B7DRC February 2014 - Day 3: Warm Turmeric Milk to beat the Cold Winter Snow

It’s Day 3 and yes, another snow day! It snowed heavily til noon, dropped about an inch or so of snow on the ground and then before we knew it, the sun was out and the snow had melted. Craziness! This weather… It was nice to stay in though, and relax in my pajama bottoms for the day. I definitely can NOT complain about that. :)

Today was sort of a bleh day for me. If you haven’t noticed from my previous monthly posts, this challenge and my “monthly” tend to fall during the same week. That’s why you always see me posting recipes for sweets and treats! You may have also noticed that one or two days in the week I eat little to nothing. That’s because I’m dealing with all the nasty side effects that come along with “it”. The good part about all this is that I’m motivated to eat clean and not cave into all the chocolate cravings…okay well I do give in, but with delicious, healthy, nourishing chocolate treats. ;) I’ve also learned which foods ease the pain and which foods do not. My favorites: turmeric and cacao! That’s what this journey is all about right? Learning to listen to our body and how to provide it the nourishment in needs to function properly? It’s amazing the things we learn!

As I stated before, today’s eats wasn’t as much but what I did eat was yammers!

Upon Wakening

I had another warm apple cider vinegar tea with raw honey. I needed it.

“Juice”

Have you ever noticed juice cleanses always include a nourishing milk to add substance and give your palate something to enjoy that’s heavier and a bit “fattier”? Yeah I have too. I wanted to try one for my morning juice, but I wanted it to make sure it was bursting with health benefits and not just nut milk and sugar. I recalled seeing a Turmeric Milk recipe by Gena from Choosing Raw and decided, why not! It’s new, different, warm not cold and of course, loaded with nutrients! 

This milk was exactly what I was expecting it to be: comforting and fulfilling. It was smooth, sweet and spicy…and oh so good. I perfect drink to enjoy when it’s snowing outside!

Just a few notes: The hemp milk is a bit “gritty” if you do not strain it, but they do settle pretty quickly to the bottom of glass. Feel free to do either. Also, instead of spices as seen in the original recipes, I had a tea spice mix I used that contained ginger, cardamom, etc.

Turmeric Milk

Adapted from Choosing Raw

Makes 16 ounces

• 2 cups of nut milk or 6 Tbsp of hemp seeds with 2 cups of water
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 ½ tsp of ginger spice tea mix (ginger, cardamom, black pepper, etc)
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1-2 Tbsp of raw honey or maple syrup, to taste

1. Blend all of the ingredients in a high speed blender til well blended.
2. Warm slightly over the stove.
3. Serve immediately in your favorite tea glass.

Smoothie

No smoothie today! That milk kept me full for quite a while!

Lunch

I was skimming the fridge for lunch when I noticed that I had leftover raw kale-chi in the fridge that I had purchased a couple of weeks ago at a local farm store. Kale-chi aka kimchi made with kale! It’s tangy, spicy and loaded with raw goodness. I thought hard about what I could add it to and thought, Korean noodles! Zucchini noodles with veggies tossed in a savory Garlic Hemp Asian sauce and topped with avocado and kale-chi all over mixed greens! Awesomeness!? You bet!

Raw Korean Noodles with Garlic Hemp Sauce and Kale-Chi

By Beth Mickens

Noodles

• 2 cups of mixed greens
• 1 zucchini, spiralized
• 1 carrot, peeled and julienned
• 1 green onion, sliced

Sauce

• 3-4 mushrooms, sliced
• 2 Tbsp of hemp seeds
• 2 tbsp aminos or tamari
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp raw honey or preferred liquid sweetner

Garnishings

• ¼ avocado, sliced
• ¼ cup raw kimchi

1. In a small blender, blend together the hemp seeds, aminos, water, and honey til well blended and smooth.
2. In a small bowl add the zucchini noodles, carrots and mushrooms.
3. Pour half of the dressing and toss to combine well.
1. NOTE: If you plan on eating the next day, leave the noodles in the bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, drain the juices from the noodles then proceed with the next steps.
4. Add some mixed greens onto a plate. Top with noodle mixture.
5. Garnish with avocado, kimchi, green onions and sesame seeds.
6. Serve with additional dressing if desired.

Dinner

For the remainder of the day I sipped, no gulped, on tons of water to stay hydrated and nibbled on the rest of my brownie balls. Told ya they wouldn’t last long :P

Hopefully I’ll have more of an appetite tomorrow. 

Have a good night!

*Beth*

CHALLENGERS RECIPES

 Juice Pulp Crackers

By Kristin Lassonde 

• 3 cups juice pulp
• 3 heaping tsp ground flax seed
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 heaping tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 heaping tsp garlic powder
• 2 heaping tsp onion powder
• 2 heaping tsp paprika
• 1 tomato

1. Blend all of the ingredients in a food processor
2.  You will need to add some water while processing
3. Spread out onto a dehydrator sheet. Score to desired size.
4. Dehydrate for about 24 hours.

 Sprouted Buckwheat Cereal

By Kristin Lassonde

• Dehydrate sprouted buckwheat overnight so it is dry
• Blend in a blender favorite fruit such as apples and pears with water as needed and spices such as cinnamon and stevia (Ratio of 1 piece of fruit per dehydrator sheet of buckwheat)
• Soak the sprouted dehydrated buckwheat in the fruit mixture for about 30 minutes to settle
• Spread on a dehydrator tray thinly and dehydrate until desired crunchiness is achieved
• Break into pieces in a cereal box. Feel free to make this recipe more exciting by adding mix-ins such as dry fruit, sprouts, or anything else. 

  Dessert Juice

by Lucia Morrison

• 8 Raspberries
• 8 small chunks of pineapple
• 1 clementine
• 1 small gala apple