Brad's 7 Day Raw Challenge: January 2014 - Mmm Blueberry "Muffin" Chia Pudding!

It’s Day 4 and we have officially hit the half way mark! It’s amazing how fast 7 days can go by…especially when you’re having a blast in the kitchen! Brad’s raw challenge, or any challenge for that matter, doesn’t have to be hard. As long as you have the right tools, you will be successful!  The right tools include a stocked fridge, recipes, and most importantly, a wonderful supportive community which we definitely have. It’s very hard to “fail” when you have so many amazing people cheering you on. So if you ever decided to take on Brad’s raw challenge or any other challenge, know that we are here to provide support, recipes and to cheer you on to success!

Wanna see how easy it is to eat 100% raw? Here’s day 4!!

Early Morning:

I woke up his morning with a super dry, sore throat. Nothing sounded better than a warm lemon tea with raw honey. It was soothing and just what I needed.

Breakfast:

I decided to change up the diet routine, skip the juice and go straight for the smoothie. Today’s smoothie was of course, another rich creamy dessert smoothie by Simple Green Smoothies. This one is full of Vitamin C (just what I need to fight this icky sore throat) and iron. The smoothie? The Orange Dreamsicle. Yes another dreamsicle! This smoothie was delectable! You must try it!

Orange Dreamsicle

By Simple Green Smoothies

Makes 16 ounces

• 1 cup spinach
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• ½ cup water or coconut water
• 1 juice orange, peeled
• 1 large banana, frozen
• ½ tsp vanilla

1. Blend and enjoy!

Lunch:

Last weekend I had tried the chickpea “tuna” salad from one of my favorite places to dine and was quite disappointed by the lack of flavor it had. The texture was great but it was missing something. I was quite disappointed and it was unsatisfying. So my craving for a chicken/tuna salad continued. That was at least until I made Brad’s Deli Salad from his new book, Brad’s Raw Made Easy.

Before I go on I just want to say I know I sound like a "walking" advertisement for Brad’s, but I do not promote products or anything for that matter, unless I truly love it. Seriously. And no I am not getting paid in kale chips for my opinion. :) Moving on…

Brad’s deli salad was everything the restaurant’s tuna salad was not: meaty, creamy, crunchy and bursting with flavors. The salad contains nuts, seeds, celery, onions, apples and dill mixed with Brad’s recipe for a tangy mayo dressing. I placed it on top of a salad of red lettuce, apple slices, tomatoes, leftover radish and sliced scallions. The deli salad was so creamy and flavorful, I didn’t even need a dressing!  I did make a few changes to the recipe, adding more veggies to balance out the large amount of nuts and seeds and adding extra sweetener to balance out the tartness of the mayo. If you’re looking for a raw version of chicken/tuna salad, this is a great recipe to try. 

Late Snack/Dinner:

Co-challenger Ang has been posting some droolworthy pics of her chia puddings. I finally caved and decided to make one of my own! With the large box of blueberries in my fridge, I decided a blueberry pie/muffin pudding was the perfect way to re-introduce myself to chia pudding. It’s been a long while...

After three attempts, I finally got the recipe right. The results? A creamy, sweet vanilla pudding topped with juicy blueberries and nutty coconut. A pinch of cinnamon and mmm you have a guilt-free treat ready to be happily consumed. 

Blueberry “Muffin” Chia Pudding

By Beth Mickens

1 small serving

• 2 to 2.5 Tbsp of chia seeds
• 6 ounces of almond milk
• ¼ tsp of vanilla
• ¼ cup blueberries
• 1 Tbsp raw unsweetened shredded coconut
• Raw honey or maple syrup to taste

1. In a small bowl, mix the chia seeds and almond milk together. Allow to sit for a couple of hours to overnight. I like overnight best.
2. Prior to eating, mix in the vanilla and enough sweetener to taste into the chia pudding.
3. Top with blueberries and coconut.
4. Chopped almonds would be a great addition to!

Enjoy!

For the rest of the evening I nibbled on raw almond butter and raw coconut chips while watching an episode of Jason Wrobel’s How to Live to 100 TV show featuring coconuts!!

 See now wasn’t that easy!?

What would you eat on an all raw day?

*Beth*

Participant Recipes

Spanish Breakfast Scramble

By Ang Roberts

Adapted from Ani Phyo

• 1 cup dry almonds 
• 1/2 cup dry sunflower seeds
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• 1 Tbsp scallions
• 1/2 cup spinach leaves
• Salt and pepper

For an instruction video, click on "Ani Phyo".