Raw Recipe: Mock Pina Colada

I love Pina Coladas... and with this easy recipe, delicious raw vegan virgin Pina Coladas are a breeze!

Ingredients:
1/3 of a large pineapple, chopped
1 cup 100% coconut water
1 banana
Ice and water to fill blender or mute strong taste
Optional: one date or touch of raw agave.

Blend! I usually like to add a bunch of ice, and I find in this recipe it didn't affect the flavour at all!
Enjoy :)

Liquid Cleanse - Day Two of Fourteen

Today was a little different in terms of the cleanse. I attended my regular Thursday exercise class, and felt I had to aid my cleanse with a little raw food. I still feel like I'm detoxing, and the green juices and smoothies are definitely doing what I wished them to do - turn me back to raw. Now there's nothing I crave more! And after just one day. I'm going to continue my cleanse more like this I believe. I feel more energetic with one of my meals being actual raw food, and the other two and "snacks" being juices and smoothies. I really do feel out of my rut that I was in for the past two months already. I can't wait to continue!

So yes, I realize this isn't going to be a complete liquid only cleanse, but more of a healthy detox cleanse! I'm feeling great right now :) I think some days I'll do all liquid, and some days with a touch of food for the next 12 days. I think then it will be easier for me to stick to it, as I won't desperately crave foods I'm missing, but rather replacing them with either a juice, or an apple. The fiber is also helping the digestion cleanse as well which I'm happy with!

More to come as the weeks progress!

Liquid Cleanse - Day One of Fourteen

So for the past 2 months, I haven't been feeling my optimum, and I know this is directly linked to my fall off of the raw vegan diet. Don't get me wrong, I love diving into the vegan experiences available here, but in terms of health, I feel like mine has taken a steady curve in the downward direction. I even got sick for the first time in forever.

As much as I've been enjoying myself, I still found myself yearning to go back into raw. For some reason, what before was easy, I now found difficult. I decided a liquid/ juice colon cleanse would be a great way to jumpstart myself back into raw.

DAY ONE:
Today felt pretty great. My body is used to a lot more food lately so I'm feeling a bit tired, and even had a nap. I know this feeling will go away as I continue, so it's alright.
For breakfast I had some carrot juice and kambucha, and I made myself a great green juice for lunch made with apples, celery, red (black) kale, and cucumber. I had a lot of water and tea during the day, and for dinner I had a huge green smoothie with everything from mangoes and apples, to spirulina and chorella. Yum!
Exercise wise, I had bootcamp in the morning, and may do a bit of cardio or step work tonight. They say you shouldn't really exercise while on a cleanse like this, but I just can't stop my usual routine.

So far so good! I'm breaking the fast down into 1 stage of seven days, one stage of 4, and the last stage of 3. The first seven are the real detoxification days, stage 2 will most likely be the struggle stage, and the final stage is the home stretch. I can't wait to feel all the wonderful results on day 14.


I would also like to thank everyone for being so supportive! I know I can do it thanks to all of you.

Fully Raw Thanksgiving

This year, I definitely wanted to challenge myself. I've been excited to make a raw thanksgiving for WEEKS, even though I've been eating cooked vegan food lately. I wanted to make all of my mother's Thanksgiving staples, raw-vegan style. I'm very happy with the turnout, and I was really glad I could still enjoy the holiday with the family.
Keep in mind that I'm up here in Canada, so Thanksgiving weekend is this weekend! :D

 

Clockwise from top: Sweet Tarragon Carrots, a side of celery, Mashed Cauliflower w/mushroom gravy, Walnut Veggie "Meat"loaf, and Pumpkin Cranberry stuffing.

Measurements aren't going to be very accurate in the recipes, as this was a lot of experimenting.
Honestly, this was all just for me ;)


Sweet Tarragon Carrots:
1.5 shredded organic carrots
1/3 shredded gala apple
Tarragon

Dressing: 2 tsp raw tahini, agave, a touch of water, and more tarragon
Raisins as a topper

Mashed Cauliflower:
1/4 head cauliflower, pureed
1/5 cup soaked cashews, pureed
fresh rosemary
raw agave to taste

Mushroom Gravy:
1.4 tbsp Miso
3 small mushrooms
1/2 tsp tamari
1 tomato
water for thinning

raw agave to taste
(Method: pureed all until desired consistency)

Walnut Veggie "Meat"loaf:
1/2 cup organic walnuts
2 organic celery stalks (1.5 pureed, .5 small chopped)
1 green onion
1/6 red onion (1/2 finely chopped, half pureed)
1/2 red bell pepper
tarragon
ground black pepper
(Method: pureed walnuts, and remainder of ingredients until desired consistency. I kept mine chunky, and thought it was great. Dehydrate at 105 for 6 hours, flip and continue for 6 more hours)

Pumpkin Cranberry Stuffing:
1.5 c of pumpkin (pureed)
1/2 cup organic dried cranberries
1/5 cup organic thompson raisins
tsp sunflower seeds
cinnamon
nutmeg
touch of ginger
agave to taste
(Method: spread on dehydrator and dehydrate with the meat loaf. I took mine out and put it in the fridge when I flipped the loaf, and then put it back in to warm it up about 20 minutes before meal time)


And that's it! Well, for now! I have a chocolate pumpkin mouse torte setting in the freezer for later.
Enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving!!

Raw Recipe: Chocolate Banana Crepes

My mom is always bugging me about not making her anyone of my raw creations, which although is often not true, I find it's mostly because what I make is usually a trial run. I decided to get out there and make her a grande raw vegan breakfast that I know she'd love: Chocolate Banana Crepes. I had some Thai coconut meat in the fridge just waiting, and soaking a bunch of raw organic almonds to make a butter anyway.

Ingredients (serves 1 huge, or 2 regular)

Crepe:
2 bananas, 1 med gala apple

Chocolate almond butter (serves 2 easily. I ended up eating the rest with a sliced apple)
1/2 banana
3/4 soaked raw almonds
touch of agave (for the smooth texture)
1 1/2 tsp raw org. cocoa powder

Coconut Cream (ohhh yeah):
meat from 1 young thai coconut
4 soaked raw almonds
touch of raw agave for consistency

Additional garnish:
1/2 sliced banana
dried coconut

Method:
Process crepe ingredients until smooth. Dehydrate for 10 hours overnight at 105 degrees
For the butter, process ingredients until smooth. Same for the coconut cream. I honestly made the cream first, and just used the food processor right after for the almond butter.
To assemble, on 1 quarter of the crepe, spread hefty amount of almond butter, and top with coconut cream. Place a few pieces of sliced banana in there.
Fold crepe into quarters and top with garnish.
Enjoy!

My mom went CRAZY over this. Said it was one of the best breakfasts she's had in forever... and this is from someone that isn't afraid to share her honest opinion ;)

Here was my remaining almond butter with apples. Delish as well:

Raw Recipe: Spicy Onion Bread

Here is my first attempt at raw vegan bread. I have a ways to go, but I thought I'd post this recipe anyway.

 

Ingredients (general):

1 small zucchini

1 red pepper

1/4 red onion

2 green onions

stone ground mustard

cayenne pepper

1/2 cup soaked ground flax seeds

1 tbsp raw Pumpkin Seed Butter

Method:

Blend all ingredients in the food processor.
Dehydrate at 110 for 12 hours (or until desired texture/ firmness is reached)

Enjoy with your favorite sandwich fillings! I did apple, mustard, cucumber, and onion w/spinach. I wish I had some tahini so I could've added some red pepper hummus!

(Raw) Recipe: Tomato w/Red Pepper Hummus Wraps

They worked! Words cannot describe how happy I am right now! Easy as pie too ;)

Ingredients:
For the wrap:
2 tomatoes
tsp agave
(cayenne pepper for a bit of a kick and a GREAT saltiness later on)

For the Hummus:
1 med zucchini
3/4 T raw tahini
1 red bell pepper
1 green onion
a bit of raw mustard
a bit of red onion

For the Filling:
I used lettuce, orange/red bell pepper, cucumber, red onion. I left out the avocado, but play around with what you like!

Method:
In a blender, mix the wrap ingredients. Pour on dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for one hour at 140, and remaining 8 hours at 110.
For the hummus, just throw all the ingredients in the food processor.
Slice up the filling ingredients.
Roll your wrap and there you go! Delish, and so easy. I can't wait to make a spinach one next!

Enjoy!

(Raw) Recipe: Banana Crepes w/ Cashew Peach Cream

Again, the amounts are not listed, but I'm sure you could experiment and come up with something great just from my ingredient list.

 

Ingredients:
Crepe -
1 banana and a touch of agave makes 1 crepe
Cream -
1 peach, 1/4 cup soaked cashews, 3/4 cup coconut meat, 2 soaked dates
Blueberry Sauce:
1 cups org. bluberries, touch of raw agave

Fruit of choice!

Method:
blend crepe mixture. Dehydrate at 105 for 10 hours.
Blend cream ingredients. Fill crepe, and wrap. Add in the fruits of your choice. I did more peaches, apple, and blueberries.
Blend blueberry sauce ingredients. Top crepe!
If you have extra ingredients, like I did, make a parfait on the side!

Enjoy!

(Raw) Recipe: Goji Power Bites

It seems my recipes lately are vague on amounts, but it's because I'm enjoying experimenting! These goji bites gave me a real power boost in the mornings, and before workouts.

Ingredients:
soaked almonds
soaked dates
soaked raisins
organic cocoa powder
org. cocoa nibs
a touch of maca powder
Goji berries (of course), soaked
a touch of agave to lessen in the thickening.

Method:
Blend all ingredients in the food processor as listed.
Form cookies on a dehydrator sheet. (I used a cookie dough tool to make the flowers!)
Dehydrate at 110 for 5-6 hours.

Enjoy!

(Raw) Recipe: Eggplant Summer Salad

As summer is winding down, I've been stuffing myself with fruit. So, thus the lack of remotely complicated recipes. So I came up with this! Mmmm... it was delicious. An Eggplant Summer Salad, which although has a bunch of instructions, was actually generally simple.

Ingredients:
Bottom layer: Organic Mixed Greens
First Layer: Cut Cucumbers
Second Layer: Chopped orange bell pepper, and chopped red onion, soaked in lemon juice
Sauce: Cauliflower Tomato Sauce (cauliflower mixture below, tomatoes, agave, org. rice vinegar, water
           (cauliflower dipped in mustard, tamari, miso, nooch, and tumeric)
Topping 1: Kale chips (kale, and cauliflower dip mixture)
Topping 2: Eggplant Bacon (eggplant, tamari)

Method:
In the morning, I dipped the eggplant in tamari, and laid out the slices on a dehydrator sheet. On a mesh sheet, I dipped the cauliflower and kale in the "cauliflower mixture". I dehydrated both sheets at 110 for about 10 hours.
To make the Cauliflower Tomato Sauce, I put the dehydrated cauliflower, and remaining ingredients in the food processor, along with some dill weed.
Layer the salad levels, crumb the kale, and you're set!! Enjoy!

Oh, summer.

Recipe: Raw Kale Chips v.1

I got my dehydrator!! First order of business: Kale Chips.

These are less recipes than they are just ideas:

Sea Salt and Vinegar:
2 stalks Kale
vinegar
touch of Tamari
Pinch of Sea Salt

Tamari Mustard:
2 stalks Kale
Organic Stone Ground Mustard
Tamari
touch of Agave

Soak, then dehydrate at 105 degrees for 12 hours.

I'm going to be trying more complicated flavours soon, I promise. Pizza Kale Chips here I come!

Recipe: Blue Tahini Salad

This would have to be one of my favorite salads I've ever made. I would have liked to have added a bit of nori squares in there to add something a bit salty, but I really liked how it turned out regardless.

Ingredients:
- 3 cups of mixed greens
- 1 banana
- 1/3 cup blueberries

Dressing:
- 2/3 Tbsp Raw Tahini
- 3/4 Tbsp Raw Agave
- 1 tsp purified water

Method:
- For the dressing, mix raw tahini and agave until creamy. Add water until a tad runny. It'll turn a lighter white color
- Toss salad w/ dressing, and there ya have it!

I personally love the taste of this dressing, as it reminds me of halvah (mmmm). Try adding the nori I missed out on for a bit of a salty twist!

Recipe: Raw Choco-Banana Pudding

I tried to make ice-cream... needless to say it didn't work, but it made an awesome pudding!

Ingredients (serves 3):
- 3 frozen bananas
- 1 tsp raw organic cocoa powder
- 1/3 c cashews

Method:
- Soak cashews for 2-3 hours, then strain and rinse
- (to make cashew milk, blend cashews with 1 cup of water and sift through a nut milk bag, You can save the "fiber" to make cheeses and spreads)
- Mix in bananas, cashew milk, and cocoa powder.
- Cut up an additional banana for a topping, and there you have it! You can put it in the freezer for an additional 15 minutes if you feel it melted a bit.

Yum!!

Recipe: Raw Mustard Stuffed-Mushrooms

Strangely enough, one of my all time favorite snacks is mustard with either mushrooms, or orange bell peppers. Now organic stone-ground mustard is sometimes considered raw, but I suggest making your own to be sure.
I had my left over cashew cheese from when I made my choco-banana pudding, so I thought I'd make this little stuffing mixture to make the mushrooms a little appetizer for dinner tonight.

  

Ingredients:

- 3 white mushrooms

- 1/3 cup worth of cashew cheese (extracted through nut milk bag when making nut milk)

- 3 slices of orange bell pepper

- 1/2 tsp miso

- 1 tsp tamari

- organic or raw organic mustard

Method:

(Marinate the mushrooms if you wish.. I suggest if you do, a simple olive oil- tamari marinade)

- Slice pepper into small cubes

- Mix a touch of mustard, miso, pepper cubes, and tamari 

- Stuff mushrooms with mixture

- Top with mustard and enjoy!!

Raw Update: Day...?

It hasn't been a struggle to stay being raw. Yes, I've gone off it to discover the vegan wonders of the places I've been traveling to, but I always come back to raw. It's simple. Raw food makes me feel, well, alive, and all around wonderful.

Most people ask me what day of the challenge I'm on, and the answer: I don't even know anymore. It is no longer a challenge, but a life-style. Except for the excursions here and there, I will be sticking with the raw vegan diet, until for some unknown reason, I decide no-longer to be.

There is so much I'm excited for. Raw thanksgiving, raw Christmas... a raw birthday! So many recipes to uncover, and ways of "uncooking". I'm traveling to London in April, and who knows what that will bring.

I'm keeping up with my exercising, and will soon be joining hot yoga. Just enjoying the wonders of summer, and all the delicious fruits and vegetables it's blessing me with.

I think that's all for now, but I felt like it was time for another update.



Next challenge: Perfecting raw ice-cream!!

Raw Recipe: Pad Thai

I finally got my hand on some kelp noodles at Whole Foods! So what to do with them... Pad Thai!
This recipe could be done with zucchini new'dles just as easily :) I know what I'll be having again for dinner...

Recipe: Raw Pad Thai

Ingredients (serves 1):

1/2 pack of Kelp Noodles

1/2 Tbsp Sunflower Seeds

1/2 Slivered Almonds

Pad Thai Dressing:

2 tsp Raw Tahini

2 tsp vinegar (I used Apple Cider Vinegar)

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp garlic

1 tbsp Tamari

1 tsp White Organic Miso

3 tbsp water

1 1/2 tsp Nutritional Yeast (optional)
touch of raw agave nectar (optional)

Method:

 - Rinse Kelp Noodles

- Mix all dressing ingredients. 
- Allow kelp noodles to soak in dressing ingredients for 20-30 min

- Toss Noodles, with nuts, and seeds 
(variation: add cucumber, avocado, pea-pods and seaweed for a different flavour!)

Enjoy!

Raw Recipe: Carrot Mustard Salad

What was I to do with the fiber from my juice in the morning? Make a Salad, of course!

Carrot Mustard Salad

 

 
Now just because I made the salad from fiber, doesn't mean it needs to be made from it. You can just use carrots, beets and ginger, fiber and juice.

Ingredients:
(Base)
   4 Medium Carrots
   1/2 Red Beet
   hint of ginger (depends on how spicy you want the salad)
(Dressing)
   2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
   3/4 tsp Organic Stone-Ground Mustard
   3 tsp Nutritional Yeast

Method:
Either juice the base ingredients and use the fiber for the salad, OR thinly slice or grate the ingredients.
For the dressing, mix the ingredients in order. The dressing should be runny, so if it's a bit solid, add more vinegar. Top with seeds or nuts of choices, and serve! I ate mine with sliced red and yellow pepper which was a delightful add on.
Enjoy!

Raw Update: Finishing Up Day 13

Hello all!
Yes, yes, I know, I know. I've been terrible at updating on my raw journey, if you count-out all the recipe posts. It's Friday May 13th, which means, it's day 13 of my Raw 100 day challenge!

Just a recap:
The raw challenge really interested me when I started to look into raw recipes, and how people felt who are/were on a raw diet. Because LA (and everywhere really now), is very vegan friendly, I found my self engorging in Vegan delights. Although, yes, my cholesterol was at a new low, my weight had risen. Not to say I mind this... I mean, I was happy! And I still am! But regardless of the myth, vegan food CAN BE BAD FOR YOU. I wasn't eating the non-vegan alternatives, so I wasn't sure what made the vegan version suddenly okay to eat, and not worry about any after effects.
I attempted to go raw when I went to Texas, but since my friend was getting really into becoming vegan, and wanted to know how she could make her own vegan food (and was paying for all the groceries),  it was impractical for me to ditch her needs, for my own conquests. It was when I finally got back to Vancouver, my lovely home, that I knew I would take the raw challenge. And May 1st, I started.

How it's been going:
Amazing. Honestly.
I haven't felt this good in a pretty long time. I'm much happier knowing I'm making healthier choices, and knowing I'm losing those extra pounds. I've been exercising more too, thanks to the great living amount of energy in the food. I run, or do some kind of physical activity for at least 45 minutes a day, so in the case of days like today, I can take a breather, and just sit and watch the food network.

Food:
I love food. I love making it, I love eating it, I love experiencing it.
I was excited about the challenge not just for the health benefits, but because I knew it would be a new culinary adventure. I haven't been let down! I love finding new recipes, and experimenting on my own.
My cupboard is stocked with essentials from flax and nutrional yeast, to plenty of fruits, vegetables, and berries.
Here are some pictures of the food I've made so far on the Challenge:

A lot of people, myself included, look at the raw lifestyle and think it's quite complicated. Dehydrators, juicers, food processors, spiralizers, blenders, sprouters, cheese clothes, etc, etc. I'm currently running on a food processor, blender, spiral slicer, and mandolin (which I actually haven't even used yet). I wasn't going to splurge on anything overly expensive, knowing this was only temporary. But the more I go on this challenge, the more I'm contemplating going raw indefinitely, so the juicer will come first, then eventually a dehydrator. There's an amazing Raw place in Vancouver called Gorilla food... and they make me really want to own both of the above. The crackers and cookies are endless, and so are the juice combinations.

What do I miss? Well, the vegan specialties: tofu, cereal, soy-yogurt, veg-marshmellows, bread, vegan donuts... anything I can bake vegan.. mac and cheese... well, you get my drift.
It's also really hard watching Vancouver bloom as a vegan-friendly city, as Edible Flours (the vegan bakery) AND a vegan pizza-ria have just opened. I knew I promised myself that I would go off raw for the meals I ate at vegan restaurants, but it's hard to cheat when I know I don't HAVE to, and just WANT to. I am going to make exceptions though, of course. Such as this weekend. The first time I'm going to spend a meal off raw will be at the Great Vegan Chili Cook-Off. I can't miss an experience like this for my challenge. I'm beyond excited to go.
Do I miss sugar? Desserts? I don't have to! I've made raw desserts already, and there are way too many recipes I'm dying to try. And, if I need just a touch of sweet, I eat a pitted date, grapes, or fruit.
Things I didn't realize about this diet? IT CAN BE HIGH IN FAT. I've realized that I REALLY have to watch what I'm eating. I need to focus on tons of fruits and vegetables, and scarcely use nuts like cashews, or eat tons of avocado.

On that note, next week (starting Monday) I've added an extra challenge. It's Fat-Free Raw Week! I'm going to try and limit my fat in-take.. aka no desserts with nuts.. and no raw almond-butter munching.

Phew.. that was long-winded..
But there ya go! My raw challenge, so far, in a nut shell.
I promise I'll make a video soon enough :)
Have a great weekend everyone! Stay tuned for a review on the Cook-off, and more raw recipes!
Here are some pictures of the food I've made so far on the Challenge:

Raw Recipe: Stuffed Peppers

I had a few red bell peppers kicking around, so I thought I'd make a filling to create a raw stuffed pepper recipe!

Raw Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients (serves 2):
3 bell peppers
9 med. white/brown mushrooms

3 sun dried tomatoes (with some oil from the container)
2 tbsp italian seasoning
1 1/2 tbsp nutrional yeast
1/2 a lemon worth of juice
(I also added in a bit of zucchini, but it was minimal, so it's optional)
salt and pepper 

Method:
Chop one pepper and mushrooms, and throw in the food processor with the remaining ingredients (except 2 left bell peppers) until creamy

Chop off the tops of the other 2 peppers, and scoop out the seeds if any remain.
Fill the peppers with the creamed mixture.

Top with sunflower seeds and serve!

Raw Recipe: Apple Raisin Salad

When made with Quinoa, this is my ultimate favorite salad. Although, since I'm not sprouting my own any time soon, I decided to use my grain substitute (Cauliflower) instead of Quinoa, and I rather enjoyed it!

Apple Raisin Salad

 

Ingredients:
1 large Fuji (or of your choice) Apple
1/3 cup Raisins
2 tbsp sunflower seeds and nuts
1/2 large head of cauliflower
2 tbsp raw agave nectar
pinch of sea salt

Method:
-Chop cauliflower then throw into the food processor, until it looks grain like (resembles couscous)
-Chop apple, and add to cauliflower.
-Add remaining ingredients and it's finished!