My version of Cold-Eeze

So, I used to take Cold-Eeze when I got sick or felt a cold coming on.  The other day, I just decided to make one of these:

Nope, I haven't turned into a vampire.  It's beet juice!  I was feeling a little under the weather a couple of days ago and thought I would juice a bunch of produce I had in my fridge in hopes that it would recharge my body.  Success!  I have been feeling pretty good since I drank this beet juice and took a couple of zinc.  I am going to try this combo every time I get sick.  :)

Here is some nutritional information on my beet juice:

Beets are high in vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, and C.  They are also a good source of choline, folic acid, iodine, manganese, organic sodium, potassium, fiber and carbohydrates. Beets have been shown to help fight acidosis, gastric ulcers, cancer, toxicity in the liver, among many other things (source).  Who wouldn't want to eat (or juice) them?

Carrots are high in thiamin, niacin, vitamins A, B6, C, K, potassium, folate, and manganese (source).  They also contain falcarinol, which may help to prevent cancer (source).  Carrots have been shown to be effective in ridding the ears, nose and throat of mucous (source), which is especially helpful when feeling a cold coming on.  Carrots can also help to boost the immune system and decrease inflammation.  Excellent!

I also threw in a couple large handfuls of mustard greens and arugula.  Greens help to decrease inflammation, speed up healing, and relieve respiratory issues.  They have large amounts of live enzymes, as well as iron, magnesium, potassium and phosphorous.

If you're interested in this lovely, tasty, immunity-boosting, drink, here's the recipe:

Beet Juice
3 small and 1 medium beet
2 large carrots
2 large handfuls of greens
approximately 1/4 cup fresh apple juice (my husband had just juiced apples that morning)

Juice all your produce and enjoy!  This yields about 12 ounces of juice.  You could split it or keep it all for yourself.  :)  Happy juicing!

Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups

I have been wanting to play with chocolate a bit since finding a recipe for chocolate on a blog that I follow. I saw a recipe for peanut butter cups and thought it would be just as easy to use almond butter. Then, it looked like Megan at Healthy Hoggin' (a blog that I love, FYI) had the same thought process and she looked like she had a pretty easy time. I would wait no longer to try my hand at making chocolate.

Chocolate???? What? Isn't this website supposed to feature stuff that is good for you? Well, my friends, chocolate can be beneficial...if you eat the right stuff (if you are interested, you can read a couple of articles here and here). I don't recommend you consume mass quantities of chocolate, in spite of the health benefits. Moderation is key.

Many of you have asked me for the recipe for the almond butter cups that I made last week. They were super easy and delicious. I made my own chocolate, but I am sure that you could use chocolate chips or baking squares (organic and at least 70% cacao) and that would make this even easier. So, first the chocolate recipe. Here is what you will need:


Raw Vegan Chocolate

1 Tbsp coconut oil (for those of you who think that coconut oil is a no-no, see here and here)
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp raw cacao powder

1. Put the coconut oil and agave into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 10 seconds to soften.
2. Thoroughly combine coconut oil and agave until mixture is purely liquid.
3. Add vanilla and cacao powder (you could also use cocoa powder, but it's not as good for you).
4. Whisk until completely incorporated.

Your chocolate should look something like this:


That's it! You will need two batches of this recipe for your almond butter cups. This recipe came from Averie over at Love Veggies and Yoga. Have I mentioned that I love her blog? :)

So, now onto the almond butter cup assembly. First, you will need a mold...or you might be able to make it work by just using the paper cups. I found the white paper candy cups at the craft store for around $2. The mold wasn't expensive either and makes my life a little easier. Also, you may be able to use just the mold, but I have read a couple experiences where the chocolate gets stuck in the mold and then falls apart. I didn't want that problem, so I used both.


Start by placing a paper cup in each cup mold. Then, spread a thin layer of your homemade chocolate into each cup, like so:

Once you have successfully (yet very messily...I need to work on being neater with this process) filled the bottom of each cup, you should put the mold in the refrigerator for a few minutes. This time I only had to leave them in the fridge for 10 minutes before they were firm and lost their sheen:


Now, for the almond butter (or peanut butter, if you feel like). You want to put a generous amount of almond butter in each cup. Maybe a heaping 1/4 tsp-ish? Try not to let the almond butter migrate all the way to the edges...this is the tough part. If you do, it's not the end of the world, but you will end up with dark chocolate almond butter sandwiches, as opposed to cups.

Once each cup has a sufficient layer of almond butter, then pour a thin layer of (another batch) of dark chocolate on top. When you have each cup with its successful three layers, now the cups are ready for the freezer! I pop the cups into the freezer for a couple of hours (you can take them out earlier, the almond butter will just still be a little oozy). This is what the final product looks like:

I am still trying to figure out how much chocolate to put in the bottom and top layers to make a nice sized almond butter cup. When I made these the first time, I made six cups. The chocolate layers were awfully thick making only six. This time I tried twelve...some of them I thought the chocolate layer was too thin. So, next time, I think I will make nine. :)

Raw Brownies

Many of you expressed interest in the raw cake and the raw brownies that I made for J's birthday. I have zero pics of the failed raw cake because, as I said, it was the last thing on my mind to take pics since I was so infuriated that it failed. Why did I decide on a raw cake? Well, it's better for us to consume something made from dates and walnuts than something with lots of refined sugar and flour. Also, J has lots of stomach sensitivities and one of the things she has trouble with is table sugar. Last year I made two separate cakes...this year I was determined to make only one. Unfortunately my first attempt was a huge failure!

I had made the raw brownies in the past and they were a good go-to recipe to recover from the failed cake. Everyone liked them, especially J, so that's all that mattered. I got this recipe from Averie:

Raw Brownies

1 c. Medjool dates
1/2 cup soaked walnuts
1/2 heaping cup of cacao powder
1/2 cup agave nectar (adjust to the sweetness that you prefer)
2-3 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until mixture is smooth. Put the mixture into an 8x8 glass dish and place in the freezer for a few hours. It's not necessary to put the brownies in the freezer, but it does help them set a little better.

I enjoy this recipe because it's fast, easy and satisfies my occasional desire for brownies. I must tell you that this does not resemble the texture of brownies, it's more like fudge. Still yummy though. I know there is a lot of controversy on agave nectar and how it's processed. I have been reading a lot about it and am on the fence. My usual preference for sweeteners are honey or maple syrup. This was a birthday celebration, so I wasn't going to split hairs about using agave. :)

Here is the final product (complete with manufactured and artificially colored frosting...we cut around it for J):

And here is a VERY happy baby J, diving into her treats (raw brownies and raw ice cream):
The messier the food is, the more fun we have!
Her celebration was a great time and I was just glad I was able to recover with this recipe! :)

Calling all raw foodies!!!

Hey friends!

I only have time for a quick blog post, but I found this GREAT blog recently and she is giving away a two pound bag of chia seeds. Don't know about chia seeds? In brief: "Extremely high in the essential fatty acid, omega-3, chia seeds are loaded with antioxidants (more than blueberries), vitamins, minerals (including more calcium than milk), fiber (more than most bran products) and protein. Eaten raw, chia seeds contain a rich concentration of essential fatty acids, with 30% of their fat coming from omega-3 and 10% from omega-6, considered the perfect balance for healthy human tissue (excerpt taken from "Change Your Life with Chia" by Christina Pirello)." Chia seeds are nutritionally dense and used by many raw foodies to enrich their cooking. Head over to Love Veggies and Yoga to enter!

Raw Pizza

Yep, you read that right...raw pizza. What the heck is that? I had no idea either until my friend let me borrow a few cookbooks that were geared toward making raw food. What is raw food? Simply put, raw food is food that has not been heated above a certain temperature - usually 105 degrees. Why cook this way? All food have enzymes. Enzymes help make the digestion process easier, but when we heat the food above 105 degrees or so, the enzymes start to be killed. The cooking process can kill up to 100% of the enzymes in our food.

I am not going to adopt this lifestyle fully, but raw food presents a nice alternative, especially in the warmer weather. Not to mention that I am able to dehydrate fruits and veggies for a quick snack that my daughter seems to love.

So, the raw pizza crust is made from onion "bread". This recipe comes from the book RAWvolution by Matt Amsden.

Ingredients:
3 large yellow onions
3/4 cup flax seed, ground in a high speed blender
3/4 cup sunflower seeds, ground in a food processor
1/2 cup Nama Shoyu or Bragg's Amino Acids1/3 cup olive oil
1. Peel and halve the onions. In a food processor, cut the onions with the slicing disc. Transfer the onions to a large mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.2. Spread 2 cups of the mixture evenly on a dehydrator tray lined with a Teflex sheet. Repeat until all of the mixture is used.
3. Dehydrate at 100 degrees for 24 hours. Flip the tray over onto a work surface, and gently peel the Teflex sheet off the bread. Return to the dehydrator for another 12 hours. Once dehydrated, cut into 9 equal pieces.

This is what the bread looked like when it was done (not horribly attractive, but yummy I assure you):

Since I am new to making raw food, I did not deviate from this recipe at all. I did thinly slice the onions by hand instead of using a food processor as the recipe suggests. We used a sauce made with sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, olives and scallions for toppings. The scallions in addition to the onion bread was a little much. Both my friend and I opted to take them off of our pizza. This was the finished product: