B7DRC - Day 6 and 7: Less meals but better creations

I love the weekends, but it can actually be quite tough staying 100% raw when your family is not. It’s all about prep, prep, prep! This weekend was no exception but what I love most is the support I have at home. 

 My husband respects my raw weeks (his words, not mine :D) and my daughter is always intrigued, asking questions, tasting my meals, etc. All the love and support makes it a lot easier. 

The weekends are always short on meals and recipes. I guess waking up late plus being busy equals little time to eat. The good thing is, I enjoyed time with my family and well, that’s all that matters, right?

SATURDAY

Early Morning:

Lemon Tea! Mmmm!

Breakfast:

I was still running low on goodies even though I had just returned from the farmer’s market. This time of year fruits are dwindling, except for apples, and the hearty veggies are taking over like weeds. Eventually breakfast is going to be greens instead of fruit! Not that that’s a bad thing…

I had a craving for something fulfilling considering it was almost lunch and quickly remembered the recipe I saw yesterday from Jackie of Vegan Yack Attack. Chopped apples drizzled with a sweet peanut butter sauce. Mmm sounded perfect!

I went to work whisking up my sauce, chopped some leftover apples from our trip to the orchard and in less than 10 minutes I had a beautiful bowl of sweet, juicy, delicious apples smothered in a creamy nutty sauce topped with coconut and crunchy cacao nibs. It was so good it felt guilty. Nutritiously guilty!

Breakfast Apple Sundae

Adapted from Jackie of Vegan Yack Attack

• 3 small apples
• 2 tbsp of raw nut butter
• 2 tbsp of raw almond milk
• ½ tbsp of maple syrup
• ¼ tsp of vanilla
• Shredded coconut
• Cacao nibs

1. Chop and core apples into bite size pieces and add into a bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the almond butter, almond milk, maple syrup and vanilla til smooth. Add more almond milk as needed until desired consistency has been reached.
3. Pour sauce over apples.
4. Top with coconut and cacao nibs before serving.

Lunch/Dinner:

I may not have found fruit at the farmer’s market but I did happen to grab a bag of my favorite dehydrated veggie chips! These were so good and crunchy that I completed the bag in one sitting and well, what was a snack, became dinner. My favorite are the green beans. I really need to figure out how to make those!

SUNDAY:

Breakfast:

I decided to ditch the “green” smoothies and go for an all fruit one. It sounded good and yumm was it! This smoothie reminds me of an old favorite, the Orange Julius, a creamy orange drink I used to buy every time I went to the mall. It’s loaded with crap but it was good. Now I can make my own healthy version sans the crap!

Mango Orange Julius

By Beth Mickens

• 1 large banana
• 1 orange, peeled
• ½ heaping cup of mango, frozen
• 1 cup raw almond milk

1. Blend, sip and thank me later ;)

Lunch:

My family finally convinced me to let them go to a Mexican self-serve place for lunch as long as I got enjoy their guac with a fork, hehe. I’m a guacamole addict and have NO problem downing it with fork and spoon only.

Dinner:

While making dinner I sipped on a Blueberry Kombucha by MTO. After living a week without kale I was more than happy to make a kale salad for dinner. With fall out and winter in, or so it seems, a fall kale salad sounded like the perfect combo, especially when drizzled with a warming curry dressing. Even my husband and daughter liked it. Score!

Curried Fall Kale Salad

By Beth Mickens

• 2 cups chopped kale
• Hemp oil
• Lemon , juiced
• Salt
• ½ small apple, cut into matchsticks or chopped
• 1 carrot, sliced into thin coins or matchsticks
• ½ small beet, shredded
• ½ green onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp sprouted pumpkin seeds
• 2 Tbsp hemp seeds
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• ½ - 1 tsp of curry powder
• Pinch of mashed garlic (about 1/8 tsp)
• 1/8 – ¼ tsp of grated ginger
• 1/8 tsp of fresh turmeric (optional)
• 1 tsp raw honey
• 2-3 tbsp of water
• Salt

1. Wash, de-stem and chop kale into bite size strips or pieces and place into a bowl.
2. Add some hemp oil, lemon juice and salt (no need for measurements) and massage with hands until slightly wilted.
3. Set aside.
4. In a small personal blender add the hemp seeds, lemon juice, curry powder, garlic, ginger, turmeric, honey, 2 tbsp of water and salt. Blend until smooth, adding water as needed until desired consistency has been reached.
5. Set aside.
6. To assemble, layer on a plate the kale, apples, carrots, beets, green onions and pumpkin seeds in any order you desire. You can even mix it up in a bowl if you wish.
7. Drizzle or mix with curry dressing before serving.

The weekend is over and so is the challenge! Doesn’t sound so hard right!? So who’s going to join me next month? Because you should :)

*Beth*

B7DRC - October Edition: Leftover Friiiiiidaaayy!

It’s FRIIIIDDDAY! Yes I am in a super pumped mood and I don’t think anything can put me down…except for maybe forgetting my after-lunch treat at home!  Yep. My goo goo cluster is at home in the freezer at this moment and I’m sad to have to finish my lunch without a sweet treat. Yes, I have a sweet tooth and I am quite OK with that. :) Didn’t ruin my day but I am pretty bummed at the moment…but…the day will go on! 

Since it is Friday that also means it’s leftover Friday! Every Friday I go through my fridge and eat whatever is leftover or needs to go before the weekend. This gives me an idea of what I need to purchase at the farmer’s market and store for the weekend. Plus it makes eating fun and easy!

So wanna know what I made? 

Early Morning:

Super sour lemon tea! Pucker up!

Breakfast:

As I glanced at the fruit in my fridge, I spotted an orange and immediately remembered of a Chocolate Orange Beet Smoothie that Lisa from Raw at $10 a Day posted not too long ago. The smoothie sounded and looked absolutely delicious so I figured, yep making that.

I had to modify the recipe according to what I had, but the final product was no doubt equally as tasty. Creamy, chocolaty, sweet and still nutritious! Now, the original recipe is intended for dessert but hey it’s Friday and I’m living life so today it’s dessert first!

Here is the original recipe and below, my modified version.

Chocolate Orange Smoothie

Adapted from Lisa Viger, Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!)

Makes 16 ounces

• 1 cup greens (I used romaine)
• 1 orange, juiced and zested
• 1 cup raw almond milk
• 1 ½ large bananas (or 2 mall ones), frozen
• 2 Tbsp cacao powder
• 1 scoop of raw protein powder
• 2 Tbsp of hemp seeds
• Pinch of salt

1. Place all in a blender and blend away until smooth and creamy!
2. Sip and enjoy!

Lunch:

Lunch is leftovers with an oddly tasty dressing I randomly whipped up.

Leftover Friday Salad with a Tangy Mystery Dressing

By Beth Mickens

• Romaine
• Mixed Greens
• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Green Peppers
• Avocado
• Mushrooms
• Green Onions
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• ½ Tbsp hemp oil
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tbsp Honey, to sweeten

1. For the dressing, add to a personal blender lemon juice, hemp oil, nutritional years, salt, pepper and a ½ of the honey to start. Blend on high til well blended. Season and sweeten to taste.
2. Add all your leftover veggies into a bowl or onto a plate and top with dressing!

Super easy!!

Snack:

I had prepped and planned to enjoy a delicious banana vanilla chia pudding except when I got home it was warm from sitting in my bag and well, it was just no longer appetizing. Scanning my fridge I noticed leftover granola all alone waiting to be eaten. Cereal did sound kind of good and I WAS hungry. So into a bowl it went along with a splash of raw almond milk. Mmm. Yep, that was satisfying and I have the food baby to prove it.

Dinner:

No dinner tonight. Instead lots of cold water and one too many goo goo clusters. I think I'm in need of a sugar cleanse...

Happy Friday peeps!!! Enjoy your ***CHILLY*** weekend!

*Beth*

B7DRC - October Edition: Day 4 - Eating Simply

Day 4 means we are over the halfway hump of this challenge! Yeah! I’m so happy because that means I can finally hit up the farmer’s market and grocery store because I am running low on practically everything! Thank goodness tomorrow is leftover Friday! Should be interesting… o_0

Early Morning:

Lemon Tea with a pinch of raw honey. Delish!

Breakfast:

A super energizing Simple Green Smoothie loaded with antioxidants and natural energy!

U-Pick Me Up

By Simple Green Smoothies

Makes 16 ounces

• 1 cup spinach
• 1 cup romaine
• ½ cup raspberries, frozen
• ½ cup blueberries, frozen
• 1 cup green tea, cold
• ½ ripe pear*

1. Blend and go!

**Added the pear since my daughter didn’t finish it this morning. Mommy problems :)

Lunch:

Not sure if the smoothies are just not filling or what but I’ve been getting hungry early around 10:30am or so, so an early lunch it has been!

This lunch was inspired by what was left in my fridge: oranges, beets, green onions and avocado. The combination, to me anyways, sounded perfect but what to dress it with was a whole different issue. I wanted a sweet onion dressing but I had no sweet onion and well, red onions and green onions don’t work. So I searched through my semi-empty fridge and found a quarter of a cuke and tons of mint…cucumber mint dressing? Sure. Why not.

I was right about the combination of veggies. Crunchy, creamy, juicy, sweet, and earthy with a refreshing taste thanks to the minty sweet dressing; a beautiful combination of winter produce played as a light, summery salad. Loved! 

Vibrant Winter Salad with Cucumber Mint Dressing

By Beth Mickens

• 2-3 cups mixed greens
• 1 small orange, peeled and chopped
• 1 small beet, peeled and grated
• ½ avocado
• ½ green onion, sliced
• ¼ cucumber, peeled and chopped
• Handful of mint
• 1 tbsp hemp seeds
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp raw honey or maple syrup
• Salt
• Sprouted pumpkin seeds

1. To prepare the dressing, into a small, personal blender add the cuke, mint, hemp, lemon, honey and salt and blend on high till well blended.
2. If needed, add some water till well blended and a thick, pourable consistency has been reached.
3. For the Salad, layer in a bowl or on a plate the greens, beets, oranges, avocado and green onion.
4. Dress with cucumber mint dressing and top with sprouted pumpkin seeds before serving.

Snack:

My new sweet tooth addiction is not chocolate, but dates and nut butter! It’s definitely natures candy! I needed to use up some celery in my fridge so I thought the old, childhood classic of celery and nut butter would be perfect as a snack! But what about the ants for my log? Why not little caterpillars instead?

The idea sounds cute, but as you look at the pic you may agree with my husband who said after he glanced at my snack, “that looks like sh*t on a log”. Way to ruin it! Haha!

Caterpillars on a Log

• Celery
• Raw nut butter
• Dates, split in half

1. I think you know what to do…right?

Dinner:

I snacked on veggie sticks with leftover sunflower queso dip, dates and walnut pecan butter and had another goo goo cluster for dessert. Yumm!

Day 4 simple. easy. satisfied.

*Beth*

B&DRC - October Edition: Raw Cheesey Queso and Raw-Nola that pleases.

Today is Day 3 and I’m back in the office today which means back to prepping the night before…Boo! Okay, okay I honestly can’t complain. Two days working from home IS awesome…just wish I could do it every day! Then again, I would probably be blueberry :P.

Picture courtesy of Messy Morgan's Kitchen

Today’s meals were fast to prep but equally as delicious as the previous day’s, more gourmet-esque goodies.Then again you already knew that :)

Early Morning:

Lemon tea to heal the soul…and gut.

Breakfast:

Broke the fast with yet again, another fabulous Simple Green Smoothie.  This one is called Tree Fruit and contains just that: pears and peaches!

I am very low on greens so I’m using very little in my smoothie and increasing the fruit. Not exactly the point of these smoothies but gotta modify according to what I have! 

Tree Fruit

By Simple Green Smoothies

Makes 16 ounces

• 1 cups of spinach
• 1 small, super ripe pear
• 1 cup peaches, frozen
• ½ large banana*
• 1 tbsp of coconut oil
• 1 cup water

1. Blend and enjoy!

**I added the banana for a bit of sweetness. It's not part of the original recipe.

Lunch:

My jicama tacos reminded me that I had a wonderful recipe for Sunflower Queso sitting around in my recipe book from a cooking class I had attended a few months back.  I recall the dip being full of robust, queso flavors: cheesy, tomatoes with a hint of heat. I knew I had to make it, but with what? Of course, I could have had veggie sticks and dip for lunch but what fun is that? I pondered for a moment until realizing I had a zucchini and then it hit me: Zucchini Noodles with Sunflower Queso. Simple. Sprinkled with some sprouted spicy sunflower seeds and we’re good to go.

Sunflower Queso Dip

Adapted from Lisa Jackson of Carpe Diem Wellness

Makes 2 servings

• ½ cup of sunflower seeds, soaked for 30 minutes to a couple of hours, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• ¼ red bell pepper
• ½ small tomato
• 2 tsp chickpea miso
• ½ - 1 Tbsp water
• 2 -6 tsp of nutritional yeast (I added more because I love the flavor and wanted mine extra cheesy!)
• ½ clove garlic
• ¼ jalapeno
• Pinch of chipotle powder

1. Blend in a high speed blender until well blended.
2. Serve with veggie chips, veggie sticks, or on top of a salad or noodles.

Snack:

For the last month my husband and I have been participating in some new, fun, somewhat intense activities: hiking and rock climbing. I’ve also been trying to increase my workouts, including running, but I noticed my energy levels have not been consistent. One day I'm fully energized the next day exhausted. I couldn’t figure it out so my first response was to start consuming high-carb, low-fat, energy sustaining snacks an hour or so prior to my workout. I sought out everything from smoothies, to energy balls to dehydrated treats including this delicious Almond and Coconut Raw-Nola by the beautiful and oh, so talented Gena Hemshaw from Choosing Raw. I’m still experimenting with this new pre-workout "diet" but so far the snacks are working! 

This raw-nola is not only easy to make and quick to dehydrate but it’s also loaded with energy sustaining carbohydrates, a little healthy fat and tons of protein. It’s perfect for on-the-go or at home with a bowl of bananas and almond milk, pre- or post-workout or heck just as a delicious snack! I like to keep mine in the fridge for extra crunch and just because I like it cold, but it’ll store at room temp as well. I plan on switching up the nut butters and using a chocolate nut butter next time...mmm! 

Here is the recipe for Gena’s Almond and Coconut Granola. I followed it as written. The only thing I added was a Tbsp of raw caca nibs for extra crunch and a hint of cocoa flavor because nothing is complete without chocolate!

 "Dinner":

I enjoyed yet another fabulous kombucha by MTO this time in strawberry flavor...only sad part is...I'm all out. Waaah!

And another day gone. What was on your plate on this chilly, beautiful hump day?

*Beth*