Brad's 7 Day Raw Challenge: January 2014 - Desserts for breakfast!? You bet!

Hello Day 3 and Hello Hump Day! It was another day at home thanks to the wintery mess, and I have come to learn that when I’m home, I drink more water. Maybe it’s because the water filter is right across the counter from where I sit to work as opposed to all the way down the hall and to the right? Or maybe it’s because I move around more at home? Not sure what it is but I hope I can continue this habit when I work at the office tomorrow. All this lovely water has me feeling hydrated and energized and it kills the urge to stress eat. Instead I stress sip :)

 

All this water is also helping my body fight this disgusting bug that all of sudden started creeping up on me a few hours ago. I went from feeling great and ready to work out, to having a dry itchy sore throat and feeling sluggish and drained. As always, this calls for a yummy “flu shot”, a good sweat and tons of rest! 

Unfortunately, this bug has killed my appetite which of course leads to less food pics and less recipes. :( Oh the problems of a food blogger! 

Oh well. Ready to see what I ate on Day 3?

Early Morning:

I haven’t been sleeping much lately (hmm wonder why I’m sick!) so a warm green tea with lemon and honey was calling my name. It did the trick :)

 

Juice:

Yesterday while I was working, I listened to numerous videos by FullyRaw Kristina. She’s one of my favorite raw food gurus and I love everything about her. Her personality is catchy, she’s full of valuable knowledge, and oh my, the recipes she creates are amazing! Low fat, full of nutrition, satisfying and super tasty! A good example? This ridiculously creamy, sweet dreamsicle juice! A healthy, nutritious energy filled juice that tastes like an orange creamsicle ice cream pop! Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself! Drool!

Here’s what I used!

Dreamsicle Juice

By FullyRaw Kristina

Makes 16 ounces

• 1 apple
• 1 large, juicy orange, peeled
• 1 large juicing carrot or 2 medium carrots
• Coconut water, to fill (about ½ cup)
• ¼ tsp of vanilla or ¼ vanilla bean

Depending on the type of juicer you have, you may be able to use the method Kristina uses (link in name) or follow my steps.

1. Juice the apple, carrot and orange into a 16 ounce glass jar. It should be over ¾ full.
2. Fill with coconut water til the glass is full.
3. Add vanilla and stir.

Serve! Drink! Enjoy!

Breakfast:

Mmmmm who knew you could have a glass full of Chocolate Dipped Strawberries!? Sweet, juicy tart strawberry flavor mixed with rich, creamy chocolate. Holy yumm! Yep, it’s another amazing dessert smoothie by the fabulous gals over at Simple Green Smoothies. It’s a must try!!

Clearly it’s a dessert kind of day… :P

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Smoothie

By Simple Green Smoothies

Makes 16 ounces

• 1 cup kale
• 1 cup homemade almond milk
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp cacao powder

1. Blend and enjoy garnished with some crunchy cacao nibs! I bet this would taste great with mint too

Lunch/Dinner:

As I stated in my intro, I lost my appetite mid-afternoon when I started feeling funky. I nibbled on leftover spicy kale chips but still, no appetite. Finally, I forced myself to eat something for dinner. A massaged kale salad sounded good so I kept it simple. 

Kale, grated garlic, lemon juice, coconut oil and salt massaged til wilted. Then I topped it off with avocado, some mushrooms and green onions. Simple, delish and fulfilling. It did make me feel a bit better. Clearly I needed my greens :)

And Day 3 was done.

Let’s pray tomorrow is better.

*Beth*

Participant Recipes

Strawberry Cream Smoothie

By Ang Roberts

• 1/2 avocado
• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 1/2 cups of spinach
• 1 tbsp hemp seeds
• 1 cup almond milk

1. Blend and go!!

 Rawkin Red Bell Pepper Soup

By Lucia Morrison

From Brad's Raw Made Easy

• 2 large red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 medium avocado
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup cashew pieces to top

1. Blend the bell peppers, carrots, avocado, salt, water and lemon juice into a smooth puree.
2. Pour into a bowl and top with cashew pieces before serving.

B7DRC - August Edition: Summer Kale Slaw and a Homemade Flu Shot. Bottoms up!

Yep! It’s that time…AGAIN! And while you would think I would be tired of doing this monthly, it is quite the opposite! I LOVE doing this challenge every month! The raw challenge has become a monthly ritual; one that I look forward to and enjoy every minute of. It’s never a dull moment during Brad’s Raw Challenge and this month will not be any different. 

This week I’ll only be completing  5 of the 7 days because this weekend I have a vegan superfoods cooking class that I had to reschedule from this past weekend due to this awful sickness I’m still recovering from, plus a restaurant review to give sooo it’ll be worth it...I think…well, is anything worth NOT getting 2 packs of Brad’s awesome goodies? I dunno…. ;)

With that, let’s get started!

Early Morning:

My schedule has now changed since school is officially back in session and therefore, my eating pattern will mostly likely change as well. I’m now starting my morning off with a warm tea….for this challenge, an herbal or green tea, or a lemon or ACV tea to keep it raw. To help my body get back into good health after working hard to kill this cold and for a little energy boost I opted for a green tea with a pinch of honey. It was slightly warm and worked well to ease the little pain left in my throat. 

Breakfast:

I don’t know about you, but during the summer I tend to indulge on all the seasonal fruit I can get my hands wrapped around because once it’s gone, it’s gone. I’m not one to pay $8 for a small pack of organic blueberries during the winter and watermelon, peaches and figs are nearly extinct til the coming summer..at least in my area. One of my favorites that I just cannot get enough of is watermelon. I noticed this past Saturday at the Farmer’s Market the watermelons were getting smaller and after opening one, less sweet indicating these babies were inching closer and closer to the end of their season. *Sniff* 

But until that happens officially watermelon I shall buy and watermelon I shall eat. 

This bowl was topped with a few sprigs of mint and some lime juice…too bad I could barely taste :P

Lunch:

I’ve been testing a recipe out for Manitoba Harvest’s Salad Contest and I created a simple summer salad I am quite proud of. It’s sweet, creamy, savory and oh so refreshingly, crunchy. I love every bite of satisfaction. It’s filling and loaded with hemp protein, healthy omegas and greens!

Summer Kale Slaw

By Beth Mickens

Serves 1

Salad

• 1 heaping cup of shredded kale
• Kernels from 1 small cob of corn
• 1 small carrot, julienned (3 Tbsp)
• 3 Tbsp cup of jicama, julienned
• 3 Tbsp of red bell pepper, julienned
• 6 small cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 green onion, sliced
• 1 Tbsp of hemp seeds
• Dill, dried or fresh (optional) or favorite herb/s

Simple Dressing

• 2 Tbsp of cashews
• 1 tbsp of hemp seeds
• 1-2 Tbsp of water
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice or ACV or combo of both
• ½ - 1 tsp of raw honey (depends on how sweet your corn is. If it’s super sweet then reduce the amount of sweetener)
• Salt to taste
• Pepper

1. Toss all the salad ingredients, except for the herbs, together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. In a small bullet style blender, add cashews and hemp seeds. Grind into a fine powder.
3. Add remaining ingredients (only 1 Tbsp of water to start) and blend until thick and smooth adding water as needed until desired consistency is reached.
4. Add dressing to salad and lightly toss until every bit of the salad is equally dressed. Add dried dill or preferred herbs and toss gently one more time to combine.
5. Serve with an extra sprinkle of hemp seeds to garnish.

Snack:

You know I have to have my smoothies :)

Today’s green smoothie is called the Chocolate Berry Crunch. Not sure why it didn’t turn out as chocolaty as I expected but I could probably blame my crappy taste buds for that one. This cold has killed my taste buds and it’s depressing. Even though it didn’t taste exactly as I wanted, this smoothie was still yummy and fulfilling. 

Chocolate Berry Crunch

Recipe adapted from  Reboot with Joe

Makes 16 ounces 

• 1 cup spinach
• ½ cup blueberries, frozen
• ¼ cup mixed berries, frozen
• ¼ cup cherries, frozen
• ¼ cup strawberries, frozen
• ½ banana
• 1 cup coconut water
• 1-2 tbsp of raw cacao powder or cacao nibs
• 1 scoop of raw protein powder (I used hemp)
• 1 Tbsp of chia seeds

1. Blend and enjoy!

Dinner:

For some reason I wasn’t hungry…maybe because my stomach is still trying to get back to normal. This cold killed my appetite for the last few days so I can imagine how my tummy feels having to get back into digesting all this food. I did enjoy more watermelon and some of Hail Merry’s raw chocolate mint tart..which sadly tasted like nothing. Oh well. I’m just happy that my body is recovering well… I will continue to listen to it, treating it right so that in return it will provide me with a happy, long, healthy life and right now it’s saying..GO TO BED! So until tomorrow…

Oh before I go to bed, I’ll be taking another homemade flu shot. I have taken two so far since my cold started on Friday and the day after I took my shot, the worse symptoms were over. The first time I took it I was suffering from a sharp, painful sore throat that made it hard to breath and swallow. The day after, I kid you not, it was gone! My throat felt almost back to normal! 

The second time I took it my body was aching and my head was congested and felt like it was ready to just explode. I could feel the inflammation in my sinuses and ears. So I took another one and the next morning it was gone! My husband, also the individual who kindly shared his germs with me, took a flu shot when he felt the sore throat symptoms gradually getting worse and immediately felt better the next morning. He’s a believer of natural remedies and was the one who had to force me to suck down this potent yet healing concoction. Thank goodness he did. 

So if you’re ever in need of a quick remedy, take one of these and feel the inviting burn of natural healing. 

Homemade Flu Shot  

(for sore throats and inflammation due to a cold)

In a small bowl add:

• 1 large lemon juiced
• ½ - 1 tsp of raw honey
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• ½ tsp of grated ginger
• Shake of turmeric
• Shake of cayenne

1. Whisk together til well combined. Pour or strain into a shot glass and drink. Do NOT chase with water. Wait a bit before drinking any liquids to allow it to coat your throat and really work its way into your system.  
2. Bottoms up!

*Beth*