A quick tip.

We make smoothies alot around here, and I tend to be a little picky about how mine turns out. I like my smoothies to be thick and creamy! Every so often, I do a freezing day. I cut up fruit that I use in my smoothies and freeze them. Bananas, mangoes, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, etc. It makes it so easy to grab a baggie of frozen fruit and toss it directly into the blender. If I had a vitamix, I would probably not cut my bananas up so small. My little banana slicer (the yellow piece of equipment in the picture) makes it extremely easy though.

Throw them into the freezer and they make a perfectly thick and frozen smoothie!

Welcome home!

I am SO super excited to introduce you to the newest member of our family! Yep, this beautiful twin gear Green Star Elite! 

 I have been wanting to add this little gadget to our kitchen for a very long time. I did lots of research and this is the one I decided on. It's easy to clean, yields alot more juice than most juicers, and doesn't heat and kill the enzymes like some do. It does quite a bit, but I've only used it for juicing so far!

 As you can imagine, I used it the very night in came to live with us! My first juice experiment was greens. My old juicer didn't juice greens well at all, so I have been missing out on all of those healthy nutrients! My husband and son were pretty psyched about it too.

 My husband has been great about making me juices almost every day if I don't get to it first. He's so sweet!

 Our most popular juice around here is carrot/apple. My hubby watched a documentary on the Gerson Theory, and that is the blend they use 8 times a day! It's a very controversial approach to cancer treatment in case you aren't aware of it! I'm quite supportive of the idea!

Our local Coop has 5 and 20 pound bags of carrots! 

And huge bags of juicing apples too! All organic!

I have a built in helper now that begs to make juice multiple times a day! He gets fresh juice everyday and I'm so happy he likes it!

 And there's very little pulp left and lots of juice! I guess I forgot to take a picture of our juice!!

It seems like there are lots of parts, but it seems easier to clean than our last one. It's actually quite easy!

Drying after cleaning!

Stuffed Tomatoes

Raw Tomatoes stuffed with Creamy Cucumber Sauce  By the Raw Food Muscle

INGREDIENTS

2-4 medium tomatoes 
1 cucumber (cubed)
1/4 – 1/2 cup broccoli sprouts
1-2 tbsp shallot (finely chopped)

ROSEMARY CASHEW CHEESE

1 cup cashews (soaked 6 hrs)

1 tbsp rosemary (finely chopped)

3/4 tsp himalayan salt

1/4 cup water 

1 tbsp shallot (chopped)

1/2 lemon (juiced)

In a mortar and pestle (if you don’t have, use a bowl and a bottom of a cup), add rosemary and salt and grind together well.  Set aside.  Rinse cashews and add to a blender with all remaining 5 ingredients to make the cheese.  Puree mixture.

In a bowl, mix together cubed cucumbers and 1-2 tbsp of cheese.   To mixture add desired amount of sprouts and shallots and mix well.  Add more cheese as needed and reserve remainder for dip or pizza.

To stuffed the tomatoes cut the tops off and scoop out the seeds and veins.  Fill tomatoes with cucumber mixture and enjoy.

 I don't have a mortar and pestle, so I just ground my rosemary and salt on my cutting board with the bottom of a measuring cup. You do this to help release the oils in the rosemary.

Sauce

I just realized I forgot to take pictures of the cubed cucumber (say that fast 10 times!) and the shallots. Guess I was so excited I forgot!

Slice off the top of your tomatoes

Cut around the edges.

Spoon out the meat. You can use the meat of the tomato in a salad or soup recipe so you don't waste it.

Any kind of sprouts are a very good source of usable protein.

 And there you have it! Very fast recipe and tastes great too!

Healthy fall breakfast!

RAW OATMEAL AND ORANGE JUICE

Oatmeal and orange juice is probably one of my favorite breakfast combos! I especially love oatmeal in the fall, because it's just a good hearty breakfast. I have posted this Raw Oatmeal recipe before, but it's worthy of a second posting. It makes me wonder how I could've ever eaten regular ole quaker oats from the canister in my past SAD (standard american diet) life. It spells SAD for a good reason people!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup raw oat groats soaked overnight
1/2 cup raw almonds soaked overnight
2 dates soaked overnight in 1/2 cup of water (place soak water in food processor)
cinnamon to taste
You can add raisins, banana, strawberries, almond milk or any other topping of your choice. I've even added a bit of maple syrup to mine before! Mmmmmmm!

Blend all ingredients in the food processor. You can make it whatever texture suits your fancy. Sometimes I like mine a bit more chunky and other days I like it blended into mush, but that's just me!

Make sure to soak your oat groats and almonds overnight.  By doing this, it helps to remove the enzyme inhibitors so that your body can better utilize the nutrients in them. I typically soak mine together, but separated them for the sake of blogging!

 Rinse both the groats and almonds until the water runs clear. Try to use filtered water so you aren't rinsing chlorine onto your breakfast.

Dates

 Remove the seeds from your dates before adding them to the food processor.

 Since I've been juicing SO much lately, I have been making my own orange juice. Seems silly that it's the one juice I never made. It's the easiest one to make too! Depending on what type of juicer you have, 3-4 oranges should be plenty for one serving. Your body really only needs 8 oz at a time anyway.

 This is definitely a staple at our house. My picky husband will even eat it!

To Die For Raw Chocolate Pudding!

In case you've been wondering, I am quite aware that I have yet to post a trial of a dessert recipe I have tried.  I'm not an "every day dessert" kind of gal, but I think I want to be after trying this pudding! AHHMazing is all I can say! 

BTW, I found this recipe on Joanne Gero's website (www.vibealive.ca), my new addiction as of late! She is a Naturopathic Doctor (one of my dream jobs) from Canada, and I stumbled upon her website while doing research about raw vegan bodybuilding. She competes on a raw diet, and I think I love her! So, you'll be seeing some super great recipes from her website that I have tried;)

Here's what you will need:

2 avocados

1/2 cup almond milk

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup raw cacao powder 

1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/2 cup raw agave nectar

2 Tbs maple syrup (you should be able to find unpasteurized)

1/2 tsp real vanilla

pinch of celtic sea salt

I got this raw cacao for free! Yes, free! I ordered off of David's Wolf's website, the longevity warehouse, and they were sending a free 1lb. bag with every order! It's delicious! And don't forget that agave nectar has a low glycemic index.

 You basically just blend all of the above ingredients together in your food processor. I do have to admit, I was a bit hesitant to attempt this recipe. I have tried raw pudding before and it DID NOT taste good. My poor Dad ate it, but he'll eat just about anything;) I failed along the line somewhere, but I think, I mean I know I redeemed myself with this recipe!!

I really super love avocados! Not what you think of when you think "chocolate pudding," but you will not notice them I  promise. Such a great healthy fat!

Just look at that! It's so creamy!

Here, take a closer look:

 Want some?

 Open wide:

Ok, so now that your mouth is watering, go home and make some of this super healthy and delicious pudding! Besides the taste, the best part is that it's 100% guilt free!

I'm am super excited to tell you that Eric, the picky husband, enjoyed this very much and will be eating it again! I'll convert him yet!!

It's that time of year!

RAW CHILI from www.vibealive.ca

I don't know about you, but I love a bowl of chili when the weather starts cooling down. It's kind of one of those comfort/winter foods that helps me get into the the fall/winter spirit! Ok, so not really! I hate winter, but I do love chili so here ya go!

INGREDIENTS:

3 tomatoes

2 celery stalks

1/2 cucumber

1/2 red pepper with seeds

1/2 large portabella mushroom (may leave this out if desired)

1/2 of a lemon juiced or about 1/3 cup

1 fresh chive

3-4 Tbs of hemp seeds

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp to 1 Tbs cumin (I used a full Tbs.)

3 Tbs chili powder

2 Tbs cold pressed olive oil

2 Tbs Nama Shoya

Pinch of Himalayan pink salt or celtic sea salt

1/2 cup dulse (you can also leave this out)

handful of sunflower sprouts

This seems like a lot of ingredients, but it's super easy and fast. I don't have a vitamix, so I peeled my cucumber and put the garlic through a press before I blended everything. I didn't use the mushroom, dulse, or sunflower sprouts because this was a last minute meal and I didn't have them on hand. I had broccoli sprouts, but wasn't sure I wanted to use them in place of the sunflower sprouts. So, place everything in the blender and blend away!

I don't mind tellin ya that this stuff is pretty darn delicious! I will definitely be making it again and again;)

Delivery PLEASE!

DRIVE FASTER BUDDY!

No food recipes for today, but I just wanted to say that I'm DYING to see a UPS or FEDEX guy come to our door today! I have been waiting for over a week for a certain little delivery, and I'll be sure to share it with you just as soon as it arrives;)

Veggie Wraps with Smackdown Sauce and some new research!!

Veggies Wraps with Smackdown Sauce  By the Raw Food Muscle

INGREDIENTS

2 spring roll wrappers
4 romaine lettuce leaves (crush stems for easier rolling)
4 red cabbage (thinly sliced)
1 carrot (long shavings)
1 cucumber (sliced julienne)
1 avocado (thinly sliced)

I found these at our local Coop.

SMACKDOWN SAUCE

1 cup sunflower seeds (soaked 3 hrs)

1/3 cup water

1 tbsp almond milk

1/2 lemon (juiced)

2 tbsp Sriracha hot chili sauce

1 tbsp mellow white miso

3/4 tsp ginger (diced)

Cut vegetables according to ingredients list above.

To soften the spring roll, run under water for 30 seconds to 1 minute until flimsy. Carefully place the wrapper onto the counter top (not wood). First place 2 lettuce leaves on bottom 1/3 of the wrapper then add cabbage, carrot, and cucumber on top of lettuce. In the middle section of the wrapper above the mix of vegetables create a single line of avocado slices leaving the outer edges for folding in when rolling. From the bottom of the wrapper start rolling away from you using your finger tip to tuck and tighten as you roll. Half way through fold in the outer edges continuing to roll to the end. The wrappers will self seal due to its stickiness. Cut in half and set aside.

In a blender add all the ingredients to the smackdown sauce and puree. Serve on the side of the wraps and enjoy.

Julienne Peeler

Be careful not to tear the spring roll skin as you roll. I couldn't placed the avocado closer to the center here. 

Sorry about the shadow. I'm not a photographer and shooting one handed with a large camera is not easy!

 Voila! There you go! This is a very quick and easy recipe, which I love!

This smackdown sauce is quite tasty!!

You may have noticed above that this recipe was from the Raw Food Muscle.  I have been doing some recent research on raw vegan diets and bodybuilding. Yes, that's correct, there are vegan raw food bodybuilders out there. And most importantly, they look like bodybuilders and not thin little twigs. (wink) I am personally thrilled about this!!!!!! Many of you may not know that I hold a pro card in the WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation) as a figure competitor. It's probably the  biggest thing that has kept me from going to a more full time raw vegan diet. I do as much as I can, but still have been consuming a lot of animal proteins. I do not think that animal protein is very healthy for our digestive systems, but I didn't think I could continue to grow muscle without it. Boy have I been mislead! I am on about day 10 now with no animal proteins! YAY ME!! I'm going to continue my research and this diet! The interesting part of my research will come over the next year! Since my last competition in spring of 2010, I have lost a lot of muscle, and I'm now starting over! My goal is to compete in October of 2012, unless I happen to get pregnant in the near future;)

Happy Friday!!

More Immune Boosting Juice

Today, I chose to post some information on immune boosting foods from Joy McCarther. It's that time of year that we start to get colds, so this is perfect time to start juicing for immunity!

Immune Boosting Juice


By Joy McCarther


Several years ago I invested about eighty dollars and bought myself aWaring Pro stainless steel (looks pretty on my counter) Juice Extractor. And let me tell you, I've gotten my money's worth. 

Now I know you might be thinking that juicers are the type of kitchen appliance that one gets excited about only to have it collect dust year after year. If that scenario sounds familiar, then read on, because I'm about to inspire you to dust off that juicer and make yourself an immune-boosting juice that will have your cells singing with joy.

If you often visit juice bars in your city, then you know a good juice with a shot ofwheatgrass or any other fancy ingredient can cost as much as a meal. However, if you are feeling under the weather, no cost is too great. When I feel a cold coming on, I immediately make myself a juice and feel instantly better. I swear by it. 

Here are my top five immune-boosting ingredients to add to your juice, whether you make it yourself or buy it at a restaurant. And my two top ingredients for any juice are usually always beets and apples, which I use as a base -- gotta love thoseantioxidants.

1&2. Apples and Oranges: It's no secret that fruit is a source of vitamin C. But did you know that vitamin C boosts the production of infection-fighting white blood cells and antibodies, thanks to its ability to increase levels of "interferon," the antibody that coats cell surfaces to prevent the entry of viruses? Make sure you use the white stringy bits on your orange, as they are high in phytochemicals that fight cancer, and have anti-viral properties, too. 

Recipe after the jump...

3. Beets: Another root vegetable that is a must for any immune-boosting drink as it's also a potent liver detoxifier. Beets add a sweet flavour because of their natural sugar content, as well as a source of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous and immune-enhancing zinc.

4. Garlic: Not only does garlic ward off vampires, but the "stink" in garlic called allicin is anti-fungal, anti-microbial and anti-cancer, all of which translate to immunity-boosting. Garlic also works by increasing the production of enzymes that rid the body of carcinogens BEFORE they cause a cell to mutate.

5. Ginger: This root vegetable is one that is worth an entire blog post! Not only does it add a little kick to your juice, but it is incredible for your immune system. Compounds in ginger inhibit proliferation of cancer cells -- specifically, leukemia, skin, kidney, lung and pancreatic cells. It can be used as an antibiotic because it kills many different kinds of bacteria. 

Immune Boosting Juice 
If you don't have a juicer, then check out your local juice bar and ask for a juice with these ingredients. 

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized beets
1-2 apples
2 garlic cloves 
1/2 tbsp of freshly shaved ginger (NOT from a jar, likely to contain sugar, aspartame or even MSG)
1 orange

Place all the ingredients in the juicer for a few minutes. The final product will be a really rich red colour, thanks to the beets. Just make sure you eat some parsley for fresh breath if you plan on getting close to anyone after drinking this. 

EnJOY!

Joy McCarthy, owner of Joyous Health, is a certified holistic nutritionist and health coach with a passion for inspiring people to eat well, live well and feel more joyous on a daily basis. Joy welcomes your questions or comments and although you may not receive a response, your submission will certainly be read and may be selected as a topic for a future column