Enzymes in raw food!

I just read this article and since living enzymes are what raw food is all about, I wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!! http://www.naturalnews.com/037607_enzymes_digestion_nutrient_assimilation.htmlI wanted to share it with

Raw Food Night.

RAW FOOD NIGHT AT THE GREEN OWL CAFE

Well, unfortunately all I have is pictures for this one. I waited too long and they took down the description of last months menu:-( Sorry! I've been busy! Haven't ever heard that before, right? Once again, I had to get it to go since I worked that night. 

This soup doesn't look that great but it was my favorite part of the meal. 

Flax crackers with hummus. Amazing!

Greek salad, which I failed to take a picture of before I started eating it!

Can't recall the names of everything else. It was all very delicious though.

This was a fig cheese cake. I'm not a huge fan of figs, but this was good and I loved the sauce. 

I'll be out of town in a few weeks and I'm hoping to visit a raw food restaurant I've had my eye on. If my plans don't fail, I'll have pictures to report back to you!

Several shades of pink!

Several shades of pink! I'm talking about beets! For those of you that have read "50 Shades of Grey," several shades of pink might prove to be pretty boring, but I can guarantee you that beets, in several shades of pink, will be good for your health!! I was looking at all of the old beet recipes I have and each juice is a slightly different shade of pink. So pretty, but I'm partial to pink!

As you can see, I have tons of beets from my garden. I am so excited because last year none of them grew at all. I planted them a little close together this year, but I have picking them to thin them out, allowing the others to grow a bit bigger. Since I prefer to eat most of my veggies raw, I have been picking what I need and storing them in my frig for juicing. I had planned to make a beet ravioli recipe, but never got around to it. Summer is often just too busy to get complicated!!

As you read on Monday, I used them in my immune boosting juice. I happen to like the taste of beets, but when mixed with other things in juice, you can't really taste them all that much. Below is just a few beet recipes I've posted in the past.

Apples, carrots, red grapes, beets, and wheat grass.

This is an older pic of Gabe drinking beet juice! Crazy how fast he is growing up. Be careful, it turns everything pink!!

I don't recall everything that was in this batch with the beets, but it always looks so pretty!

Beet juice for work.

Orange and Beet Salad
For the full recipe: http://rawfullywonderful.blogspot.com/2011/05/orange-and-beet-salad.html

 More Beet Juice

Beets, apple, ginger, and orange

 Orange and beet juice.

 This one might be favorite shade of pink!!

And once again, more for work!

Again, I'll share the following website with you about the health benefits of beet juice!
http://www.ageless.co.za/herb-beetroot-juice.htm

Lunch on the go.

Emerald Sesame Kale

Steph's Seaweed Edamame Salad

These are two of my favorite salads from Willy St. Coop deli in Madison, WI. In fact, I have attempted to make my own Emerald Sesame Kale Salad. It tastes best if left in the refrigerator overnight. I think it just helps to improve the flavor and soften the raw kale. If you don't like garlic, better just skip this one!

Buckwheat breakfast porridge

BUCKWHEAT BREAKFAST PORRIDGE.

Just a few health benefits of Buckwheat Groats:

Helps lower cardiovascular disease
Better blood sugar control and a lowered risk of diabetes
High phytonutrients and lignans
Good source of fiber

Agave and chia seeds.

It tastes way better than it looks! Trust me!

Ingredients
1 cup of buckwheat groats (soaked overnight)
1 tbs chia seeds
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tbs agave nectar
cinnamon to taste

Toppings
banana and pecans with maple syrup
any kind of berries
I also put Udo's oil in mine sometimes
nut butters

Lemon Beet Juice.

IMMUNE BOOSTING JUICE

One glass for this morning and a jar to take to work. 

Those almost look like kidneys to me! Maybe it's a sign since lemons help detox the kidneys!!

 I rarely get sick, but in the past couple of days, I've picked up some kind of bug. Sore throat, cough, and some chest congestion. It's more annoying than anything, and I get tired of people pointing out that my voice sounds raspy. Yep, I can hear it people. I just ran a half marathon last weekend, so I'm sure my body is just taxed a bit. Anyway, I've been increasing my fresh juice consumption with items that help boost the immune system. I got up early before work today and made this lemon and beet juice mix. It was super good! I made enough that I can have several servings throughout the day. Today's mix was perfect since I have TONS of beets to use from my garden.

INGREDIENTS

5 small apples

small bunch of kale

small bunch of parsley

1 whole lemon

3-4 small beets with greens

HEALTH BENEFITS

BEETS

Here's a pretty good website to check out about the health benefits of beet juice. This specific web site, freeze dries the juice, so that it can be consumed easily with water and little hassle. It's raw, which is great. Check out all of the health benefits that they have listed though. There are resources listed under each health benefit as well.

http://www.ageless.co.za/herb-beetroot-juice.htm

LEMONS

Lemons were also a key ingredient in my morning immune boosting juice. I LOVE lemons and use them alot during the winter months.  They are great for the immune system for several reasons. They are very rich in vitamin C (ascorbic acid) , antioxidants, and citric acid. They help boost the immune system, detox the kidneys, they are a blood purifier, help fight off infection, and great for cough and colds, to name a few of their great qualities. Check out this website for more info. http://www.budwigcenter.com/blog/the-amazing-health-benefits-of-raw-lemon-juice/

PARSLEY

Here are a few paragraphs of info on parsley that were taken from http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/natural-notes/1098-health-benefits-of-parsley.html

Parsley is an amazing medicinal herb, is delightful to the taste and agreeable to the stomach.  It is a very versatile plant to aid the body in regaining health. The root contains calcium, B-complex vitamins, and iron, all of which nourish the glands that help regulate the uptake of calcium. It is a source of both magnesium and calcium, and especially potassium.

Parsley is high in vitamin A, beta-carotene and vitamin C.  As a wholesome organic-food it is also a good choice for bone health with vitamin K (536 mg in an average serving).

Traditionally. parsley has been used for congestion and inflammation of the kidneys and bladder, gravel, stones, and urine retention. The root and leaves are excellent for the liver and spleen. It is also one of the best reliefs for edema, helping when other remedies have failed; parsley is a very reliable diuretic remedy often ignored today. Parsley root and seeds contain ingredients that help produce a pain relieving benefit to relax stiff joints. 

Many people use parsley root tea to make stiff and unmanageable fingers work again. Pour a quart of boiling water over a cup of firmly packed fresh parsley and steep for 15 minutes.  Strain and then refrigerate.

Parsley works on the gall bladder and will remove gallstones if used properly by taking a pint of the tea daily.  Parsley is a specific for the adrenal glands, is powerfully therapeutic for the optic nerves, the brain and the sympathetic nervous system.

Parsley juice is an excellent tonic for the blood vessels, particularly the capillaries and arterioles. But remember that raw parsley juice is a most potent juice and should never be taken alone in quantities of more than one or two ounces at a time unless it is mixed into a sufficient quantity of carrot or other juices.  Parsley can help with expelling watery poisons, excess mucus, flatulence (gas), and reducing swollen or enlarged glands.

Taken from http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/natural-notes/1098-health-benefits-of-parsley.html

Hopefully my little fresh juice concoction will help get me up and running normally again!!

Raw Food Night!

As always, I'm a little late posting this since the last raw food night at the Green Owl Cafe in Madison was August 9th! I had to work that night, so I called and asked if they would prepare a "to go" meal for me. Since I'm a regular there, I didn't think they would object! They didn't. I stopped in on my way to work and they had it all ready for me. A great way to start out a 12 hour shift!

Soup: creamy cucumber-dill soup

Salad: watermelon and heirloom tomato with balsamic drizzle and basil

As I'm writing this blog, I can not recall ever eating the soup. Hmmmm. I know my memory isn't great, but I'm thinking I may not have gotten it. Well, it's too late now. The salad, which I didn't take a picture of was delicious! I love balsamic and basil so I knew I would like this.

Small Plate: flax crackers with raw veggie hummus

Entree: barbeque papaya steak served with veggie kabobs and sweet corn on the cob

I can't say that I was super crazy about the papaya "steak," but I ate it. Veggies and corn, well who can screw that up?!

Flax crackers are in the upper right hand corner. Hummus is in the container. It was SO good by they way. 

Dessert: seasonal berry cobbler with banana ice cream (and a mint leaf)

 This dessert was amazing! I was forced to eat the ice cream as soon as I got in my car because I didn't want it to melt. Banana ice cream is the last flavor I would probably ever order, but it was so good. And the berry cobbler, well that was just amazing!!

The next raw food night is September 13th, so try it if you get a chance!

Mosquitos

So, one of the things I hate most about summer is mosquitoes. I'm not a huge fan of toxic mosquito sprays either, so I thought I'd share this little bit of info with you that I found a while back. We have had such a dry summer so far that the mosquitoes really haven't been a problem at all, but you can use this info for the future!!

Here are a few things that mosquitoes are attacked too.


Carbon dioxide: Many species sense carbon dioxide levels and zoom in on pockets of CO2.
Lactic acid: People release lactic acid after eating salty foods and other certain foods, as well as after exercising.
Moisture: Perspiration and damp skin attract mosquitoes.
Floral or fruity fragrances: Perfume, cologne, shampoos, scented skin lotions and even laundry detergent may generate odors that attract mosquitoes

So, if you can prevent at least a couple of the things above, you may not be such a huge mosquito target!

Essential oils that discourage mosquitoes include:

•    Lemon and citrus scents
•    Cedar
•    Peppermint
•    Clove
•    Rosemary
•    Cinnamon
The Citronella Plant

If you have any essential oils, you can always make your own naturopathic mosquito repellent! Young Living are my favorites!

Dehydrator Snacks

HEALTHY SNACKS 

Dried Mango Chips

I don't put anything on my mango slices when I dehydrate them. They are a really sweet fruit to begin with and I think they turn out perfectly with nothing added to them. The toughest part is cutting them!

These are so easy to pack and carry anywhere.

I make fruit leathers fairly often because Gabe loves them, and I can take them to work or pack them for any outing. I never use a recipe for mine either. I usually try something a little different every time. 

 The one above contains blueberries, strawberries, ground flax seeds, hemp seeds, and banana. The red one below contains strawberries, mango, banana, and chia seeds. I used to never add any of the seeds, but it's a great way to add them to your diet! You can even add protein powder if you want!! Go figure! You can't buy these versions at the grocery store!!