Fabulous Raw Chili Recipe

I absolutely had to share this raw chili recipe with all of you as it includes SO MANY delicious and flavorful raw veggies. It was so good that I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing!!!! I found the recipe on Pinterest. Here is the link:
http://thesimpleveganista.blogspot.com/2012/11/raw-vegetable-chili-with-taco-nut-meat.html

I did however change it up a little bit. You can either follow it step-by-step from the website or use my suggestions or use a combo of both.

I used all of the ingredients from the list but instead of using corn off a cob (I don't enjoy spending time slicing corn off a cob), I used 1 cup frozen Whole Foods brand corn, thawed. I think it tastes just like fresh corn and it's always handy. I don't suggest using canned corn because it never tastes fresh and usually has added salt.

The original recipe says to dice ALL the veggies and put half of them in the food processor. I did it differently. I cut all the veggies into big chunks first and added all the onion and garlic to the food processor. Then I added half of the other ingredients except the corn and roughly pureed them. Here are my reasons why: 1) I love onion and garlic but eating them completely raw without pureeing them first didn't sound appetizing to me and 2) I wanted to see and taste all the corn in its whole state so I didn't add it to the food processor.

Next, I then diced the other half of the remaining veggies that weren't thrown into the food processor. I didn't see any reason to dice ALL the veggies first since half of them were going to be pureed anyway; seemed like a waste of time.

Finally, I added the pureed veggies to the diced veggies (and corn) as the recipe instructs. I didn't eat the chili right away. I let it sit in the fridge overnight in order to give the flavors a chance to develop.

I almost followed the recipe for the "meat" (I just can't help myself) but added a few dashes of hot pepper sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. I used button mushrooms because I didn't want mushrooms that were too overpowering in flavor. If you do dairy, I bet queso fresco would be delicious sprinkled on top. Here was the finished product that I enjoyed for dinner tonight...I hope you enjoy it too:

Note: If the idea of "taco nut meat" does not sound appetizing to you (although it tastes fantastic), I don't see why you can't use ground turkey instead.

 

Guacamole Wrap

Happy Mother's Day to all the tireless moms out there who never get a day off or if you do you're wondering what the kids are getting themselves into!! :-) Here is our Mother's Day candid shot...it is so hard to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time!! I couldn't stop laughing as my hubby was getting more and more irritated with us!!

After a VERY heavy Mother's Day brunch (I was full all day so I know my digestive system was like "what the heck, Larissa??!!"), I decided to make a Guacamole Wrap for dinner. It is super easy to make as long as you have the Guacamole already done. I found the basic recipe from one of my favorite books, The Fresh Energy Cookbook by Rose & Choi but of course added my own spin.

2 sprouted grain wraps or tortillas
1 tomato, sliced thinly
1 cup shredded carrots
a few thin slices of red onion or 1 sliced green onion
4 large lettuce leaves
Handful fresh cilantro
1 cup Guacamole (recipe follows)

Spread a half cup guacamole on each wrap/tortilla. Place 2 lettuce leaves on one side of each wrap/tortilla followed by half of the tomato, carrots, onions, and cilantro. Roll starting from the filled side of the wrap/tortilla folding in the ends to create a burrito. Cut on the diagonal and enjoy!!

Guacamole (makes 1 cup/store for no more than 3 days):
2 ripe avocados
1/2 tsp each garlic powder and onion powder
1/4-1/2 tsp seasoned salt or sea salt (depending on your taste)
1 lime, squeezed

Mash avocado to the consistency you prefer; I prefer my guac a little chunky. Mix in the powders, salt and most of the lime. I save a little lime juice to squeeze on top of the guac before storing in the fridge so it doesn't turn brown. You can also add chopped tomatoes, onions and cilantro but I leave mine plain because I usually add those ingredients when making my wrap and the hubby doesn't like onions (crazy, huh?).   :-)

My Almond Milk Recipe

I am not one to crave a tall glass of milk. In fact, everyone in my household drinks the stuff except me. The only occasion you would ever find me drinking milk would be on some cereal which I hardly ever eat now that I drink my green smoothies in the morning. However, I do get a craving for a bowl of cereal every once in a while (maybe once every 3 months) before I go to bed. I used to use milk on those occasions but not anymore once I discovered how absolutely DELICIOUS homemade almond milk is. The store bought variety doesn't even come close.

I have received a few requests for my recipe, which I posted on FB a while back. Here it is:

Makes 3 cups almond milk
1 cup raw almonds (soaked overnight or at least for 8 hrs)
3 cups water (or 2 cups water/1 cup coconut water if you want some coconut flavor)
5 dates (I use the Medjool variety), pitted
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
couple pinches of nutmeg

1. After soaking the almonds, give them a good rinse and put in blender. I use my Vitamix but you can probably use any old blender. Just don't expect it to grind the pulp as well as the Vitamix.
2. Add your water/coconut water and blend on the highest possible speed for a couple minutes.
3. Strain you milk either using a nut milk bag which you can buy at www.rawglow.com or use a fine mesh sieve/cheesecloth.
4. After straining, pour milk back into the blender. Discard the almond pulp. Add your dates and blend for about another minute (the timing really depends on the strength of your blender). Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend on low for a few seconds to mix the spices with the milk.
5. I then like to strain it one more time to get rid of the date pulp and froth but you don't have to.
6. Chill and enjoy. I bought a really cute milk bottle from Cost Plus.

**Note: Please experiment with the amount of your spices/dates. The measurements I gave you are what makes the perfect milk for me personally. I provided those measurements to you as a base.

Did you fall off the wagon?

Good evening everyone! I know it has been a while since my last post, but things have been hectic over here. My son Alexander turned 1 on May 4th. I had been preoccupied with planning his party which of course was a little over the top for a one year old party, but it has been such a turning point for us. Alexander was born 5 weeks premature and had open heart surgery when he was 2 months old. There were some moments when we weren't sure he was going to make it so him turning 1 was a HUGE deal for everyone involved. :-)

I have to admit that I have not been eating very well these past 2 weeks since my last post. The party food certainly did not help; tri-tip sammies, Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad, Cowboy Caviar, Strawberry Spinach Salad with LOTS of cheese, cupcakes, and homemade Rocky Road Marshmallow Pops.

I am here to let you know that it is OK to fall off the wagon on occasion. Don't be discouraged if that happens to you...it happens to everyone (and if anyone tells you differently, they are lying!). The tricky part (and the most important part) is getting back on. You get to a certain point where you say to yourself, "ok, I've been eating like crap for a few days/weeks now and I haven't been feeling too hot. Time to get back on the wagon and start feeling vibrant again!!"
It may take some of us more time than others to come to that realization, but just remember how awesome you felt when you were eating the right foods. Who cares if it has been a while...GET BACK ON THE WAGON.

Stay tuned later in the week as I share with you a couple of easy recipes that will help you get back on the wagon: a Raw Guacamole Wrap and a Soba Noodle Salad. I CANNOT wait to share these with you!

Food Combining Challenge

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and the beautiful local weather. We took a brief little trip to Half Moon Bay to visit my brother...what a beautiful place. On our way back home on Sunday, we all went to Harley Farms in Pescadero. It is a little goat farm that is a great place to go with kids. Sofia especially loved it. I posted some pics on FB if you haven't had a chance to look at them yet.

So, I am back to give you Part II of Food Combining. In my last post, I informed you of the detriment to your body and its digestion when you combine the wrong foods.

Here are the basics of food combinging that I have gathered from all my reading:
*Animal (or fish) protein should only be consumed with raw/cooked non-starchy veggies
*Starchy veggies (ie...sweet potatoes) and grains should only be consumed with raw/cooked veggies as well as avocados
*Nuts/seeds should only be consumed with raw/cooked veggies and NEVER with avocado
*Fruit should be eaten by itself 20 mins before consuming anything else (except for bananas, which should be consumed 45 mins before anything else).

So, I challenge you to try eating well-combined foods for a week and see how you feel. If you have any questions, Facebook me or leave a comment. I know it is a lot to pay attention to, but it will be well worth the effort. I would LOVE to hear how it works for you and if you noticed any changes!!

What The Heck is Food Combining??

I decided today would be the day to talk a little bit about food combining. I had a visit with my chiropractor earlier in the week. I was filling her in about my blog because I hadn't seen her since starting it. I told her about my recent post about nuts and how you shouldn't eat them with animal protein or avocado. She then told me that the other day she had a salmon salad (sounds good so far, right?), with nuts (uh oh) and avocado (double uh oh) on it. She did not feel really great after eating that. As I stated in my last post, nuts should not be eaten with avocado or animal protein (or in this case, fish protein).

When I first picked up K.S.'s book "The Beauty Detox Solution", I was very interested in reading about food combining. When I finished reading about it, it made TOTAL sense. Since then, I have read a couple of other books that state the same food combining principles that I first learned about from K.S.

Here is why food combining is important:
In order to have the best digestion possible, your meals should move through your digestive track AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. You do not want your food to sit in your gut for many hours or days. The longer it sits in your body (at 98.6 degrees), the slower it will move through your digestive track and the more it putrifies (gross, right??!!). Different types of foods take different digestive enzymes to break them down. When you start consuming all different types of foods, your digestive system asks you, "What the @*!% are you doing to me??!!"

For example, animal proteins require an acidic environment in order to digest efficienly. Starches require an alkaline environment in order to digest efficiently. So, when you put together an alkaline and acid, they neutralize each other. This causes your body to secrete more digestive enzymes which in turn continue to neutralize each other trying to digest your improperly combined meal.  Does that make sense? So, what should only take a couple of hours is taking even longer which means that all our energy is going towards digesting "miscombined" meals. Ever feel tired after these meals? Gassy, bloated, or have heartburn? Well, now you know why.

In my next post I will briefly list the rules of properly combining foods and ask you to take the Food Combining Challenge. Have a great weekend!

Delicious Cucumber Rolls

Tonight I made cucumber rolls for dinner. I took the basic recipe from K.S. and made it my own. They are really easy to make. You can save yourself some time by making the almond butter paste ahead of time. I made mine yesterday.  

In a food processor (I have a mini one that is a 2 cup capacity), combine:
1/3 c. almond butter
1/2 TBLS grated ginger (fresh ginger REALLY makes a difference here)
2 TBLS lemon juice
2-3 TBLS water
1/4 tsp salt
1 TBLS agave (K.S. doesn't use agave but I like it)

Cut the ends of the cucumber and take a "Y" vegetable peeler and run it across the cucumber lengthwise to make thin strips. You can also use a mandolin if you have one.  

Take 2 cucumber strips and lay them on top of each other (I like a double layer of cucumber). Then, spread the almond butter paste on the cucumber slices leaving about an inch without the spread.

 

 

Put whatever veggies you want on top of the almond butter paste. I used the spiralized carrots from the other night and added spring mix.

 

 

 

Then, roll them from bottom to top. The idea of leaving a space at the top is because your filling will be pushed upwards as you roll.

 

Here is the finished product:

 

 



This is one of my favorite raw food recipes so far. I know you are probably thinking, "What??? Cucumber with almond butter??". You have to trust me that it is really yummy. You could even add thin strips of red bell pepper.

 

For dinner tonight I had a few of these rolls and a big green salad with roasted beets that I made a few days ago. The rest of the family ate broiled salmon, pasta, salad, and veggies. I really wanted to add salmon to my meal, but after eating all this, I didn't have room for anything else. Maybe I'll have a couple bites of the leftover salmon before bed! :-)

 

 

**As a side note, do not attempt to make any more rolls then you are planning to eat that meal. They do not keep well. They are quick to assemble and if you strip the entire cucumber, you can wrap them in a paper towel to absorb any extra moisture and put them in a plastic container for easy access the next day. The almond butter will keep in the fridge until the next use. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.