yay! In nature, there aren't protein powder trees. Wouldn't that be nice though?

After my workout today - which involved plyo-metrics, kickboxing, yoga and weight training - I made a DELICIOUS green smoothie and gulped it down. Then I stretched and watched the end of a Doris Day movie.

I could feel my muscles calling for some more building materials, so I decided to make a chocolate-y treat with mostly oats, nuts and rice protein powder. They're turned out like truffles because I rolled them into balls and coated them with cocoa =)

Protein Truffle Bombs: makes about 50 small balls

1 cup oats

1 cup mix of brazil nuts, cashews, peanuts or whatever nuts you like

1/4 cup cocoa/cacoa

2-3 scoops of fave protein powder

3 Tb agave

1/2 cup soaked dates

1/4 cup water (or more/less as needed)

1 t vanilla

Pinch of salt

1/8-1/4 cup coconut oil

Cocoa/cacoa for rolling

Process all dry ingredients until they're like a super hefty flour. Add all other ingredients and process/mix by hand until they're like cookie dough. Roll into balls and roll in the cocoa until coated. 

Chill for an hour or so. Or just eat them right away. I probably devoured half the batter while I was making them... 

Berry Green Smoothie: makes around 3 1/2 cups

3 loose cups of spinach

4-5 leaves of kale

Grapefruit, peeled

Lime, peeled

Banana, frozen

1/4 cup frozen berries

1/2 cup pomegranate juice

Stevia if desired

2 T peeled ginger 

Handful cilantro 

Blend all ingredients until smooth! Sip and enjoy good health! Dang IT'S SO GOOD.

green ocean of life

Thought of those words after I poured this smoothie. They're always this beautiful but I HAD to show this one. How can you not want to become this?! It's an ocean of nutrients and vitality!

Check out my post on the power of green smoothies here. 

Green Smoothie: makes about 4 cups

1 peeled lemon

1 peeled orange

3 cups dino kale/rainbow chard

1 frozen banana

2 cups water

pinch of stevia

half cucumber

handful of cilantro

chunk of peeled ginger

Blend it up and absorb the energy!

elixir of life

I drink this everyday and if I can't, I crave it. It gives me energy to gets me through my day until dinner, hours later. It keeps me full, lean, energetic, happy, glowing, and ALIVE!
I buy my greens from our farmer's market or pick them from our garden, and you should too! =)
Who wants pesticide soup? Not Me. Support organic, local produce.

This is a super-duper basic recipe, I never measure anything, just add things according to taste. Don't add too many greens at once because if it's too bitter you'll have to add more banana, water, dates or other stuff and before you know it you have a pitcher of smoothie that you can't finish yourself and that's only good fresh... uh oh. Don't wanna waste those precious greenies. 

Green Smoothie of LIFE: makes 1 monster smoothie (about 4 cups)

Handful of dino kale (or any other edible dark, leafy green)

Handful of rainbow chard (or any other edible green)

Stick of Celery

Half cucumber

Small handful cilantro or other herbs

Bit of ginger, chopped

Pinch of salt

Juice of 1/2 lemon/lime

1 cup coconut water (electrolytes!) or water

1/8 teaspoon stevia, or a few dates, or a bit of agave - I like things sweet =)

Frozen banana, chopped

2 frozen strawberries, optional

That's all, folks! Blend them all up 'til it's smooth and creamy and sip away. I drink them in my mason jar with a straw and before I know it, the jar is empty.

Like I said, the possibilities here are endless, there's no use in even naming a few because that list will never end! Have fun and enjoy the vitality these smoothies bring.
Let me know your favourite recipe!

want long life and good health? drink your greens!

Do you want to have more energy without the crash? Do you want beautiful, glowing skin? Do you want strong nails, hair and a lean, mean fat-burning body? Do you want to say good-bye to mood swings, stress, headaches, sleepiness and depression? Do you want to live a long, healthy and happy life? DO YOU JUST WANT TO FEEL AMAZING? (If not... You're bananas.)

Well folks, you can have all those things and more. I'm not talking about some superfood David Wolfe just discovered in Bhutan, or some expensive powder at the health food store.

I'm talking about DINOSAURS.

Dinosaur KALE, that is. And spinach and lettuce and swiss chard rainbow chard, bok choy, arugula, cilantro, parsley, carrot greens, beet greens, dandelion greens, even broccoli; I mean the list goes on and on. DARK LEAFY GREENS HOLD THE THE SECRET TO LONGEVITY AND HEALTH.
But who wants to chew 6 cups of spinach? Not me. So what is there to do?  
Blend Green Smoothies. (What about juice? Check out my note at the end.)
Which blender is the best? There's no question: the Vita-Mix. It can literally liquefy a wooden block.
When we blend greens into a deliciously smooth drink, we are able to absorb them much faster because we're saving our bodies the digestive work.  

Did you know? Digestion takes the most energy out of any other biological function? Let's use that energy for other things!

We are able to assimilate those vital nutrients almost immediately. Now, we ALL know we should eat our greens (or drink them, in this case!) but most of us don't. Why is that? Because they don't taste that great to the majority of people. I personally find them delicious, but that's just me. Green Smoothies are not only one of the best things you can put in your body, they also taste FABULOUS! And if you get bored of one flavour, the other possibilities are endless. My smoothies usually have the same basics, but they taste different everyday because everyday I feel a bit different. Sometimes I want it sweeter, sometimes I want it more sour, some days I just wanna taste that fresh green kale.
In any case, the taste of your greens in smoothies is simply not an issue. You will learn to crave them, as I do.

I could ramble on about this FOREVER, so instead of typing down all the wonderful facts about greens, I'll let you find them for yourself. Seriously, just Google it. Basically, they are the most nutrient-dense, healthful foods on the planet. That's really all ya gotta know.
I will up this post with a simple green smoothie recipe.

Did you know?  Greens are full of chlorophyll (which is just like hemoglobin). And coconut water is almost identical to blood plasma.  Blood is made up of 55% plasma, and 45% hemoglobin - so when you blend a drink of 55% coconut water and 45% green smoothie - you get a blood transfusion!

NOTE - To Blend or Juice? That is the Question.

Personally I am a blender, not a juicer. (Nevermind! Check out all my juice recipes and read my posts about how I fell in love with fresh juice!) There are generally those two camps when it comes to greens and liquefying veggies. I agree that juicing allows the nutrients to enter your blood stream incredibly fast (about 15 minutes!) but the fiber - in the pulp - of those plants is thrown in the compost or added to crackers or other dishes later. I believe the fiber should be consumed with the food it came from, as nature intended. I don't like the idea of separating the elements of my food =/ It just doesn't make me feel totally comfortable. If I'm not 100% comfortable with the substances I'm about to make a part of me, I won't eat/drink them. But this is just MY OPINION.
When it comes down to it, there's no nutritional loss as long as you use that pulp eventually. It's more of a philosophical standpoint than anything else.
The best juicer, hands down, is the Green Star or any Omega Juicer. (unless you are crazy-rich and can afford a Norwalk, they're around $2,000 - Luuckky!)