Brad's Raw Challenge: Day 2

Day 2 (Tuesday, October 16, 2012)

It’s day 2 and my butt is sore from being in the kitchen all night, but hey I’m free from school this week! So day 2 here it goes!

Morning routine: 

Yeah we woke up late so I ended up skipping my lemon water. I just had some water. Still good for you though!

Breakfast:

Chia Hemp Oatmeal

Recipe adapted from Nutiva

Who doesn’t love oatmeal! But on a raw diet, oatmeal (except for oat groats) are not raw and nothing can be heated above 115 degrees or enzymes and other nutrients are DESTROYED! So what’s the next best thing to do? Use food magic of course!

• 2 tablespoons of chia seeds (black or white or both)
• 1 tablespoon of dehydrated coconut flakes (optional, you can omit and add 1 more tablespoon of hemp seeds)
• 2 tablespoons of raw hemp seeds
• 1-1/2 cups of raw hemp mylk and/or water (I used a combo of both since my hemp mylk is thicker)
• 1 tablespoon of raw, lucuma powder (or substitute favorite sweetener)
• 1 teaspoon of honey (omit if replacing lucuma)
• Splash of vanilla extract (optional)

To garnish:

• 2 tablespoons of raw, dried fruit (I used a mix of goji, mulberries and goldenberries)
• 1 tablespoon of raw cacao nibs

1. In a glass jar, add the chia, hemp, coconut flakes, lucuma and honey. Add 1 cup of mylk or water and mix well until the lucuma dissolves and  the mixture begins to thicken. Place in the fridge and allow to sit overnight. (Before bed, check it, stir it and add more liquid as needed).
2. The next morning, add more liquid to loosen up the “oatmeal” and stir well til desired consistency of oatmeal is reached. Just like regular oatmeal, some like it thick and some like it soupy.  I definitely prefer this thick! You can allow it to sit a while at room temp to “warm” up before consuming or warm liquid a bit before adding.
3. To serve, top with dried fruit and cacao nibs and enjoy! 

Lunch: 

A good old yummy raw banana!!!

Banana??? (Click for a Giggle ;))

Dinner:

I’m addicted to using cauliflower in raw recipes. I use it as a sub for practically ANY grain! But pre-raw, I LOVED using cauliflower to make a roasted mash. So so good! So when I ran across a recipe for raw cauli mash I was seriously sold! Not to mention, I just bought shitake mushrooms from the farmer’s market this past weekend (which is a RARE find!) and I needed SOMETHING to do with them. So I decided to make… Marinated Mushrooms on top of Raw Cauliflower Mash.  FAIL! 

The cauliflower mash was a success but the marinated mushrooms were a lesson learned. I should have known shitake mushrooms marinated overnight would have turned into rubber! So while waiting for my daughter at the bus stop I found another recipe for mushroom gravy.

Cauliflower Mash

• 2 full cups of raw cauliflower, washed
• 2 tablespoons cashews
• ½ small avocado or ¼ large avocado
•   ½ small lemon juiced
• ½ - 1 garlic clove, mashed
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons raw unsweetened hemp mylk or other nut/seed milk
• Sliced green onion for garnish

1. In a food processor, add cauliflower and pulse until the cauli has a rice like consistency. Add cashews and pulse till crumbly and chopped well. Add the remaining ingredients and blend, pushing down the sides and adding more milk as needed until a smooth puree is formed.

Mushroom Gravy

Recipe adapted from Eat Live Dance

• 1/2 cup of mushrooms chopped (I used shitake of course)
• 2 tbsp of raw sunflower seeds
• ½ small green onion
• ¼ stalk celery, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of raw, apple cider vinegar
• ½ teaspoon nama shoyu or gluten-free tamari
• 2 tbsp of water
• ¼ clove of garlic

1. Put into a blender and blend til smooth and saucy! Great on top of raw, sliced mushrooms.

The cauli mash was super delish alone, all by its lonesome self! Gravy was not needed, but it was nice addition. However, I would omit some of the garlic and salt in the mushroom gravy or the cauli, because together, it’s for garlic lovers only!

Dessert:

As I stated in my previous post, last night I was working on doing some major prep work, one of them being a raw dessert. Now my husband will tell you I am addicted to making dessert balls, truffles, whatever you want to call them! I call them my little balls of yumminess. I became addicted with such a concept when I discovered and fell in love with these little round treats called Superfood Snacks. Chocolaty good for you goodness!? I just couldn’t resist! And so the obsession began! Thankfully trying to figure out what to make for my raw challenge week wasn’t hard after recently coming across a recipe for…here we go…raw chocolate cake pops! YES! 

So here is the recipe and link along with the modifications I made!

Raw Chocolate Cake Pops!

Recipe adapted from Fork and Beans

Chocolate Cake

• ¼ cup of raw cashews, soaked for 2 plus hours and drained
• 2 tbsp of raw brazil nuts (I didn’t have macadamia nuts!), soaked for 2 plus hours and drained
• 2 tbsp of raw walnuts
• 2 tbsp of homemade raw almond flour
• 2 tbsp of raw cacao powder
• 1 date chopped
• 1 tsp of honey
• 1 tsp of coconut oil
• Dash of vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• Raw hemp mylk, in case ya need it like I did 

Chocolate Sauce

• ¼ cup of coconut oil
• 3 tbsp of raw cacao powder
• 2 tbsp of raw honey (agave or other liquid sweetener could be used of course)
• Pinch of salt

1. Mix the cashews, brazil nuts and walnuts in a food processor until crumbly
2. Add the remaining ingredients for the chocolate cake into the food processor and pulse until a smooth dough forms. Add a bit of hemp mylk if needed to help the dough form.
3. Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, form 4-5 cake pop balls and freeze for 10-15 minutes
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the chocolate sauce ingredients until smooth and the cacao is completely dissolved.
5. Dip a chocolate cake ball into the chocolate sauce until completely covered and place onto a parchment covered tray. Repeat with the remaining balls.
6. Place them back into the freezer until ready to devour.

These were so so so so good! I would definitely add some coconut in the cake next time and maybe some mint extract in the chocolate sauce! Nom nom nom!!


EXTRA! 


So you probably have a butt load of cauliflower and have no idea what to do with all this RAW cauli right!? Well do you have a craving for something crunchy salty and cheesy!? Then make Raw Cauli Popcorn!


I saw this recipe from Renegade Health TV and fell in love! Here is how I make it! The options are endless!

Raw Cauliflower Popcorn!

Recipe from Philip McClusky

• 1 cup of cauliflower, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of cold-pressed EVOO
• 1 tablespoon of nooch (aka nutritional yeast)
• A couple sprinkles of salt
•  Pepper, cayenne, spirulina, coconut oil (alllll optional!)

1. Toss everything into a bag or container and toss til well coated! I love using a bag to rub all the good spices into the cauli, but to be eco-friendly, a container is used instead :)

These are super delish and duper addicting! Trust me, all of it WILL be GONE! I wish I had a dehydrator because I bet they would be tasty dry and crunchy!