Day 4: Raw product mania! Dr. Cow's raw nut cheeses and Superfood Snacks!

It’s Day 4!! These weeks go by so so fast! In a good way of course. :)

Here we go!

Early Morning:

Lemon water. Check!

Breakfast:

We’re on Day 25 of Simple Green Smoothie’s smoothie challenge and I can’t believe we’re only 5 days away from finish! It’s been a fun ride with all the new smoothie recipes and I can’t wait to use them in the future!

This recipe was no exception. Icy cold and full of flavor! I think next time I may add some ginger and blueberries. 

Lemon Pear Cleanse

By Simple Green Smoothies

Serves 2

• 2 cups of romaine, fresh
• 2 cups of water
• 2 ripe pears, diced and frozen
• 1 banana
• 1 lemon, peeled

Blend away and sip comfortably with a glass straw.

Lunch:

Yep, still obsessed with collard wraps. With the farmer’s market opened and fresh veggies available, it’s hard to resist all the goodies!

I am very excited because this wrap is my very own recipe! I had excitedly discovered Dr. Cow’s raw nut cheese at WholeFood’s and bought a couple, dying to try them out! As soon as I opened them and tasted them, I discovered I had no idea what to do with them besides eat them as is or with crackers. I guess being cheeseless for so long has wiped away all memory of how to use a gourmet cheese in a possible recipe. Then, ding! Apples! Of course, why not try it with apples? In a wrap?  With a tangy sweet sauce? And then this recipe was born.

I was a bit scared this recipe would fail - that the cheese woudn’t compliment the apples and dressing – but it proved me wrong! While the texture is soft and similar to a thick hummus, the texture and strong, tangy flavor both complimented the crunchy, mildly sweet ingredients in this wrap. The dressing provides a great finish, bringing all the flavors together. While I think I could improve it a bit, I still think this quick fix recipe turned out pretty well. I still have more cheese so back to the drawing board it is!

Apple and Cheese Collard Wrap with Curried Honey Mustard
by Beth Mickens
Serves 1 or makes three small wraps 

• 3 collard leaves, de-stemmed
• Spinach
• Shredded Carrots
• ½ apple, thinly sliced
• ½ block of Dr. Cow’s Cheese, any flavor (I prefer the cashew/brazil nut blend)
• Sprouts
• 1-2 green onions, sliced
• Chopped almonds, (optional)
• Curried Honey Mustard (See recipe below)

• 1 Tbsp of stone ground mustard
• 1 Tbsp of raw honey
• 1 Tbsp of melted coconut oil
• 1/8 tsp plus curry powder
• 1/8 tsp plus of grated ginger (Freeze then grate!)
• Salt and pepper

1. Whisk all the ingredients together. Set aside.

To Assemble Wraps:

1. Wash, pat dry and de-stem collard leaves, making sure to not cut off any stem that makes the leaf a whole. Instead, using a knife, shave the stem down until it is even flat with the leaf.
2. Lay the collard leaf out flat on your working surface, and in order, pile on spinach, carrots, cheese, apples, green onions and sprouts. The cheese is actually soft enough to flatten out without falling apart so that may help getting an even layer on.
3. Drizzle with some of the curried honey mustard.
4. Top with chopped almonds, if using.
5. Roll the collard wrap, open or burrito style, depending on the size of your collard leaf.
6. Repeat with remaining collard leaves and/or ingredients.

I’m interested to know what you think! Was it as good as I thought? Any changes you would make to it?

Snacks: 

I’ve started a new workout routine and I noticed, because the workouts can be pretty intense, that I needed to start having a snack pre-workout for sustained energy. I tried the chia drink yesterday and honestly, that made me a bit bloated and crappy. So instead, I turned to my trusty pre-workout snack, Superfoods Snacks! I’m not going to go into too much detail since I plan on writing a separate review for this wonderful treat, but just to quickly describe…Superfood Snacks are these little round, organic, all raw, handmade chocolate treats loaded, and I mean seriously loaded, with the highest quality superfoods you can find. I eat 4 of these little babies, one of each flavor, and not only am I full, but I’m also energized to the extreme. They digest easily which is why I love them as a pre-
workout snack. If you want something raw, chocolaty, full of superfoods and something that will keep you full, sustained, and energized, then I highly recommend grabbing a bag or ten of these!

Dinner:

After my workout I sipped on a Gingerberry Kombucha by GTand made a yummy light snack of banana, raw nut butter, honey, cacao nibs and coconut! Post-workout snack loaded with potassium and protein! Sorry for the horrible pic though. I was starving :)

Hello and Goodbye to Day 4!