Fajitas, Spicy Salsa & Spanish "rice"

Hello all! 


So glad it is Friday and the sun is shining! What are your plans for the weekend? I am going to do a 5K race on Saturday morning, a long run on Sunday and hopefully get some veggies planted. I also ordered Food, Inc. from my netflix and am looking forward to watching it. 


The other day I was checking out Heather's blog (Sweetly Raw) and she had a yummy recipe for fajitas. They looked so good, I got them started that day. I used sliced baby bella mushrooms, an orange bell pepper and a sweet yellow onion. I soaked them in Heather's marinade over night and the veggies softened just enough that I did not need to dehydrate them. They are so good. 

Alongside, I made some Spanish "rice" as I had cauliflower to use and it seemed perfect for the fajita meal. 

Spanish "Rice"

adapted from raw-food-diet-inspiration

1 head cauliflower 

1 bell pepper (I used orange)

handful cilantro

Onion (I used a leek)


Process cauliflower in food processor to make "rice"

process bell pepper and onion

add chopped bell pepper and cilantro to cauliflower mix

Mix above ingredients together and set aside. 


Combine...

1 avocado

cumin

coriander

chili powder juice of 1 lemon or lime

1/2 jalapeno pepper

1 teaspoon garlic

squirt agave

basil

Mash together in bowl. Add to cauliflower mix and lightly toss together. Enjoy! 

I ate some as a snack in endive leaves. Yum. 

I made a quick salsa to go along with the meal. 

Spicy Salsa

2 tomatoes

handful cilantro 

1/2 jalapeno pepper

salt 

onion

garlic

Blend together and enjoy. 


Hope everyone had a great weekend! :)

11 week initiative, day 5. Kelp noodle recipe, smoothie recipe, Almond Butter Dressing & cupcake e-book,

 Hello all!

It has been a good but cold Wednesday here. I am ready for some real sunshine. I started the day with a 5 mile run and some lower body weight lifting at the gym. I came home and made a green (it came out brown) smoothie with...

Fruity Cinnamon Smoothie

1 pear

1 banana

1 mandarin orange

carrot juice

cinnamon

vanilla

ice

2 huge handfuls of beet greens

It hit the spot and kept me full until lunch. For lunch I packed a green salad with lots of veggies an d hemp seeds.

 and a raw bar... have you heard of this one? It is really good, crunchy but chewy at the same time, and only 150 calories, which is low for a raw bar.

For dinner I marinated some kelp noodles in a mix of nama shoya, garlic, ginger juice, and chinese 5 spice powder.

I topped the noodles with bean sprouts, and lots of other raw veggies and topped with an almond butter dressing, original recipe adapted from Averie at Love Veggies and Yoga.I use...

Almond Butter Dressing

2 tablespoons almond butter

1 tablespoon ginger juice (or grated ginger)

1 teaspoon garlic

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

juice from one large orange

For dessert I am going to have my first raw cupcake! (losing my raw cupcake virginity!)

I'm sure many of you are aware of Shannon over at Rawdorable and the cupcake e-book she has created. After seeing so many of her yummy looking creations I knew I had to buy it. Today I got the time to create one the recipes. I chose to do the "lighter" recipe since I am doing the 11 week initiative over at Raw Food Rehab. The recipe was super simple to follow and came out perfect! The things I love about this e-book are...

Lots of recipes... I love variety.

Savory recipes too

A "lighter" version

Many frosting choices

The recipes are for 1 or 2 serving, which I LOVE because I don't usually like to make big batches of things... back to that liking variety thing (and I know that it is highly possible I will eat them all!)

The book is fun to read and look at, full of pictures and brightly colored.

If you like raw sweets (who doesn't?) that are easy to make, so should go to Rawdorable and pick up Shannon's e-book now. Also, I think Ellen would LOVE any of the cupcakes in your book Shannon!

The verdict... the cupcake is DELICIOUS! I split it with Mackenzie and she loved it too and asked for more before she was even done. Great job Shannon! Thanks!

The naked cupcake...

The frosted cupcake....

Not the best picture... sorry!

For other raw recipe books I love click here. Lori is doing a GREEN WEEK CHALLENGE for Earth day. Check it out here.  Averie has a chocolate give-away, click here.

I have a few give-aways and contests coming up... so become a follower of my blog with google friend connect so you don't miss out! Think raw treats!

11 week initiative, day 3. Raw Marinara Sauce, A cute kid and dog!

Today I dropped Mackenzie off at school and headed to the gym for a much needed workout. I did a couple miles on the treadmill and did a spin class, which I have not done in a while. I like the fast tempo of it.This morning after the gym I had a green juice and packed a bowl of mixed fruit,a Lara bar and a Kombucha for lunch. When I got home I did some crafts with Mackenzie. We made play food for her American Girl doll. If any of you have girls, then I am sure you are well aware of American Girl dolls. She loves her "Bitty Baby" and her doll and has fun being "mommy" to them.


For dinner I a had a spiralized zucchini with raw marinara sauce that I made yesterday, mushrooms, tofu, and a sweet potato. A while later I had some popcorn sprinkled with cinnamon and stevia. Here is my recipe for raw marinara sauce. 

Raw Marinara Sauce

8 or 9 sundried tomatoes, soaked until soft

8 or 9 cherry tomatoes

handful of fresh basil

1/4 red bell pepper

1/2 carrot

dash of salt

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Blend it together and enjoy! 

Yesterday I had a dollop on the raw Rosemary Basil Crackers I made. 

Perfectly easy, healthy and delicious! 

Just for fun... a picture of Mackenzie and Blaze.

11 week initiative, day 1. Dr. Junger Detox Program... Clean. Marinated Veggies and Butternut Squash Rice Recipe

Hello friends!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far. As I mentioned a couple days ago, today is the first day of the 11 week initiative on Raw Food Rehab. I woke up this morning and had a headache and felt kind of blah. I wanted to dive into a huge muffin but keeping my goals for week one in mind, I made a green lemonade instead. After that I went to the gym for a quick workout. I did some upper body weight lifting and only like 15 minutes on the treadmill. As I have mentioned before, I do not really like to go on the treadmill... I prefer to run outside, but it was raining and I was tired, so I just cut the workout short. I will save my energy for tomorrow's 15 mile run, which will be rain or shine.

The half marathon I am doing is quickly approaching... May 1st. When I signed up for it a few months ago I had never ran more than a few miles at one time. Now 13, 14+ miles is really no  problem. My original goal was just to complete the half marathon but now I am going to change that goal and set a time for it. Not sure what it will be yet...we'll see.

Breakfast today was my green lemonade. For lunch I had some avocado sushi rolls that I picked up at Trader Joe's yesterday.

For dinner I have started a medley of marinated veggies which I will top on a green salad (keeping with my goal!) I used...

Cauliflower

Carrots

Asparagus

Red Bell Pepper

Mushrooms

Marinated in ...

Nama Shoya

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Ginger juice

Cayenne pepper

I placed the veggies in my dehydrator and will leave them in for about 4 hours to soften and warm. The cold weather has me wanting something warm to eat.

I ended up eating the marinated veggies along with some swiss chard and a garden burger on a piece of rye bread. I also snacked on a few pieces of tempeh. 

I ate the muffin I wanted so badly this morning for dessert. It was one of the bran muffins from Trader Joe's... I am in love with them! Vegan, no sugar added and just plain yummy!

A couple days ago I made a dish adapted from Ani Phyo's book.

Butternut Squash Rice with Walnuts and Raisins

1 small butternut squash, chopped, peeled and seeded
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin powder 

1 tablespoon coriander
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1 cup raisins (I used golden)
1 cup walnuts, crushed
dash salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Process squash in food processor to rice consistency. Add remaining ingredients. Enjoy!

Have you heard of Dr. Junger? He is the author of the book, Clean, which I purchased last week and started reading yesterday. His program for detoxification is endorsed by Martha Stuart (click to watch a video of her experience with the cleanse) Gwyneth Paltrow, Donna Karen, and many others. After doing some research on his website and other people's websites, I decided that I really want to do this detox. I ordered his kit... it was pricey, but I feel the results will be well worth every penny. I am trying to decided when to start, as it requires a 21 day commitment. I am thinking of waiting until after May 1st, which is my half marathon day. When I do start I want to document my experience day by day and post a before and after picture. Seeing is believing, right?

My question for you... have you ever done any type of detox or cleansing program? Did you notice a change in how you felt when you were done? Was it hard to stick with it?

Averie has a giveaway right now for some custom chocolate bars.. check it out HERE!

Eggplant Roll ups, Liquid Gold Elixir, Lydia's Organics copycat bars, Chocolate Cocoa Nib Cookies

Another beautiful day here in Northern California! I went for a run this morning with my running buddies. I ran 14 miles and the first seven were uphill, that was my first time running uphill for that long. I am used to doing rolling hills, you know, a little up, a little down, then do it over and over. The rolling hills are so much easier because you actually get to recover a little. The seven miles back downhill was a treat!

Today I have eaten...

Protein shake before my run made with a banana, protein powder and a tablespoon of almond butter.

After my run I had a tall glass of Green Lemonade and some mixed fruit drizzled with cinnamon honey. I used a banana (love bananas!) a mandarin orange, a couple strawberries, and a nectarine. Yum! The cinnamon honey rocks!

For lunch I made a green salad with lettuce, asparagus, carrots, cucumber, some of the thai curry tofu from last night, and drizzled with Natalia Rose's Liquid Gold Elixir salad dressing made of...

1 cup lemon juice

tablespoon garlic

tablespoon ginger 

3 tablespoons Nama Shoya

1 tablespoon raw honey

3/4 cup olive oil

It makes a big amount, so I store it in a mason jar and use it all week.

I used the same dressing to marinate some thinly sliced eggplant and mushrooms and have then warming in the dehydrator.

Here they are all nice, soft and warm...

I spread some pesto on each piece of eggplant, topped with a mushroom...

And rolled them up into little logs. Perfect snack!

Mackenzie and I watched a movie in the late afternoon and I snacked on some nuts while she enjoyed a bag of popcorn.

I started a few things in the dehydrator. I am making raw chocolate chip cookies, which I threw together a recipe based on the ingredients in the cookies I bought from One Lucky Duck, but with several tweaks. I used....

Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup almond meal

1/2 cup buckwheat groats

1 tablesspoon vanilla extract

dash of sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup cocoa nibs

a little less than 1/4 cup agave nectar

I blended the almond meal and buckwheat groats in a food processor then added the agave nectar, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. I stirred in the cocoa nibs by hand and dropped the dough by the teaspoon full onto my nonstick dehydrator sheets. I have then dehydrating at 105 and will remove them when dry on the outside but still chewy inside. 

I also started some more of my copycat Lydia's Organic's bars  but added a couple strawberries and a heaping tablespoon of hemp seeds. I dehydrate these at 105 until totally dry. 

The mixture...

On the sheet...

Remember to score it into bars after about 4 or 5 hours. 

Just for fun... a picture of Mackenzie with the Easter Bunny on Saturday. 

So nice to finally have her not be TERRIFIED of the bunny like she used to be!

My 30 day raw challenge/ Thai coconut sauce recipe/ smoothie recipe

Seriously wishing the weekend were longer! I have decided to do a 30 day challenge where I will eat 90% raw or more. I will be allowing myself some tofu (I have been craving it) and protein shakes before my long runs. I eat mostly raw anyway but have been getting off track on several occasions, then I notice a huge difference in the way I feel... I feel like crap! So, since I want to drop a few pounds too before bikini season, this challenge will be perfect for me. Please follow me and cheer me on!

Everyday I will post what I ate that day, any recipes and how I am feeling. So here I go. I started the morning off with a green smoothie.

Super Green Smoothie

2 huge handfuls of mixed dark greens

1 mandarin orange

1/2 banana 

4 strawberries

coconut water kefir

ice

a few drops of vanilla stevia

1/2 teaspoon blue green algae

(what do you think of blue green algae?)

Later in the afternoon I ate a banana and a raw protein bar in the car... I was on the run!

The other day I bought some Thai green curry tofu and scored big on a case of young thai coconuts from the Asia mart... 9 coconuts for 11.00... can't beat that! The tofu inspired me to make a thai coconut sauce to go with the tofu and put those over some kelp noodles and veggies.

Sarah's Thai Coconut Curry Sauce

meat from one young thai coconut

1/2 cup of the coconut water (or more if you want it thinner)

1 medjool date

1/2 teaspoon garlic 

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 jalapeno

1 teaspoon curry powder

salt 

1 tablespoon almond butter

Blend it all in a food processor and blend well. 

The finished product...

I poured the sauce over my kelp noodles and veggies, topped with tofu and enjoyed!

There really are kelp noodles buried under all that veggie, tofu and coconut sauce! I finished my meal with a cashew butter filled raw chocolate cup. YUM!

Romanesco Recipe

This morning my sister came over and I made her her first green lemonade... she loved it and is on her way to go buy a juicer now! Yah! This morning I wanted to make something with the head of romanesco that I got in my weekly veggie box delivery... so this is what I did...

1 head romanesco proccessed in food proccessor until it is like rice
1 carrot chopped fine (you could shred it too)
1 green onion
1/2 red bell pepper chopped fine

Dressing....

1 heaping tablespoon tahini (my new favorite thing!)
1 tablespoon tamari
dash hot sauce
squirt of lemon or lime juice
garlic

Toss all together well and allow to marinate in fridge. Toss with cilantro or herb of your choice before serving. YUM! Enjoy :)