apple sandwiches with date caramel + almond butter

These are really fun to make, and super healthy. Oh and as you can tell from the photos - so easy they hardly need instructions. Slice up some apples and layer them with caramel and almond butter. Yum! Make these with kids and you will make some new little friends. 

They actually taste like candy or something... it's almost too good to be true. But then - isn't zucchini pasta almost too good to be true? Yes. Yet it exists. Thanks, Mother Nature and innovative kitchen equipment. So eat as many of these as you want and feel great afterwards about yourself and your awesome healthy, humane, eco-friendly choices.

apple sandwiches with date caramel + almond butter : serves 2 to 4

4 apples
Almond butter or other nut butter

Caramel:
1/2 cup dates
2 tablespoons liquid coconut oil (or use water... won't be as creamy though)
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional) 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Make the caramel: blend all ingredients until smooth. 

Assemble: Slice the apples thinly from bottom to top and then core each piece. Now layer each slice with alternating caramel and nut butter. Enjoy!

fruit kebabs with chocolate

Being raw is this easy! People have been asking for a simple recipe that everyone can make, not just those with all the fancy equipment (I am one of those lucky guys). So here it is! All you need is some sticks, fruit, chocolate and two hands. Heck, you could do this even you are missing a forelimb. No excuses unless you actually have NO arms. In that case - I am deeply sorry. But I have been fortunate to keep both of mine in top shape through the years so this was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

You can use a bar of dark/raw/vegan chocolate if you don't mind and you have it on hand, but the first option is to make your own raw chocolate which simply requires cacao, coconut oil and some liquid sweetener. If you don't have those, alternatives abound; you can use cocoa instead of cacao, nut butter or cocoa butter instead of coconut oil, and really any sweetener you like, such as raw honey, agave, maple syrup, date paste, or even raw sugar. As far as the fruit goes, you can use whatever you want. I place these decisions in your worthy (and hopefully attached) hands. I took these photos using my own two hands and Canon EOS Rebel T2i. Love it.

One last thing - give these guys a listen. Solid tunage.

fruit kebabs with chocolate: makes 5 kebabs or so

Fruit:

1 apple

2 mandarins

3 slices of pineapple

and/or any other fruit you may have and want to use

Chocolate: 

1/2 recipe of raw chocolate (or a melted chocolate bar)

Slice all the fruit into bite-size pieces and stick on to chopsticks or kebab skewers. Then drizzle with the chocolate. You can let the chocolate harden but I mean REALLY - who has that time? Just eat it right away and bask in the glorious delight this healthy, raw, cruelty-free snack selflessly provides. 

spinach & apple distraction juice

I am the queen of procrastination today. I have a history final tomorrow morning - early, and I am NOT a morning person - but I have been finding ways to get around studying all day. Mostly that means I was writing my first e-book (don't freak out, it's coming soon!), cleaning my room, and making green juice (recipe below). I must say...

I am a pretty productive procrastinator. 

spinach apple distraction juice: serves one or two

2 apples

1 orange

3 cups spinach

1 cucumber

1 tomato 

Wash, peel, and cut as needed. Put it all through your juicer and enjoy the elixir you have just created. 

glorious juice

i've been at my boyfriend's place this weekend so i took these photos before i left to share them with you now, since otherwise i'd have nothing to show ya today. sadly his little kitchen does not have the room nor does he have the budget for all the wonderful equipment my family has in OUR well-endowed kitchen; like an omega juicer, vitamix blender, dehydrator, food processor, mandoline, and so on.

i mean, technically you don't NEED any of those semi-expensive appliances to enjoy a raw vegan diet, but it sure makes it more fun and interesting. case and point: raw pasta. they're all worth buying if you can afford them, but if not - simple fruit bowls and salads rocks too! personally, i gotta have my juice... and so does my cat, sugar, apparently.

enjoy this recipe and the good health and happiness it brings!

colourful concoction juice: serves one or two

3 carrots

1 cucumber

chunk of ginger

1 tomato

1 lime

1 bell pepper

4 beets

1 green apple

1 orange

wash, cut, slice and peel as needed. juice it and drink! mmm... live 4 juice; juice 4 life!

 one last thing - don't you love everything about compost? (except maybe the fruit flies...)

green love

i will never get over my infatuation with green smoothies. it simply will not happen. they are about as perfect, beautiful and miraculous as something get. take a gander at that luscious colour... that is LIFE you are seeing (or is gandering a word?)

i had this smoothie for my dinner because well... why not? so that means i had all liquids today! i drank a delicious glass of juice (cucumber, bell pepper, pineapple, apple, orange, tomato) for breakfast after my workout and this smoothie for dinner. i have had a really busy day and my body should probably have more calories but i am just SO TIRED and i don't like eating right before i go to sleep. i will make sure to have a big smoothie with extra protein tomorrow after i exercise. mmm, smoothie... *dopey smile*

I HAVE EXCELLENT NEWS: i have successfully converted my darling boyfriend to the dark, satanic and freaky cult of veganism. all jokes. veganism is the bees knees! or perhaps the more appropriate term would be the corn's ear? potato's eye? artichokes heart? i dunno where this is going. nevermind. point is - being vegan is the best option for you, the planet and our fellow animals! ANYWAY...

the boyfriend is vegan. 

green smoothie love affair: serves one

1 peeled frozen banana

1 cup kale

1 sliced apple

1 peeled orange 
2 tablespoons raw hempseeds

1 cup water or so
1/8 teaspoon stevia, if desired (or use a couple dates)

blend. sip. love. 

energy elixir

as i said on my facebook, i was feeling a bit drained yesterday after my weekend. but today i got TONS of sleep (maybe too much - i just kept sleeping because my dreams were so enthralling...) then had a great workout and drank a gorgeous pink jar of juice.

yum yum. i'll give you the recipe in a minute (or - due to the magical nature of the internet and time-space continuum - you may just scroll down.) last night i felt like just having juice today to get my energy back and guess what. it's already returned! all it took was some deep sleep, weight-lifting, and the elixir of living fruits and vegetables. i made a glass for mom too, since she was in desperate need of some nourishment after a busy day of random errands like getting a bunch of knives sharpened.

oh! just remembered something. heard of global girl? well if not - check her out. she just did a raw vegan dessert round-up for her fave recipes; one of them is mine. yes, i am indeed tooting my own horn. if you've got a problem with that - well you can DRINK MY JUICE!

oh wait, you should do that anyway. 

everything awesome life juice: serves two

2 carrots

3 tomatoes

2 apples

1 cucumber

3 slices of pineapple

4 beets

chunk of ginger

lemon

2 bell peppers

i think that's all i put in there... 

wash, slice, peel, chop and cut as needed. throw it all in the juicer! not literally, that would be messy. drink!

oh one more thing. PLEASE take a listen to this amazing woman. she is a visionary in my opinion. her albums are "projects" and she makes a video for each song. you can watch them all in a particular order and it becomes an emotional journey. she keeps you guessing. it's beautiful. 

juice fast: day 2

today was farmer's market day! it was (tragically) the last one of the season for our neighborhood. BUT - and what an important "but" - there are three winter farm markets in our city area so i don't have to go without local, organic, love-filled produce all through the chilly season. PHEW.

today i'm feeling great. last night i had sore muscles which is a sign of mild detox. yahoo! i had a tasty carrot-apple-orange juice with my parents for breakfast, fed a butterfly that has been finding comfort and safety in my room (until my cat attacked it today!) during the rainy weather, then went to the market.

we loaded up on EVERYTHING. when you're on a juice fast you are actually getting more nutrients then you normally would because you can without feeling full. the fiber is mainly what produces that full feeling and when you juice - you take that out! so although i wouldn't normally eat 4 apples and 2 cucumbers in one sitting, i can with juice. thus i bought a ton of veggies and greens today for the next few weeks of juice fasting; i know i will be able to consume it all.

when we got back i made THE MOST DELICIOUS REFRESHING AMAZING AWESOME JUICE EVER! seriously. this is in my top three fave juice recipes now. i bought some peppermint with the idea that it might make interesting juice, especially if i mixed it with citrus.

i was right. 

pineapple peppermint love: serves one or two

4 small carrots
1 apple
1 orange
4-5 pineapple slices
handful fresh mint leaves
1/2 cucumber 

cut, slice and peel as needed. then juice it. hurry up and JUICE IT.
be prepared to have your mind blown (as well as your taste buds).

the plans for the rest of my saturday are pretty great. my juice fast partner-in-health (get it? instead of "in crime"... okay fine i'm not funny) is heading over soon and we're going to make some savoury juice for dinner. the boyfriend is coming over later too and it's also my friend's 19th so we might go out to dinner to celebrate.

i DO need to get some school work done at some point... hm.

juice fast: day 1

first juice of the day was rather late. i thought i would be home earlier so unfortunately my energy was running pretty low. i am feeling better now though and warming up too (got pretty chilly sitting outside reading for two hours). plan for my friday afternoon? watch a movie with my juice-fasting buddy and generally just be cozy.

last night i went to see cadence weapon at fortune sound club and it was really fun. i went with all my favourite people (my boyfriend even came out!) and danced until 2 am. then drove to the naam for tea (and food for some). i had a great time, but sweating the whole night then passing out at 4 am probably isn't the smartest way to start a long fast... lesson learned. woke up today and had a headache and sore muscles.

my feelings are mostly excitement right now. for the past several days i've been looking forward to this. i am very ready to let juice and other liquids (tea, broth, strained nut milks, lemon water, etc.) become my diet for the next little while. as i've said - i'm not giving this a pre-decided time span but i'd like to go for three weeks or so. we shall see.

pink dream juice: serves one or two

1 beet
2 carrots
2 apples
1 orange
3-4 pineapple slices
1 cucumber

wash, cut, peel and slice as needed. then juice 'em up! mmm so sweet. i would have added spinach but i couldn't lose that gorgeous colour from the beets so i left it as is. 

new omega juicer

oh lawd. i am so excited about our new juicer. it is an omega vert 350 and i love it almost as much as i love dante (my cat).

random: check this out.

as i have already told you, i was planning to go on another juice fast as soon as it arrived in the mail! so the next few days will be smoothies, juice and raw snacks. then i go into 100% juice mode for... who knows how long. i want to fast until i feel my body should stop. the human body doesn't identify calendar dates or week-long time periods, it runs on it's own watch and i plan to monitor it carefully. i will know when to stop.

this time is really special for me because my friend is doing the juice fast with me! i've never had someone want to join me for one of these things so i'm looking EXTRA forward to this; maybe even... double extra? 

i know. double. woah.

the first juice we made was carrot, apple and lime (as you can see in the photo). it was SO DANG GOOD. you can literally taste the difference a good quality juicer makes. this thing is my new baby. i am going to use it so often and for everything. i can finally juice my own wheat grass! be jealous. BE JEALOUS.

the juice was so flavourful (more nutrients available because of the difference in juicing process so there is more to taste) and the pulp was so dry! cleaning it is easy too. if you're serious about juicing, or know you will be, or just WANT to be: get this juicer. 

perfect first juice: serves one

2 apples
1 peeled lime
4 peeled carrots

juice. drink the juice.