Here’s a Juice, Smoothie and Salad Recipe you’ll love!

I can’t believe it’s been 2 months already of eating a mostly raw vegan diet. I’m not a big fan of labels because I don’t want to deter anyone from my main message which is that fruits and vegetables ROCK!!! The more fruits and veggies you add to your diet the healthier you will be and feel… guaranteed! I do appreciate labels though for how important they are in having discussions of any kind. In my quest to attain greater health this year, those words (raw and vegan) are the IT words. My diet has sloooooowly evolved in the past 9 years (since I read Never Be Sick Again by Raymond Francis) and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve never gone cold turkey on anything. Cold turkey does not work for me. I am much further along than most people I know who for years have quit this, that or the other, announced it to the world and sworn by everything, only to be smothered in grease on a Friday night and decide that eating healthy is too hard. Nice and slow works, no need for torture 🙂 I know my why and that keeps me going. I’ve had a few cooked non-vegan meals (one or two a week on average) since this journey began but I’m not sweating them! I am focusing on how easy and delicious it is to have simple and fast raw vegan meals! Here are 3 new recipes I made in one day. I actually wasn’t trying to create new recipes, it just happened! and then of course I thought to myself… better run and get that camera so you can share this with everyone. Enjoy folks. Every recipe was deeeeeelicous 🙂

Juice Recipe #32: Orange Glow

I love 3 ingredient juice recipes, they’re so easy! This juice was sweet and had a great zing thanks to the ginger. Remember… go for organic ingredients if possible. This recipe is very reminiscent of this ABC and ginger recipe but it tastes and looks very different. I used my Breville Juice Fountain Plus instead of the Omega J8006 for this recipe because they were all hard ingredients that the Breville just juices faster.

• 1 large golden beet (this was my first time using them and they are gorgeous)
• 5 carrots
• 1 inch of ginger

Smoothie Recipe #9: Hubby’s Fruit Medley

I have a confession. This was my husband’s creation, not mine. It is THE joy of my life that eating this way (and sharing it with others) inspires anyone, and most importantly the people I love so deeply. Hubby has become quite the smoothie maker so when he came up with this winner I knew I had to share it. If you want to do it hubby’s style just throw everything in your Vitamix (blender) in whatever proportions you like, add ‘some’ water and voila! If you’re like me, you’ll use…

• 1 mango, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 large banana, frozen
• 1 cup of pineapple, frozen
• 1 apple
• 1 cup of water

It doesn’t matter what fruits are fresh or frozen, I just indicated which ones I used that happened to be frozen. I particularly love using only frozen bananas for smoothies. It somehow tastes better to me.

Salad Recipe

This salad was filling and out of this world good!

• 3 large handfuls of baby kale, chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, chopped
• 1 large carrot, shredded
• 3/4 cup of broccoli florets
• 2 large handful of a variety of sprouts (garbanzo, alfalfa and bean sprouts)

Salad Dressing: 5 strawberries, 1 orange and 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar.

Ok, so balsamic vinegar is obviously not raw but I loooooove the one I have and it is fantastic for making salad dressings. The recipe would actually be just fine with only strawberries and oranges so feel free to leave it out.

~Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet, juice and enjoy!~

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Raw Breakfast Recipe: Freedom Fruit Salad

Here is the best thing that came out of week 2 of my New Year, New Me 6 week plan. I thought of waiting till the 4th of July to share it with y’all but that just feels like light years away! It’s a recipe I have dubbed Freedom Fruit Salad for it’s gorgeous red, white and blue colors. It’s not just beautiful, healthy, raw, organic, vegan but also out-of-this-world delicious and so easy to make. It’s the perfect healthy raw breakfast recipe, healthy snack or even main meal if you make a large portion of it. Here were the ingredients to this recipe that literally had me dancing in the kitchen as I devoured it. All ingredients are fresh, not frozen.

• 1 large organic banana, sliced
• 1 cup of organic strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 cup of organic blueberries
• The freshly hand-squeezed juice of 1 orange or clementine
• 1 tbsp or organic unsweetened dehydrated coconut *optional
• 1 tbsp of organic raw shelled hemp seeds *optional

I don’t need to give directions, do I? (Throw everything in a bowl and stir!) It’s the easiest, tastiest and most original breakfast recipe I have made in a while. I was in and out of the kitchen in 5 minutes. The last two ingredients are optional but really add a wonderful dimension to this recipe. If you don’t have them, the recipe is just as tasty but feel free to get creative with what you have in your kitchen.

~Enjoy!~

My First Vitamix Green Smoothie :-)

Christmas has come early courtesy of my more-than-amazing husband! I seriously can’t even recall how many years it has been that I have wanted a Vitamix blender in my life. My desire (obsession) to have one recently grew along with my intent to prepare even healthier meals. I even went so far as to fall asleep on several nights with a Vitamix brochure I picked up my local Whole Foods last year and this was after having watched at least 3 or 4 videos on YouTube of folks using their Vitamix blenders at home. Crazy! I know. I have no idea what winning the lottery feels like but I can’t imagine it feels any better than the day my Vitamix arrived at my doorstep. It arrived on September 21st, 2012 at 2:14pm weighing in at 10lb 9 ounces and 20.5″ long. I wasted no time when it arrived and blended my first Vitamix green smoothie.

Ingredients were as follows (makes about 16 ounces)

• 1 cup of frozen mango
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup of plain coconut yogurt
• 2 organic kale leaves, thoroughly washed
• 6-8 ounces of filtered water

I literally just dumped all these ingredients in the Vitamix, turned it on and in less than a minute I had prepared what was the smoothest and most delicious green smoothie ever! Yes, I said it! E-V-E-R…EVER!! I’m not sure what planet I was on while drinking this smoothie but it wasn’t earth. God Bless the makers of Vitamix. It absolutely did not disappoint and hasn’t yet. I have used it every single day since then and can’t say enough great things about this kitchen appliance. My deal-finding husband purchased a refurbished one by the way and you would never know the difference (the 64 ounce container, tamper and lid are brand new). My breakfast of choice is a smoothie but now it’s always a GREEN smoothie thanks to the Vitamix.  I made green smoothies with my Ninja even though now that I own a Vitamix it does not compare. The path to a healthier lifestyle absolutely does not require a Vitamix or a Ninja, it just requires doing the best we can with what we have and know in the moment. If you can afford one though and love to make smoothies, soups, purees, nut butters, desserts, dressings etc go with a Vitamix. It doesn’t get any better.

If that wasn’t a darn good commercial for you folks at Vitamix I don’t know what is. You’re welcome 🙂

…and thanks babe! You da best.

~Happy green smoothie making!~

Here’s my baby… Isn’t she a beauty?

Raw Breakfast Recipe: ‘Oatless’ muesli

When I am on my laptop, anyone that knows me knows I am constantly browsing the web for articles, videos and blogs that relate to living a healthier lifestyle by incorporating nutritious, delicious and lately… raw foods. I do not ascribe to any particular diet and never have. I simply eat what tastes divinely delicious, makes me feel ALIVE and what I truly believe is made with whole and preferably organic foods… most of the time. I’m human ok. Lately that has meant trying to incorporate as many raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds into my daily meals and it is so much fun! The universe must be trying to send me a sign of some sort because in my browsing adventures I have come across lots of muesli recipes. I ate muesli when I was younger every once in a while. It was pretty expensive so it was actually quite the treat to have it in the house. The truth is though that my ‘oatless’ muesli should not even be referred to as muesli because it contains none of the ingredients from Bircher-Benner’s original muesli recipe. Any combination now of oats, nuts, seeds and dried/fresh fruit seems to be referred to as muesli so here’s my ‘oatless’ muesli recipe that I created with the nuts and seeds I had in my kitchen. Please note that all nuts and seeds in this recipe are raw.

• 1/4 cup of organic almonds, roughly chopped in food processor
• 1/4 cup of cashews, roughly chopped in food processor
• 1/4 cup of walnuts, I just crushed them in my hand
• 1tbsp of sunflower seeds
• 1tbsp of pumpkin seeds
• 2 dates, finely diced
• Itbsp of dehydrated, shredded and unsweetened organic coconut flakes

Serve with cold homemade almond (or your favorite) milk and enjoy! This was so good and incredibly filling. I can’t wait to make this again.

Juice Recipe #18: My ‘Everything’ GREEN Juice

So after creating an ‘everything’ juice last week that was really delicious I was obviously inspired to make an ‘everything’ green juice. I had an abundance of green fruits and vegetables in the fridge and got to work as soon as the idea came to me. While the first ‘everything’ juice was AMAZING and so was this one, I don’t think I’ll be doing this too often. I love my kitchen, it is by far my favorite space in my home, but like with anything else I prepare I prefer to be in and out so spending lots of time preparing lots of different fruits and vegetables for juicing is not my cup of tea. I like to keep it simple! (and spend more time drinking/eating my creations). One of the many things I am most grateful for since I started this blog is that it has truly inspired me to get more creative with my juicing and to overall live a healthier life. I hope it does the same for you. Even if you never make your own ‘everything’ green juice, I dare you to find healthier, new and exciting ways to prepare meals/juices for you and your family. You might really love what you come up with 🙂 and your body will thank you for it.

Here are the ingredients for my ‘everything’ green juice, all organic: Cilantro, Bok Choy, Kale, Green apple, Lemon, Kiwi, Romaine Lettuce, Mixed baby greens, Cucumber, Celery, Pear and Broccoli. Yeah, I know… I went way overboard! I had about 60 or so ounces of green juice. This juice is alkalinizing and filled with phytochemicals, vitamins, antioxidants, enzymes, light energy and minerals. I can’t imagine a more nutritious way to start the day.

~Keep Juicing and Enjoy!~

Smoothie Recipe #3: Peaches, Blueberries and Banana Protein Smoothie

I was leaving the house yesterday around 12noon and I knew I would get hungry while I was out and about running errands. I did not want to succumb to temptation so I  made a smoothie with a combination of fruits I haven’t used before and I actually was *insert corniness* dancing up and down from how delicious it was. Y’all know what I mean right? That moment when  you taste what you’ve made and you just know you’ve hit the jackpot. Well, that’s exactly what I experienced with this smoothie but I think I’ll be adding some spinach to it next time for an extra nutrient packed smoothie. Here’s the recipe.

• 3/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 frozen banana
• 3/4 cup of sliced frozen peaches
• 1 scoop of my sunwarrior vanilla raw vegan protein 
• 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed

~Blend and Enjoy!~