FRUIT SMOOTHIE

For you working folks that have to run out the door in the morning, try this-

In your blender

place 2 cups of fresh frozen strawberries (or fresh if you have them)

1 banana, peeled

1 orange, peeled

2 dates

Whip it up on blend and run out the door! If you want to get really healthy, add a handful of flax seeds or wheatgerm if you have it on hand for a nice texture and nutty flavor.

The pulp makes it nice and thick, and the frozen berries make this a smoothie. If you use fresh strawberries and want it to be a smoothie texture, add 4 icecubes.

You can use peaches, berries, all sorts of different flavors for variety.

NOW

this is the base:

add 2 tbs hemp seeds 

or 2 tbs chia seeds

or 1/2 C soaked and peeled almonds

2 tbs fish oil

Pomelo and Spinach Salad

This is a great dinner dish with lots of pretty color. If you are not completely raw, add some cooked shrimp, chicken strips or even some pan seared Tuna! I love the color and do add spices. They are healthy and add robust flavor to foods.
Enjoy!


1 Pomelo, peeled completely and fruit sectioned and cut into 1" pieces.
           Remove all the pith from the sections as it can be tough and fibrous. 
1 red pepper, chopped
2 slices red onion, chopped
1 crunchy apple, chopped
1/2 english cucumber, peeled and chopped
4-5 sprigs cilantro, chopped
5-6 good sized fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/4 cup raw peanuts
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut

dressing: whip and set aside until serving
2 limes-juiced
4 tbs olive oil to taste
sea salt, ground pepper, cayenne pepper

Add baby spinach greens right before serving, and toss with dressing.
Sprinkle with coconut and serve!

Raw nut butters

Make your own raw nut butters in a blender or food processor. Buy the raw nuts in the bulk section of your grocery store; make sure the label on the bin states raw. Soak 1 cup of nuts in purified water overnight, drain, and dehydrate until dry (this is easiest to do in a dehydrator set at 105 degrees F, but you can also use your oven on the lowest setting with the door slightly open). Toss into the food processor with 1 teaspoon of Celtic sea salt and 1 tablespoon of raw agave nectar or - if you're not vegan - raw honey. Add as much water as necessary and blend until smooth. A little raw virgin coconut oil will also make it smoother and more spreadable.


from a posting I found:  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/379526/raw_foods_for_the_crayon_crowd.html?cat=25

Buckwheat Crispy Treats

this is a recipe from Kyoko from San Francisco. She was the winner of The Raw Food Worlds contest of the month.

My essential raw food recipe is the 'Buckwheat Crispy' treats I eat as snacks and on my travels. I'm sure a lot of raw food eaters are familiar with this type of simple recipe.
All the ingredients are organic.

2 cups Hulled Buckwheat
1/2 C. pumpkin seeds
1/2 C. sunflower seeds
1/2 C. each of Golden raisins, Goji berries, and Inca berries
optional: seasonal fruits of your choice

Soak buckwheat and seeds in a bowl over night. Rinse it and drain the water. Let them sprout for a day or two as you rinse a few more times in between.

Soak the raisins and berries in a glass jar.

Put the sprouted mixture in the dehydrator for 5 - 8 hours depending on how dry you'd like. They will come out very crispy and crunchy. Offer a small portion to God (I call him, 'Baba'), and put it back in the big batch. Store the mixture in a glass jar.

For enjoying as a morning cereal or afternoon snack, I add the soaked raisins and berries on top, some protein powder, Chlorella, cinnamon powder (about a teaspoon!), some Himalayan salt, a banana or a ripe avocado (both if I am really in the mood) and some chunks of coconut butter. If I wanted to take more liquid in a day, I put warm water and let everything soak for half an hour or more. I mix everything and it looks like a big green goo which tastes more like an ice cream treat!

Tabouleh Salad Recipe

I like these videos by Rita Heikenfeld. She has 77 of them on line and they are well made.
The quality is good, and although she isn't all raw, she has some great tips and information and recipes.
Here is one that is raw though:



Rinse your bulgar wheat three times, then let it sit until all the water is absorbed.
1 bunch Parsley
1 bunch green onions
fresh chopped tomatoes
bell pepper
radishes
english cucumber
chop them all fine, add wheat
add 2-3 tsp cumin,
fresh basil, fresh spearmint

Go on and watch some of her other videos-she has 77!

Note:
I added chopped garlic, sesame seeds and some chopped pine nuts to mine, and some cumin seeds. This is extremely good-and smells wonderful! Serve with crackers, melba toast rounds, or if you are raw, fill lettuce leaves with it, or sliced cucumbers instead of crackers.

Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms - Raw Recipe

I made a cooked version the other night and then thought it could be easily adapted to raw. I was right!

3-4 Large Portabello Mushrooms - stems removed (and reserved for something else)
In a bowl with a lid, layer the mushroom caps with olive oil, balsamic vinegar. Cover and turn every few minutes while making the stuffing. Allow to marinate at least an hour, or overnight.

Stuffing:
Chop baby spinach leaves - a couple of handfuls
6 sprigs of fresh cilantro-chopped
4 leaves of basil - chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried cherries
(or you can use raisins)
Balsamic vinegar and olive oil
salt, pepper, sprinkle of red peppers or cayenne to taste
Allow to marinate about an hour
then add:
1/2 cup feta cheese

Stuff the mushroom caps, and add some fresh raspberries to the top and serve!
Yummy
And this is great the next day for a lunch on the go.

Sunflower seed recipe

Health Benefits Of Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower seeds are power-packed with healthy fats, proteins, fibers, minerals, vitamin E, and phytochemicals - all important to the nutritional quality of the diet and of fundamental importance to human health.

I sprouted raw sunflower seeds that had been hulled in a jar for about six hours. Drained, rinse well and dry in dehydrator until dry.

Half of the seeds I coated in coconut syrup, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and a little water.

The other half I put on a little oil, mixed well, and then added salt, cumin, chili power, onion powder, and garlic powder.
Put back in the dehydrator on 108 until very dry.

The kids like the flavored seeds and eat them up.

The spicey seeds can be ground into a "taco meat".

Kale Crackers

I just had some great crackers that are raw! She dipped kale pieces in a mixture of garlic, olive oil and tomatoes that had gone in the blender until smooth.

Lay on trays in the dehydrator and dry for 10 hours.

They are tasty and light and quite healthy! Yet another way to put Kale to good use and a great alternative to fried or baked potato chips.

Raw ish - Fast Breakfast

1/2 avocado, cubed
1/2 tomato, chunked
1 cup cabbage, fermented overnight in olive oil and balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs sesame seeds
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
s&p

Here's the raw-ish
1 hardboiled egg chopped

Or the vegan option is always cubed tofu.

Add a touch more balsamic and oil if you like it wetter. Toss and eat!
Enjoy!

Raw - Marinated Cucumbers

Since we are all entering harvest time, here's a fast raw favorite of ours:

Peel and Slice 1-2 cucumbers. Make slices about 1/4"
Add:
1/3 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar
(this are aprox. I splash it in so bare with me on this one)
2 tsp garlic
Juice of one fresh lemon
salt and pepper.
Fresh chopped: basil.

Yes, we use both the vinegar and lemon, but you can use one or the other.
This saves for a few days-if there are any left, so we do usually make extra.
They are great alone as a side dish or add them to the top of any salad.
Take them to work because marinated doesn't need to be refrigerated!
If you take your salad in one container, without dressing, take the cucs in a separate one and add them as the dressing.

Variation:
we add crumbled feta cheese at serving, and sliced olives for a greek flare!

Variation #2:
Add sliced red tomatoes to the cucumbers before marinating so they are both steeped in the dressing

Raw - Stuffed Tomatoes

6 nice big fat deep red fresh tomatoes! This is the season for them!
Cut off the tops and core them scooping, out the insides so you have tomato cups

save the insides, chop and mix with:
1/3 c each: onion, celery, finely chopped
jalapeno pepper chopped - to taste. If you like it spicy add more.
fresh basil leaves-finely chopped, *I use about 1 big leaf per tomato
I cup chopped fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped mango
salt and pepper
juice of 1 fresh lemon
a splash or two of olive oil

Mix all ingredients and stuff into the tomatoes until they are heaped full! Garnish with a sprig of parsley and a serve with wedges of fresh lemon or lime and pita bread and more mango!

This is another great on-the-go lunch recipe!

Raw Edamame Salad

1 red pepper - chopped
1 bag of shelled raw edamame
1 cob of corn - shucked
1 small bag of shredded carrots
1 tbs garlic - chopped
1 zucchini - chopped

Mix all ingredients and keep in the fridge.
I had it with balsamic vinegar and some pine nuts last night for a yummy dinner.

I had some this morning stirred into scrambled eggs with turmeric and curry.

It's been nice to have this made to take for lunch too. Put the dressing on at the end.

Raw Breakfast Scramble

Wow-this looks good! And the turmeric gives it that yellow egg color-tricky! Turmeric is an awesome spice to add to your diet-see the links below.

Ani does a nice job with this recipe, and it's pretty simple. Remember to soak and dry the almonds


Benefits of Turmeric
Turmeric

Raw Organic Honey

There are some amazing foods on our planet, and raw honey is one of them. The Greeks thought of it as 'the nector of the Gods'.

It's easy to digest, easy for the body to use, and it has healing powers too. All great things come from the planet herself, don't you think?

Honey is antibacterial and is an antioxidant, and as we know about color-the darker the honey the higher the antioxidant value. It helps with asthma, allergies, and heals minor burns, scrapes and skin issues. It's soothing for the throat too. Honey helps us sleep. Some studies say it helps us assimilate calcium.

Buy organic-bee keepers that are organic don't kill the bees to harvest the honey. I didn't know this, but bees are killed with calcium cyanide and carbolic acid to harvest the honey!

If you are using honey instead of sugar when cooking, remember that honey is sweeter, and it adds more moisture, so less honey is best. Don't feed honey to little ones under one.

Just for fun, here's a link to making mead that age old drink that Robin and his merry men drank by drafts!

Raw food recipe-Lettuce Wraps

Yesterday I bought the raw food staple-avocados. I'm finding myself choosing more raw, and the more I do, the better I feel. The suggestion is, allow yourself to gradually transition to more fresh and raw, living food. I'm starting afresh, again!

Raw Food Recipes that are easy, fast, and inexpensive are what we are all about. I can't take time for elaborate concoctions: cooked or raw.

Raw is living food. It really feeds you. A friend just said that she has been adding more raw food and she's noticing how much MORE energy she has in her day to day life. Yes! We all need energy, don't we?

Try this instead of a bread sandwich:

Lettuce Wraps:
2 ripe avocados, mashed
2-3 tomatoes-nice big juicy dark red ones-diced up
1/2 a jalapeno pepper-diced
2-3 slices of onion-diced
garlic-which I like-so 2-3 cloves-diced
half a lime-juiced
6-8 leaves (kale, collard, romaine or iceberg) washed and dried
Spices that work: s&p, cayenne, tumeric, parsley, cilantro.

that's the basic, but for variety you can add, corn, edamame, diced mango, diced cucumber, shredded carrot, diced celery.
You can add just about anything you want to the base of avocado garlic and tomato-let your personal creativity soar!

If you are taking this for lunch at work, increase the lime and don't fill the lettuce boats until it's time to eat. Scoop the mixture onto the leaves and roll or fold just like a taco...yum!

Raw Pasta Dressing

5 Large Roma tomatoes, cut in quarters or smaller, you want bite size pieces
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
fresh chopped garlic
a handful or two of pinenuts
1/4 of a red onion, chopped fine
toss it all in olive oil
let it sit while you cook the pasta of your choice. I did petite raviolis, fresh!

Drain the pasta and toss into the room temp dressing, top with grated parmesan cheese.
It was yummy!

You could add some baby spinach at the last minute and let the hot pasta wilt it-that works too. Also Yum! Everyone had seconds.

RAW "SOUP"

RAW BALLS OF DE-LIGHT

My heart hurt, truly, when Kathy mentioned that she eats salad every day because it's easy, and when Rebecca said she is eating carrot sticks plain. Oh pain! Oh woe! Food is great fun and delicious delight! :) We have so much to do to reengage the children and make them giggle.

RAW BALLS OF De-LIGHT is born...cooking raw, I love it! :)
Approach this as the six year old! Enter into the game of it.

Get a BIG BIG bowl
Add 1 big handful of the raw nuts that jump up and down and say "pick me pick me"
Add 2 handfuls of the loudest ones

Cover with water and soak 4 hours or overnight. They love the water.
(I put in cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, whole flax seeds, peanuts)

Drain the nuts and seeds
Gather all the dried fruit you have around

Add 1 handful of the prettiest most yummy ones in the bowl
Add sprinkles of a few others until it looks just the right mix of COLOR~
(I put in apricots, plums, dates, cranberries, apples, and blueberries. Next time, mangos and papayas with a touch of pineapple)

Throw everything in the food processor and grind it up! Whir chop crunch...I like mine a bit chunky

Now for the artist's touch- begin to add some dry stuff-
an eye or two of Salamander (dry oatmeal)
a sprinkle of dry toad (flax seed meal)
a whisper of cobweb (hemp seed meal)
or whatever you have (I used a bit of all of these)

Whip it after each addition until you get it just the right FEEL. It should hold together when you make a ball out of it so reach in and play with it. Is it too wet, does it form a ball without your fingers gunked to it? Make it like the texture of playdough. You know? Wet but it will hold it's shape when you form it into something. You can make bars if you'd rather-or little tweety birds!

Stick the bowl in the freezer for an hour if you have time. Don't need to so, if you don't, don't fret.

Have a bowl of coconut flakes ready and now take blobs of stuff and form balls and then roll them in the coconut completely covering them. Squish the coconut onto the balls so you have these yummy snow balls. They should be the size of...um...a ping pong ball? Yeah! That's about right! About 3 bites.

Stack them in a Tupperware container!

You have RAW BALLS OF DE-LIGHT...viola! Now you have a yummy raw snack to take on the road, to the office, in the car, at class, that is sooo good for you and soooo delicious that it feels like it is bad. Hah! You can snack on these anytime, all day if you want, and they are awesome! My rules-fun food! :) I'll add that one.

Every time I write De-light I hear it in my head with that little guy's voice from "Fantasy island" saying "De plane de plane..." go figure! I have dwarves running around in my head. Shades of Wizard of Oz!

And just in case you are saying "but I don't have a big food processor..." I only have my little black and decker 2 cup. I just filled it and whirred and filled it again and whirred. It took like maybe 20 minutes total even with rolling it into balls, and then I took my big ol' wooden spoon and stirred in the dry stuff and left the oatmeal whole. It worked just fine. Ask Lauren and Linda-we've been eating them in class!

Enjoy!

RAW SUNFLOWER SEED PATE

As per Rebecca's request here's the nut pate I made with sunflower seeds:

1 1/2 C raw sunflower seeds, soaked for min of 2 hours. 4-6 is better. Remove the chafe that floats.
5 cherry tomatoes, or 1 sm tomato
1/2 inner tender stalk of celery-w/o leaves which tend to be bitter
1/4 onion, peeled and quartered
juice of 1/2 lemon, lime works too
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 green bell pepper, seeded and quartered
hot chili flakes
cayenne pepper to taste
2 TBS olive oil
cilantro, salt, pepper

drain the nuts.
Put the tomatoes and 1/2 the nuts in the processor, and coarse pulse chop, then add rest of ingredients
blend until it is a pate consistency.
Refrigerate if you have time to let the flavors mature while you cut veges up and wash your lettuce.
I put this on romaine leaves with chopped tomatoes that I had marinated a bit in basalmic vinegar.
I also sprinkled on some whole sunflower seeds for crunch.

We used the rest as a vege dip on the drive home with sliced green zuccini, and cucumber, and baby carrots.

RAW GAZPACHO

COLD SOUP CLASSIC!

5 ripe tomatoes
1/4 cucumber (about 2 inches or so)
1/4 red bell pepper
1 clove of garlic, or a good spoonful if you are using jar garlic
some cayenee-to taste
some olive oil-about 1 TBS should do it

throw it all in a blender and hit the high button until it's smooth
Let it sit in the fridge. This gets better the next day, like the cranberry relish.

Add sesame seeds or sunflower seeds when you eat it for crunch
and salt and pepper

When you are ready to eat it, add:
cut up avocado
cut up cucumber
cut up tomatoes or tiny cherry tomatoes
a dash more olive oil on top
some parsley...oh boy!

YUM!