Debit Card Drama, Disneyland Trip, Maple Roasted Tempeh and Seasonal Fruits and Hurom Slow Juicer

OMG.... I can't believe i am finally posting! Which means I actually have a day off! I have been so busy... I gave  my notice at my job to start another one working for a Urologist. So, I have been doing both jobs until the 24th... it is a lot. The new job will be good though because it is normal hours, Monday through Friday and I will be able to spend more time with Mackenzie, which is the most important :)


So...


We had fun in Disneyland even though my debit card number was stolen two days into the trip and my bank shut my card off... good thing I had brought another credit card to use because it was the weekend of the 4th and all the banks were closed. Have you ever had you identity or credit cards stolen? Big pain in the ass! Not cool!


Mackenzie loved getting autographs and meeting all the characters and I did get her onto a few scary rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones... but there was no way she was about to get onto California Screamin'... the BIG roller coaster I would have loved... maybe next time!

we waited for an hour in line to see Minnie Mouse!

Glad she had fun!

Onto food... I have been enjoying my Maple Roasted Tempeh... sweet and yummy. 


1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 package tempeh


Mix first two ingredients and brush onto the tempeh, roast at 400 for about 20 minutes, flip half way through. Yummy and easy. 




I have also been enjoying fresh figs. Love these and they are not around for long. I was excited to see them at a farmers market I went to and snatched some up. Do you have any good fig recipes to share? 


My newest purchase is the Hurom Slow Juicer. I haven't used it yet, but will today. I have been wanting it for a while. After readind review I have found that people say it maintains the nutrients in the juice better. When I juice with my juicer if I don't drink it right away, I don't like the taste. With the Hurom you should be able to juice in advance (which means less clean up... a huge plus for me!) and still enjoy the juice later. I'll let you know what I think next post. 

Next recipe I will share is my baked Falafel balls with cucumber sauce... so good and healthier then the fried version. I am on a falafel kick lately... can't get enough of them!


Hope you all have a great day! 

Raw Macaroons, Raw "Cheetos"

Hello! 


It's been quite a while since I have posted... I have been super busy with work, summer projects, Mackenzie being out of school and I guess just life in general. Next Tuesday Mackenzie and I are headed to Southern California for a 7 day vacation of hanging out Lake Arrowhead and then going to Disneyland... we are both very excited! I can't even remember the last time I took a seven day vacation or got to spend 7 relaxing days with my little girl!

I have been busy trying new recipes too. I stumbled upon these protein cakes on the site Foods of April after reading about the protein ice cream that Heather of Heather eats almond Butter makes.  These are both two of my new favorite recipes. The protein cakes are really good and easy to put your own twist on. What I used was...


1 and 1/2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon apple sauce
1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon
splash vanilla extract
sprinkle of stevia


Mix it up and microwave for a minute. They are so good cut in half and smothered with almond butter. They keep well in the fridge too. 


I also made Stacy Neely's  raw "cheetos" but used Kristen Suzanne's cheezy hemp sauce for the coating. Soooo good and easy! Here's how to make them...
Cut cauliflower into florets

Coat with sauce (use Kristen's Hemp sauce or Stacy's "cheeto" sauce {recipe follows})

Dehydrate until crisp... overnight for me.  

Enjoy! 

Stacy Neely Stower's Cheeto Sauce recipe is here...

"Stacy's Fabulouso Cheeto Puffs" and "Spicalisous Nori Nachos"

1 cup sunflower seeds soaked and sprouted
1 c raw soaked cashews soaked
1 c raw soaked almonds
1 big orange
1 cup red pepper diced
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
2-4 Tbsp of nutritional yeast

Process all ingredients and use this as a batter to coat small pieces of RAW CAULIFLOWER. dehydrate at 108 for 24 hours or until crunchy. ENJOY!

I use this same "batter" for the inside of my "Spicalisious Nori Nachos"....except I omit the nutritional yeast and I add cayenne pepper for the SPICALISOUSNESS! Spread batter between 2 layers of raw unroasted nori sheets and dehydrate at 108 for 24 hours or until crunchy. cut into triangles.

I know your family will looooove these!

I also decided to make raw macaroons since I ordered this huge bucket of coconut from Tropical Traditions...

I used...

2 cups shredded coconut from Tropical Traditions

3/4 cup ground cashews

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon coconut oil from Tropical Traditions

small squirt of agave

1/3 cup ground flaxmeal

chocolate chip (to half the batch)

pop into dehydrator...

Then devour!

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend! 

Kaia Foods Giveaway Winner & Best Soup Ever!

Hello! 


Hope everyone has been enjoying their weekends. I have been working but today is my Friday... yay! The weather has been beautiful and it finally feels like Spring, now that it is almost over. 


The other day I watched this video clip of Natalia Rose sharing an easy soup recipe. I love sweet potatoes and had leftover  carrot cake carrot juice (recipe below) so I made it. It is my favorite soup recipe to date. 


2 to 3 cups carrot juice
1 large sweet potato diced
4 or 5 dates
1/2 avocado
1 tablespoon (or more) pumpkin pie spice. 


Blend until creamy and smooth and enjoy. It is so good... tastes like pumpkin pie and reminds me of the sweet potato cassarole that I love to make. 


I used some leftover Carrot Cake Carrot Juice that I had made. I used...


1 two pound bag of carrots
4 apples
small chunk of ginger
sprinkles of cinnamon and nutmeg (sprinkle them right into the juicer)


At work, some of the girls have been asking me about raw foods. I usually get... "what do you eat, just salad?" So, I think I will prepare some raw foods and bring them in. I always like to surprise people with what you CAN eat raw, not what you can't eat. 


Maybe I can bring in Raw Apple Crumble....

Or Raw Fajitas...

What about a raw cupcake?

What foods do you like to prepare for non-raw friends to wow them?

Onto the winner of the Kaia Food giveaway...

The winner is comment # 8,Lauren..

Lauren said...

I added you to my blogroll: gingeristhenewpink.blogspot.com

Lauren, please email me at sryseff@yahoo.com with your mailing address... congratulations!

The BEST Raw Oats, Chocolate Coconut Bars, Dehydrated young thai coconut and Healthier Cinnamon Banana Chips

Hello! 

It feels like it has been forever since I posted. I have finished my classes and have been working more. I will be starting full time next month. It is exciting because all the work I have done going back to school to change careers is coming full circle. I have to say that I LOVE being a nurse, so rewarding! And, of course I keep my Real Estate license current so if the market decides to come back strong I can always go back to that too. 

Anyway.... I wanted to share with you a recent purchase that I am just thrilled about. These YUMMY organic, RAW, fresh flaked oats and oat flour that I ordered online from Sunrise Flour Mill. They are so good, fresh tasting, and RAW. Why buy dead processed oats when you can get fresh flaked raw oats! It is amazing the difference in taste with the fresh oats... you should order some and see what I mean. 

What have I been making with the oats? First I did Averie's overnight oats with a twist. I placed some oats in a bowl, added maple syrup,  soy milk, cinnamon, dash of salt, walnuts and raisins and it soak overnight. It was creamy and sweet in the morning. Yum! It made me remember being a kid I used to mix uncooked oatmeal with water and eat it... I love the taste of oats. 

Breakfast today was a fluffy waffle, left over from Sunday mornings breakfast, topped with coconut butter (my new favorite slather on everything goody) banana and maple syrup. 

I want to share a delicious treat that could not be easier to make. I found this online but can't remember where. Anyhow, take the meat of a few young coconut and dehydrate until chewy. It is SOOOO good! It is hard to not eat it all at once. Chewy, sweet and good for you. 


I really like banana chips, but are they fried? I decided to make my own. I melted some coconut oil and mixed in some cinnamon...

tossed the banana slices and dehydrated.... yum!

I pulled mine out when they were still a little chewy. 

I also made some Chocolate Coconut bars. Similar to my copycat Lydia's Organics Bars but with cocoa powder and cocoa nibs. These are crunchy, sweet and light. 

In food processor, mix 2 bananas and 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Add 2 cups flaked coconut and some cocoa nibs

Optional... add some cinnamon and cayenne pepper for a kick. 

Dehydrate overnight or until crisp. Break into chunks and enjoy!

Question: Do you have several careers under your belt? Have you had a major career change due to the downturn in the economy? 

What do you do differently now than you did before? 

Also, check out the daily raw cafe for a chance to win a Jennifer Cornbleet uncook book or Blackbird Truffles!

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! :)

My try at the moon pie, Herb Marinated Veggies, The BEST raw bread ever!

Hello, 


Hope everyone is having a great week so far. The weather here has been drab and I am hoping for some sunshine soon. Yesterday I pulled out the dehydrator after finding a yummy looking raw bread recipe I wanted to try. I love bread and I have not had too much luck in finding a raw bread recipe that I really like.... until now! The recipe comes from the very talented Russell James and is on his blog here. I followed it exactly but cut it in half. Here it is...


Russell James's Nut Free Bread



Nut-free bread
Makes 18 ’slices’
1/2c olive oil
1 ½c sun dried tomatoes
3c sprouted buckwheat (2 ½c dry & unsprouted)
1 ½c flax meal
3 ½c peeled courgette, roughly chopped
2c apple, cored and roughly chopped
3T lemon juice
2 avocados
1 large onion
½c minced parsley
- Process the olive oil, sun dried toms, sprouted buckwheat, courgette, apple, lemon juice, avocados, onion and herbs until thoroughly mixed.
- Transfer to a large bowl and mix with the flax meal by hand. The reason you do this separately (not in the processor) is that you are likely to have too much mixture for the size if the processor at this point, and when you add the flax meal it will become quite heavy and sticky and overwork your machine.
- When mixed, process the whole batter in the machine again, but in small batches to achieve a light fluffy texture.
- Divide the mixture in half and place on Paraflexx sheets on dehydrator trays.
- Use a spatula to spread the mixture evenly to all 4 sides and corners of the Paraflexx sheet. If mixture is too sticky you can wet the spatula to make things easier. With a knife score the whole thing into 9 squares.
- Dehydrate for 2 hours and then remove the Paraflexx sheets by placing another dehydrator tray and mesh on top and invert so that your original sheet of bread is upside down. That will allow you to peel the Paralexx sheet off and continue to dehydrate the underside of the bread.
- Dehydrate for approx 8 hours more (do this overnight so you’re not tempted to eat it before it’s ready) or until bread feels light in your hand. If the pieces don’t fully come apart where you scored, use a knife to cut them.

Here is a piece of the batch I made slathered with avocado. 

I topped it with tomato and basil and ate it for lunch with a simple salad of shredded carrots, spiralized golden beet and some herb marinaded veggies I made. 

I topped the salad with Natalia Rose's Liquid Gold Elixir dressing. I also used the same dressing to marinate the veggies. 

I mixed mushrooms, cherry tomatoes,  cilantro, and some dressing..

tossed them on a dehydrator sheet

and two hours later, here they are...

Yum. 

After drooling over all the beautiful entries in Heather's Moonie pie contest, I had to order the book myself. I got busy making moon pies and I have to say, they are delicious! Mine are not as pretty as most I have seen on Heather's blog, but they are really tasty! 

In my defense, I was impatient and did not let the layers set up as long as directed to. I had fun trying and will have fun trying more flavors! BTW... Heather, you truly are a dessert Goddess! To buy Heather's Moonie Pie e-book, click here. Also, check out her Just Desserts e-book, which I reviewed in this post.

Enjoy your week!

11 week initiative, day 4.

This is going to be a short post because I am super tired. I went to Bikram yoga class this morning then came home had some breakfast and went for a 3 mile run and did a little lower body weights at the gym. I have got to step up my running again, my half marathon is May 1st! I can't wait!

Today I ate...

Green Smoothie with banana, strawberries, kale, romaine, chia seeds and a blood orange. 

Lunch was a green salad with bell pepper, tomato, carrots, some of the butternut squash rice recipe

I made a few days ago and some tofu. About an hour or so later I had a Lara bar. Apparently not all Lara bars are raw...Luckily Robyn over at Girl on Raw had a recent post about which ones are raw. Thanks for that Robyn!

For dinner I packed up some raw cauliflower, asparagus, carrots and a steamed sweet potato and ate it on break while I was at class. 

When I got home from class I had banana soft serve with vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa nibs. Yummy!

I hope everyone is having a great week. :)

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 2. Chocolate Quinoa Cripsies, Rosemary Basil Crackers

Hello,

It is day two of the 11 week initiative at Raw Food Rehab. I ended the night last night with a banana topped with cinnamon and cocoa powder... just sweet enough to call dessert. I have always been a fan of cereals, as a child and as an adult. I guess I like the crunch. I have made my raw gingerbread granola a few times...

but wanted to try something new. I also like quinoa because it is packed with protein. This is the first time I have tried it raw. I sprouted the quinoa overnight, then made this simple but yummy recipe that will satisfy my craving for cereal or something crunchy. 

Chocolate Quinoa Crispies

1 cup quinoa, sprouted overnight

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons carob powder (can use one or the other)

3 tablespoons agave

dash salt 

dash cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon stevia (optional)

Mix everything together...

spread onto a non-stick dehydrator sheet. 

Dehydrate at 105 overnight. Enjoy plain, with milk, or however you choose! Here is how it looks done...

I also made some raw crackers in the dehydrator. I started with the same base as the cheese crackers I made before which I am still enjoying, but flavored them different. 

Rosemary Basil Crackers

1 cup soaked almonds

1/2 cup ground flax 

sea salt

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon dried rosemary 

1 handful fresh basil

 1/2 cup oat bran (this is optional)

Mix everything together in a food processor. Proccess until smooth, add water if you need to. You want it to be thick, but easily spreadable.

Spread onto teflex sheet... Start at 145 for a hour and drop down to 105. After 4 hours peel back non stick sheet and continue to dehydrate until dry. 

Here is one served with raw marinara and a leaf of basil...

What are your favorite things to make? I tend to do most cooking or "uncooking" on the weekends. Do you plan your families meals in advance? I will sometimes have an idea of something to make later in the week, but don't generally plan meals. 

Hope your weekend has been great!