foods i make

Strawberry, Banana & Almond Butter - Green Smoothie

I find that there isn’t a better way to put some good green energy in your day than starting out with a yummy green smoothie. This is an updated version of my previously posted Green Smoothie, only a little bit smoother - it’s amazing what a little hint of Almond butter can do ;)

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 3 big leaves of green kale
• 1/2 banana
• 6 strawberries
• 1 tbs raw almond butter
• 1 tsp spirulina
• 2 cups water

IT’S SMOOTHIE TIME!

Place all ingredients your blender starting with the kale first and the water last. Blend until nice and smooth and enjoy your energizing breakfast smoothie!

**Helpful Tips: Use refrigerated and or frozen fruit to make this smoothie cool and refreshing. It’s best to buy and freeze the fruit yourself as well as peel the banana before putting it in the freezer. Add the entire banana and or 1tsp Raw Honey to make it extra sweet.

Morning Apple “Oatmeal”

Those mornings when I want a sweet and hardier than a green smoothie breakfast, this is my go-to recipe. This light and tasty breakfast is so easy to make and tastes great! You wouldn’t even know that you’re missing the oats. 

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 1 delicious apple (just pick your favorite)
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup raw pecans
• Cinnamon

HOW TO MAKE IT:
Cut and place your apple, orange juice and pecans in the food processor. Mix until you’ve received your desired consistency. Place in a bowl and sprinkle cinnamon on top if desired. Enjoy!

**There are quite a few ways to modify this recipe depending what your mood is. You can always sub pecans for almonds or walnuts or for a lighter nut-free version you can mix in 1/2 cup sprouted buckwheat. Also, if you’re out of oranges, feel free to squeeze a lemon or mix in another soft fruit such as a peach or a banana. 

For those of you without a food processor, you can use your blender, just remember that you might have to add more liquid to get it going.

Fresh Peach Vinaigrette Dressing (Raw)

(image provided by http://guidetogwinnett.com)

Are your fresh summer peaches going bad before you have time to take one juicy bite? Well, this fresh and easy peach vinaigrette will solve all of your peach loving problems in seconds!

What you’ll need: 

• One very ripe peach
• One lime
• One tbs Apple Cider Vinegar  

How to make it: 

Remove the pit of the peach by cutting the peach into 4 slices and pull apart. Then cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice out from just half of the lime, leaving the other half to add in later if you prefer. Place all ingredients into a food processor (or a small mixing bowl if you would prefer to use a hand blender) and blend until it’s nice and creamy. Feel free to adjust the amount of lime and vinegar to your liking. 

Place on top of your favorite summer salad and enjoy! 

The Super Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

I decided to really up my raw food intake and making up by a few notches for the next few weeks – and quite possibly forever – so, you’l be seeing a LOT of easy and delicious raw food recipes coming my way. 

This scrumptious portobello is a great, quick and easy spring dish that everyone is sure to enjoy.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: (yields 2 super happy and stuffed mushrooms) 

• 2 portobello mushroom caps
• 4 tbs Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (note: you can get this at any health food store…oh, and their website makes me smile for many reasons)
• 1 large avocado
• 1 large tomato
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 large basil leaves

LET’S START STUFFIN’!: 

1. Wash each mushroom throughly and place them down on a plate stem side up. 
2. Drizzle 2 tbs of apple cider vinegar over the mushroom cap making sure to place some on the plate so that it’s nicely marinating in it.
3. Take your avocado, slice in half and wit your knife, gently tap the pit with the blade until it’s nice and stuck to the pit and twist. (The pit should come out rather easily, but do be careful whole doing this.) With a spoon, remove the meat of the avocado from the skin, and on a cutting board dice into small squares. 
4. Stuff each avocado with equal parts of diced avocado.
5. Take your large tomato and dice it into small cubes and place equal parts (about 1/2 cup) on top of the avocado in each mushroom cap. 
6. In a small cup or bowl, pour 1/4 cup olive oil and with a garlic press, squeeze one large garlic clove in with the oil. Gently stir with a fork and drizzle over each stuffed mushroom. 
7. Top with basil, serve with a small salad and enjoy! 

Photo reply with your stuffed portobello mushroom creation! 

Morning Greens - The Green Smoothie

There are few things I crave in the morning like a green smoothie. Sure, they might look a bit strange to those who are used to seeing the bright colors of sugary Jamba Juice smoothies, but they really are quite sweet and oh so satisfying. Oh yeah, and they’re SUPER HEALTHY for you too!

Recently Green smoothies have been slowly making their way into pop culture and though there are plenty of posts on green smoothies out there, few of them are actually that green. Here’s what I blend up for myself in order to give me that boost of pure energy in the morning.

All you need is a blender and the following ingredients:

• 1 cup raw green kale (or spinach)
• 1 tsp spirulina (for that extra all-natural protein boost)
• 1 banana (frozen bananas work quite nicely)
• 4-5 Fresh or frozen strawberries
• 2 1/2 cups cold water

Place in blender all ingredients and blend until nice and smooth. Makes roughly 20oz.

Feel free to play around with whatever fruits you like best. I use bananas because they create a nice consistency, however I have substituted bananas for mangos or used 1/2 banana with 1 cup fresh blueberries and even 1 cup peaches. Really, any fruit works in this case.

Enjoy!

Delicious Sprouted Wheat Pancakes

Really, they should be called “Hello Sunday Morning Pancakes” because that’s when we like to make them - but to keep things simplified, I decided to title them by what they are - Delicious!

I’ve been searching and searching for a good Gluten-Free Vegan pancake recipe and none of them have been quite right. After many failed gooey attempts  (really - MANY) I decided to simplify the recipe and model it after my simple sprouted wheat flatbread recipe and whatdaya know…IT WORKED!!! In my humble opinion they were much tastier than your typical American Pancake and much better for you too. 

{Serves 2-3 people}
INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 1/2 cups organic Sprouted Wheat Flour 
2. 1 1/2 cups Unsweetened Almond Milk
3. 1 tbs Baking Powder
4. 1/2 tbs Vanilla Extract
5. 1/4 cup Agave Syrup
6. Raw Coconut Oil 

MAKE MAGIC HAPPEN:

1. Place all ingredients (except for coconut oil) into a medium size mixing bowl. For thicker pancakes use less milk, for a thinner pancake add more milk.
2. Heat the frying pan at medium heat
3. Grease the frying pan with coconut oil. For a light coconut taste use raw, unrefined oil. If you would rather pass on the coconut flavor, make sure you buy the ‘refined’ coconut oil. 
4. place about 1/4 cup of batter onto the frying pan and let cook for about 1 minute or until you see bubbles on top. 
5. With a spatula, flip that delicious pancake over and let the other side cook for about 30 seconds or until it’s a nice golden brown.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 until all the batter is gone and you have some admirable stacks of beautiful pancakes.
7. Drizzle agave or 100% pure maple syrup on top and top with your favorite fruit.
8. Enjoy!

GLUTEN-FREE TIP: Make sure you buy the real organic sprouted wheat flour. Sprouted wheat is only gluten-free if it has been sprouted properly. If it hasn’t then it may contain gluten. 

Kabocha Squash and Kale - Delish!

One of my favorite things about it being cold outside is the comfort food that’s cooking inside - and one of my favorite comfort food is squash - Kabocha Squash to be exact. 

Well, tonight is one of those cold winter nights, so I simply threw a squash in the oven at 400º, let it do its thing for an hour, then placed it on top of a nice fresh bed of raw kale then topped it all off with sautéed onions. Oh the delight of easy homemade cooking ;)

THE WHAT:

• 1 Medium sized Kabocha Squash
• 1 Bunch of Green Kale
• Olive Oil
• Himalayan Salt & Pepper 

THE HOW:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400º F
2. Make small incisions all around the squash with a knife
3. Place washed squash in an oven safe pan filled with 1/2 inch of water 
4. Place in oven for 50 minutes or when the skin can easily be cut with a butter knife
5. Wash and cut green kale and toss with olive oil and salt. Then place it ever so nicely on a plate.
6. Cut 1/2 sweet yellow onion in strips and sauté in a frying pan with olive oil  
7. Cut cooked squash in half and scrape out the seeds with a spoon
8. Cut squash to your liking and place on top of your lovely kale salad. 
9. Garnish with sautéed onions 
10. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
11. ENJOY!!!

Pumpkin Spice Jam Cake

I LOVE the holidays! Why? Because I love holiday spices - especially those found in Pumpkin recipes - and a Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without the flavors of those said spices. 

This year I took a stab at creating a pumpkin bread with a bit more pizzazz and celiac friendly. The final results: A Pumpkin Spice Jam Cake!

Here’s how it’s done:

MAKING THE PUMPKIN CAKE: 

• 1-1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup golden flax seed meal 
• 1 2/3 cups sprouted wheat flour (or normal baker’s flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tbs baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves 
• 1 tsp vanilla

STEP BY STEP:

1. Make applesauce by pealing and slicing 6 large fuji apples and placing them in a pot with water to boil. When soft, drain excess water and mash with a potato masher. Take 1/2 cup and place in blender with flax seed meal and put the rest aside for the jam filling. 
2. Blend flax seed meal and applesauce in blender until smooth and creamy – pour into large mixing bowl.
3. Add pumpkin puree, sugar, vanilla extract and water and mix until the ingredients are nicely mixed together. 
4. In separate bowl place flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices, mix together with a fork and slowly shift and mix in with other ingredients. 
5. Place in a 9 inch round cake pan and bake at 350º for 50 minutes or when it passes the “not gooey test”. *The “Not Gooey Test” is when you place a knife or toothpick in the cake and it comes out clean and not gooey. 

CINNAMON SPICE JAM FILLING

1. In small sauce pan place 1 cup of applesauce and 1 1/2 cups raw sugar. 
2. Place flame on slow and stir occasionally.
3. Take the cake out of the pan and with a bread knife slice the cake in half lengthwise. 
4. When nice and “jelly-like” pour on bottom half of the cut cake and spread evenly. 
5. place cake in refrigerator to cool. 

Bring it to your next holiday party! ENJOY!