Oh, this porridge is good! Breakfast is ALWAYS one of the pitfalls for me in maintaining a high raw diet. Some mornings, especially in the colder months I just do not want a green smoothie. I have been loving my green smoothies recently, don’t get me wrong! Just not first thing in the morning. Hence, the buckwheat porridge! I first blogged about it over a year and a half ago when I was still pregnant, so it has been a while! I don’t really know why as it is also damn easy once you have your buckwheat prepared. You can even do that the night before- just soak a bowl of buckwheat before you go to bed, and it will be ready the next morning. Is it better and more optimal to have your buckwheat after two days of sprouting? Well yes, but sometimes ain’t nobody got time fo dat! And that is good enough for me!! So anyway,
This porridge has rosehips added for extra vitamin C action and shilajit for trace minerals.
Raw Vegan Sprouted Buckwheat Porridge
2 cups sprouted buckwheat 1 handful sprouted hazelnuts 1 banana 2 tbsp maple syrup 1 tbsp rosehips powder 1 tsp vanilla powder
1 tsp shilajit (optional)
Blend until smooth. Heat gently on stovetop if you want (I won’t tell!)
Top with fruit of choice ( my berries were not seasonal or local, but a needed burst of summer flavor I needed this morning) and more maple syrup if desired, and any toppings you like- hemp seeds, bee pollen etc.
Enjoy!!
Last night, our local vegan/veggie group here in Shreveport had our first potluck! The turn out might not have been insane, but it meant that we were able to chat more intimately with each other, and I personally am all about that kind of interaction 🙂
Also, vegans usually know how to rock a kitchen and there was no disappointment in the offerings- even considering that Dan and I don’t eat wheat! So much gluten- free vegan goodness. My friend Nancy even made gf vegan crab cakes and remoulade sauce!
We brought a Spanish Omelette and Raw Superfood Brownies. It is a real basic raw brownie recipe, but I pimped it out and wanted to share!!
Raw Vegan Superfood Brownies with Chocolate Coconut Ganache
3 cups walnuts 1/2 cup cacao powder 1 tbsp lucuma powder 1 tbsp Maca powder 1 tbsp mesquite powder 2 tbsp Sacred Strawberry Pura Vida Powder (or any other green superfood powder you like!!) Pinch vanilla powder Pinch kalahari or Himalayan salt 3 cups dates
2 tbsp coconut oil
In food processor, process walnuts until just crumbly. Add everything else except dates and coconut oil and pulse until combined. Add dates and process until the dates are fully broken down and homogenized with the mixture. Add coconut oil and pulse a final time. Press mixture into pan and leave in fridge to set while you prepare the ganache.
Chocolate Coconut Ganache
3 tbsp coconut oil 1/4 cup maple syrup 2 tbsp cacao powder
Pinch vanilla
Blend in high speed blender until smooth and drizzle or spread over brownies. Let set in fridge.
I happened to have some of my raw Chicha chocolates left over from an order, so I melted those and drizzled that on, too! Yum, total decadence!!
For the past week, I’ve been eating all raw again. I’ve just been stuck in such a loop of not eating optimally for my body, not feeling food, not having enough energy, working too hard and getting overtired and repeat. I needed to hit the reset button! It’s been great! All of the obstacles I had put up as to why I couldn’t do it earlier have just ceased to be issues and I feel great. But that isn’t really a surprise. When I eat raw food, my body loves it!! It may not be the best for every body but I know it is good for me 🙂
We have had warm weather here in Louisiana up until now but last night it got pretty cold. The thought of another cold smoothie was too much to bear and I was dreaming about tofu scrambles and roasted potato! Nothing wrong with that food, it’s just not for me right now. So I decided to make a warm soup with the absolutely gorgeous purple sweet potatoes we got at the Farmers’ Market yesterday. Making raw soups with warm water is something that will be a very useful tool this Fall!
Purple Sweet Potato Soup
2 purple sweet potatoes 1/2 apple 2 tbsp coconut oil 2 tbsp almond butter Pinch sea salt 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp sage
Blend in high speed blender with 1-2 cups warm water in high for about a minute or until creamy smooth. Top with activated seeds or crumbled kale chips or raw crackers for a little crunch with your creamy! Enjoy 🙂
Tonight’s meal came together so quickly and was so delicious that I had to blog it immediately!!
We had Dandelion Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms.
First, you need to prepare your shrooms. Rinse them, pat them dry and remove the stem. Reserve about one fourth of the best looking stems. Put the caps in a big bowl and drizzle some good quality olive oil and a small amount of tamari or Nama Shoyu on them. Set aside to marinate while you prepare the rest.
Next, you want to make a vegan pesto. You can use any recipe that you like, but if you don’t have one then I’ll tell you what I did.
1 cup sprouted hazelnuts 1/2 cup nutritional yeast 1 tsp good sea salt
2 cloves garlic
Pulse in the food processor until nuts are in crumbs. Then add in
1/2 bunch dandelion leaves (about 1 cup)
1 bunch basil ( 2 cups)
Process again, and add in while the machine is running a few good glugs of the best olive oil you can afford! It is worth it for a good pesto!! Also add in the juice of half a lemon or a bit of apple cider vinegar.
This is your basic pesto. To this, add in the reserved mushroom stems (peduncles!) and about half a cup of raw crackers. I used my own brand onion crackers, but you can use anything!! Process again until smooth and thick. Now fill each mushroom cap with about a tablespoon of the pesto mixture. You can either eat them as is, dehydrate them at 120 for 4 to 6 hours or you can even bake them at 350 for 15 minutes. Either way, they are delicious and sure to please even the most discerning palates. Serve with a salad and you have a perfect meal. If you made it this far, you deserve a picture!
Our salad had romaine, cherry tomatoes, black olives, pea shoots and a simple parsley and apple dressing. Yum! Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you try it.
I am so proud of myself this week! I have managed for the first time in a long time to eat mostly raw! Sounds crazy for a raw food business owner, right??! But I have to be real, open and honest 🙂 I reached a point where I just felt physically bad again because here in the States, unhealthy food really is ubiquitous- it is the status quo without a doubt. The amount of planning, research and willpower that has to go into maintaining a truly healthy diet ( raw or not ) is mindboggling. Which is why I do what I do!! If I can help someone eat a little better and feel a little better by offering high quality raw snacks and food then I have done my job 🙂
And the truth is, a week in- I feel amazing!! I’ve had lots of green juices, including this one with broccoli stalk, parsley stems, green apple and lime
Raw soups, like this carrot, cashew, and Ras-al-Hanout spiced one
This smoothie with mango, banana and spinach is pretty much like the very first green smoothie I ever had so many years ago!
And I have been LOVING having different variations if Kate Magic’s Purple Mayhem for breakfast.
The basic recipe is this: 2 tbsp. mesquite powder 2 tbsp. cacao powder 1 tsp. purple corn extract Mix in bowl, then add 1 tbsp. tahini 1 tbsp. coconut nectar 1 tbsp. water Then stir in
1 cup sprouted buckwheaties
I love trying out new variations on this and if always keeps me satisfied and energized for hours!! Also, breakfast has always been one of the most challenging meals to keep interesting while doing raw because I never, ever want a smoothie first thing in the morning.
Hope you try it and enjoy it! Much love.
If I had to make a list of ten things I miss most about living in Spain, mangos would be on it! Not just any mangos, but the ones grown by a man named Rufino who has a food forest in the south of Spain near Granada. His finca, Fruta y Sol, has the most diverse offerings of anwhere- mango, cherimoya, passionfruit, green coconuts, fresh dates, macadamias and so much more!! Southern Spain has microclimates that are so much more tropical than most people realize. Anyway, every time mango season came around in early Fall, we would buy huge cases- like 15 kilos big ( a bit over 30 pounds!!!). I don’t even know what to say about these mangos. They were the ripest, juiciest, most luscious pieces of fruit to have ever graced these lips. Mango is a funny fruit, it most definitely has it’s own distinctive flavor but a truly tree ripened mango will tease you with other flavors- hints of coconut, pineapple, passion fruit, even vanilla! We would basically mono-meal on mango for a while, and then I would freeze lots of it for the richest and simplest sorbet ever- simply frozen mango in the food processor. Best Ever by far! The other day, i came across some nice looking mango in my local supermarket that smelled nice and fragrant ( yes, i am that crazy lady at the grocery store sniffing the fruit, LOL) so I bought a few and made a smoothie that was just beautiful and simple and delicious.
And it inspired this trip down mango nostalgia lane. Is there a fruit that holds a piece of your heart?
This was that smoothie, by the way:
Mango Love Smoothie
3 ripe mangos 2 bananas lots of crushed ice, 2 tablespoons of lucuma powder
1 tsp ashwaganda powder for some adaptogenic goodness!
Blend in a high speed blender until ice is fully blended and the texture is light and creamy. Feel free to add in any fresh greens or green powder you fancy. Green is always good 🙂
I am still smoothie-ing it up! Although today I also had a raw lunch. My morning smoothie was this one, and I was just blown away by how complementary these two flavors are until today! So if you have ever wondered what to do with mesquite powder, try this out.
Blueberry Mesquite Smoothie
3 frozen bananas 2 cups fresh blueberries 2 tbsp mesquite powder 1 tbsp lucuma powder (optional) 1 tsp purple corn extract (optional) 1 tbsp Vitamineral Green (or other green powder, chlorella, Spirulina, etc.)
2 cups coconut water
Blend and serve! Makes 2 large servings.
I’ve been feeling sort of blah lately, lacking the energy to make it to the gym regularly or yoga class at all and then getting really frustrated with the lack of progress I am seeing towards my fitness goals. Well, as the adage goes, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity! So, I decided to shake things up again and do smoothies all day! Really, what a difference in how I feel already- and with absolutely NO sacrifice!!
For breakfast, I had this little delicious thing here:
This one had frozen banana and peaches, strawberries and blackberries from the FarMar, wild dandelion greens, Malabar spinach and spearmint from the garden, maqui berry powder and soaked hazelnuts. It kept me going for hours and fueled me through my workout today at the gym.
When I got home, I was sooo ready for this variation on the carrot cake smoothie:
Organic carrots, frozen banana, more Malabar spinach, vanilla, almond milk and a packet of Vega protein powder in Vanilla Almondilla flavor. So so good!
Dinner tonight was a big ol green salad and a bit of Amy’s Kitchen gluten-free vegan pizza doctored up with artichoke hearts, sautéed mushrooms, onions and red bell pepper. Maybe not health food, but good for the soul of this tired mama who did not want to cook tonight 🙂
I leave you with a vegan ice cream recipe that takes advantage of the seasonal bounty of delicious berries. I used strawberries and blackberries but any kind of berry would work here. Get your good fat on!
Berry Coconut Hemp Ice Cream with Chocolate Flake
2 cans full fat coconut milk 1 cup hemp seeds 1 cup strawberries 1 cup blackberries 1 cup coconut sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla powder or extract 1 tsp maqui berry powder (or acai)
1/2 tsp strawberry extract (optional)
For chocolate flake: 1/2 c coconut oil, melted 1/4 c coconut sugar
1/4 c cacao powder
Stir or blend until smooth
Blend in high speed blender until smooth. Transfer to ice cream maker and freeze as per manufacturers instructions adding in chocolate during the last 5 minutes or transfer to a freezer safe container, stir in chocolate and freeze, stirring every two hours until frozen. Let thaw briefly before serving.
Makes about 8 servings.
Thanks for reading!
xx
Kale and Kelp Salad
1 large bunch of kale, destemmed and broken into pieces. We are lucky to have locally grown awesome kale! 1 packet of kelp noodles, rinsed and drained.
3 banana peppers (they are in season at the moment here and so good. You could use any veggie, and red pepper would be especially nice), sliced finely.
For sauce: 1/2 cup cashews 1/2 cup coconut ( shredded or fresh) 1/2 cup wild jungle peanut butter (or any nut butter you have) Juice of 3 limes Juice of half an orange 1 tsp green curry paste (or curry powder. The point is to impart a mild curry flavor) 1 tsp toasted sesame oil (not raw and optional) 2 tbsp hemp oil 1 tbsp white miso 3 tbsp wheat free tamari 1 clove garlic
2 cups coconut water or spring water
Blend in high speed blender until smooth.
Pour sauce on top of kale, kelp and peppers. Massage in with hands roughly until kelp noodles are evenly distributed and kale is coated with sauce and softening. Leave to marinate for half an hour and then serve!
Serves 4
This meal was sooo nourishing and good! It would be just so perfect topped with homemade sauerkraut or some other type of fermented veggies.
We chopped some up superfine and Amethyst gobbled it up!
For some reason, I haven’t been able to find any jicama locally. It isn’t a common sight in Spain so it has been a really long time since I have been able to enjoy it. This past weekend, I saw some at the supermarket in Lafayette and just had to buy one. I didn’t really know what to do with it but yesterday I was so hungry and wanted something filling but light and it had to be raw. I also remembered all the dandelion flowers I have been pickling this spring and wanted to use some of those.
I just sort of threw this together but it would be a wonderful substitute for guacamole for any kind of Mexican meal. Lower in fat, higher in fiber, and certainly cheaper! A win-win situation!
Jicama Avocado Dandelion Salad
1 small or half large jicama 1 avocado 2 tbsp pickled dandelion flowers 1 tsp aji amarillo powder or other mild chili powder
Pinch kalahari salt or sea salt
Finely dice or shred jicama and place into a bowl. Then add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly until avocado is mashed into everything. Serve immediately.
