Chia-Berry Pudding

I made this for a class tonight and it came out really good! I realized that I say this phrase "really good" a thousand times a day and that my ! button is hanging on by a nano thread. But it's all really good and of course, it's all really healthy! The inspiration for this dessert/breakfast food came from the Whole Foods Market's website: Chia Pudding. Chia seeds contain a significant amount of dietary fiber, calcium, and omega-3's. In addition they produce a great tapioca effect when left in a liquid overnight. Enjoy!

2 cups unsweetened hemp milk
2/3 cups chia seeds
1 cup freeze dried blueberries
2 Tbsp raw honey

Whisk honey into hemp milk.
Add chia seeds and blueberries and whisk for 2-3 minutes.
Refrigerate overnight. Enjoy with an herbal tea.

taste rating: 3 stars
effort(scale 1-5): 2 easy

Veggie Stir-Steam(No-Oil/No Salt)

Veggie Stir-Steam(No-Oil/No Salt)-Large Batch Cooking....serves like 10

Ingredients were not measured but here are my estimates:

1 cup flax seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup walnuts
toast seeds in a hot pan until the flax seeds start jumping. put aside in a bowl

5 carrots-sliced
5 parsnips-sliced
Steam-saute in 2oz coconut water for 5-8 minutes. Cover but toss every minute, adding another oz of coconut water if dry before cooked.
place in a large serving bowl

1/2 large head red cabbage-chopped
1/2 pinky fresh ginger-minced
1/2 pinky fresh turmeric root-minced
2 cloves fresh garlic- minced
1/2 a large jalapeno-minced
1 large clove shallot-minced
1/2 bunch green onions-chopped
Steam-saute spices in 2 oz coconut water for 1 min then add cabbage and cover for 3 min
uncover and toss. Cook for another 3 minutes or so until done. Add to serving bowl.

2 heads of bok choy- one head at a time

1 head sliced bok choy-separating the green tops and the white bottoms

1/4 pinky fresh ginger-minced

1/4 pinky fresh turmeric root-minced

1 clove fresh garlic- minced

1/4 a large jalapeno-minced 

1 large clove shallot-minced

1/4 bunch green onions-chopped

steam saute spices in 2 oz coconut water for 1 min then add bok choy whites and cover for 3 min

uncover and toss. Add the greens and cook for another 3 minutes . Add to serving bowl.

Repeat for 2nd head of bok choy.

1 lb fresh crimini/baby bella mushrooms-sliced

1 Tbsp fresh garlic-minced

1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger-minced

1 large clove shallot-minced

Steam-saute spices in 2 oz coconut water and add mushrooms. Cook for a minute and toss. Repeat for 3-5 minutes adding coco water if dry before cooked. Add to serving bowl.

Toss all ingredients in the serving bowl with the juice of one freshly squeezed lemon for added flavor and preservation. I'm not sure if it's the polysaccharides in the shrooms or the flax seeds, but something in this dish coats the veggies with an oil-like texture. This is super tasty! Super healthy! And super fun to make! Enjoy with quinoa or brown rice!
Taste rating: 3.5 stars
Time spent: 1 star...takes a while, so have fun with it!

Setting the Mood

I have fun when I cook. It is my time to relax and have a spiritual connection with my food. I am 100% convinced that energy is transferable to water and food. Watch THIS and THIS. I want to emit positive vibrations while I cut my water filled veggies, or make my fresh carrot juice, or blend a green smoothie.

My thoughts and energy will positively or negatively charge my food. Energy is neither created nor destroyed...right Einstein? It makes sense that the energy I put into my thoughts or beliefs doesn't fall to the curb. It is transferred somewhere...maybe into my mango?

So to create a space of peace and love I have created a little cooking ritual. This is how I set the mood:

1. Totally clean my entire kitchen. This will allow me to relax and enjoy my space.
2. Light a candle or two. The light from the candle always brings peace.
3. Play relaxing music. As the ultimate mood setter, I highly recommend Pandora: Thievery Corporation.
4. Pop a bottle. For me it's: Organic Martenelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. For you, maybe a Belgian Ale
    or a bottle of Moscato. The point is to Celebrate our Food and Life. I drink a whole $5 bottle of
    sparkling cider in the hour or so that I cook :) even using a splash here and there to cook with.
5. Send thanks and love to the creator for providing the water and sunlight to grow these magical plants.   Shower the food with good vibrations.
6.Cut all my veggies, slap chop my onions, mince my garlic, etc before I cook. I cut everything and  
   place it in bowls to make the experience as smooth as possible. I'm going to start doing this for my
   classes now too.
6.Chef it up!

Life is Beautiful!

Of course I don't do this every time I'm in the kitchen. I do large batch cooking twice a week and this is when I create my happy space.

The Creation = Nutritionally Balanced & Superbly DELICIOUS
Oil-Free/Sodium-Free(except whats in the veggies)
Organic and Light
Full of Love
Food

Unleaded Please

I was just thinking about the simplicity of my diet at times. For instance, right now I have a HUGE bowl of No-oil stir fry in my fridge. I made it two nights ago and this will most likely last me four-five more days. I mix it with brown rice and I have my work lunchbox and late night snack too. Most people will say, no way! this is too boring! To this I think...we are animals, specifically mammals. Any other mammal on earth would be very content with the same meal everyday for a week. In fact, if we eat local with the seasons we will eat the same fruits & veggies everyday for three months. It seems we have totally lost sight of what food is. Food is our fuel. I have been putting regular unleaded in my tank for 15 years. Not once have I said, nope...feels like a diesel kinda day. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE food! But at the end of the day I hope to have only put the best fuel in my tank. So, this week it is: juice in the a.m., No-oil stir-fry, and a quickly dwindling stash of HONEYBELLS!!!
Plant <3

Raw No Caffeine: Day 11 take 2

Let's try this again lol So, besides two little pieces of Danish candy last night, 100% raw for 11 days. This week I have been starting my day off with a bok choy lemonade juice:

20oz bok choy juice

1 lemon-juiced

Bok choy is my new best green friend. It is so crisp, juicy, nutrient dense, and delicious! I have been removing the greens from the tops and juicing the white stalks. This is the best way to get our water; through mother natures filter. Forget a $20,000 Klingon water filter...just eat more fruits, veggies, and drink spring water! Anyway, I juice the stalks and then use the greens for my lunchtime green smoothie. Organic bok choy is only $1.29/lb at Whole Foods. So for $2.00 a get my morning juice and my green smoothie! As a comparison, a lb of kale is about $9.00 and nowhere near as juicy as the choy! So save the choy greens and the kale for the smoothies and juice the Bok!

After I drink the lemonade, say some prayers, meditate, and digest the juice, I drink my brAVO-Carotenoid Smoothie. This has been modified to:

10 carrots juiced

1/2 an apple juiced

1 lemon juiced

then blend the above with 

1 avocado

This has become my all-time favorite tasting smoothie creation! It is amazing! 

After 1-2 hours, I make my green smoothie:

40oz water

1 avocado

2 Tbsp flax seeds

1 Tbsp bee pollen

Blend until consistent then add

2 large handfulls leafy greens

3 frozen bananas

Blend and drink up!

this makes 64oz and you may need to add more water. I drink half, then bottle the other half for work. I have beeb packing little superfood snacks for work:

1 handful raw cacao nibs

1 handfull bee pollen

1 handful walnuts

1 tip of the jar of raw unfiltered unstrained wildflower organic honey

I mix this up and munch it in the afternoon. It's energizing and very satisfying!

I didn't make this today though. Today for a snack I had spicy raw flax crackers, 18oz fresh organic pineapple, and then a spinach salad and a large bag of dried mangos for dinner.

Everyday I have been making another bok choy lemonade for a midnight snack, but tonight I just munched:

coconut butter(whole ground coconut)

cacao nibs

raw honey 

bee pollen

Today was different. I had, in this order:

9:30am:

Green Smoothie

Raw homemade sprouted hummus

12pm:

Bok choy lemonade

brAVO Carotenoid Smoothie

5pm

Fresh Organic Pineapple 

Spicy Flax Crackers

9:30pm

Spinach salad

large bag dried mangos

12am:

Coconut butter/cacao/pollen/honey mix

1 fuji apple

I'm writing all this because people always ask me what I eat and to show that you can be raw and eat very well. I have learned this time around that I need more protein, fats, and acidic foods while eating raw. The lack of grounding some report when only eating raw food may be from an extreme alkaline high. I am so nourished and mentally balanced between the raw oil-free food and the no-caffeine that this time around, the raw path is without speed bumps and is immensely more rewarding. 

Raw No Caffeine: Day 11

Also, of course, totally oil-free. When I say oil-free, I mean no added oils. As in the extracted, packaged, pure fat, low nutrient, no fiber, no protein, added oils. This includes the oils: olive, coconut, flax, hemp, canola, etc. Some people claim that oil is good for us, but facts are facts...it isn't. I have heard many people cite the Mediterranean diet as an excuse to continue pouring oil onto their salads and into there frying pans...so here is an article with the truth about olive oil:

http://www.thevegetariansite.com/health_oliveoil.htm

Another truth about oil is your food tastes so much better without it! I stopped using oil in all of my cooking and raw food creations since January and I have consumed less than a half cup of oil since then. I used to eat a half cup of coconut oil in one salad. I would eat it and need a nap immediately after. Now I skip the middle man and go right to the source, using fresh avocado, nuts, seeds, coconuts, oilves, and so on. In other words: HEALTHY FATS!!! When we use these types of fats for cooking, salad dressing, ice cream, chocolate mousse, we actually taste our food the way it was intended to be eaten: fresh, whole, and in it's natural state. We get the fiber, the protein, the flavor!

But the proof is in the avocado pudding...that I feel soooo good after eating a salad without oil, or a no-oil stir fry, or a cashew mint chocolate chip ice cream. I feel light, nourished, and beautiful on the inside! I know I wrote about all this in a previous post, but it's something that needs to be repeated. I feel more of a difference after giving up oil than after giving up dairy. So the oil-free path is healthier, tastes better, you'll feel better, and your skin will look better! These are the facts. I will be leading a group on an oil-free plant-based 28 day challenge at the end of January with a weekly cooking/educational class. All are welcome and encouraged to join. It will be free and open to the public.

Raw Food..Hold the Caffeine: Day 2

I'm back on a 100% raw foods...Day 2. Every time I do this it gets easier and easier and the food gets better and better. The huge, earth-shattering difference between this and my other raw-ventures is that I have given up caffeine. No YERBA MATE!!!  I was drinking a LOT of mate...enough to kill a small chihuahua. The equivalent of at least 4 cups of coffee first thing after opening my eyes...then whatever after shock satellite mates would ensue. So, to substitute the mate rush is....LEAFY GREEN JUICE! LOL I was eating two full heads of greens everyday and today I munched 3 bunches and then juiced 2 bunches. I was given a juicer by my amazing boss yesterday and lit up tonight with quite possibly the best drink I've ever made. I turned the juicer on, tuned in, and let my body dictate the ingredients:


brAVO-Carotenoid Smoothie

1 decent size garnet yam or sweet potato
6 thin carrots
1 lemon
juice these things then blend with:
1 avocado and maybe a little ice

It was soooooooo freaking delicious! At first I made a bok choy, collard green, broccoli juice. It was awesome and I got a buzz from it, but it didn't tickle my sweet tooth. The garnet yam is loaded with carotenoids and vitamin A and so are carrots, giving them their orange hues. As I've mentioned everyday!!!and in previous posts...Avocados are the best thing to pair with a carotenoid. This drink gets:
double high five and five stars
energy spent: 4 due to cleaning the juicer