The Post

Hey my darlings, I'm sorry I haven't posted in FOREVER. I've been preoccupied, but mostly lazy and forgetful. Today's post is just a plethora of photos and things I've been doing/eating for the last weeks. Enjoy. Regular scheduling will return shortly.

First: I made the ultimate sundaes with friends. Avec les sparklers.

They were obviously ridiculously good. I don't even remember what we put on them but it looks like figs, chocolate sauce, and peanut butter? It was a food party. We also made some amazing Thai noodles and sweet and sour tofu... thinking about it now makes my mouth water. Mmm...

I've been eating a lot of raw pasta lately because my dear friend Eva bought me a Spirooli. I usually make it with a nut butter and garlic sauce, or avocado. Here's some recipe ideas. I pretty much always use zucchini for the noodles. Carrots work as well but zucchini has the perfect texture and colour. I've used bell peppers in the past. Any wide vegetable will work. Get creative!

Another thing I've been making a lot for dinner is raw wraps. In seaweed sheets or rice paper. I have always loved burritos and anything else in a wrap. Something about it being packed with good stuff, picking it up in your hands and taking a big bite =) Normally I put in a mix of any or all of the following: carrots, avocado, bell pepper, corn, onion, tomato, zucchini, lettuce, sprouts... and probably a bunch of other stuff. I use the same kinds of sauces I'd put on pasta. Actually - in this picture I HAVE pasta in the wrap. I know - it's gettin' wild up in here.

Look at that sexy avocado... goodness me. 

My mom has been making tons of fresh juice lately in our Jack La Lanne Juicer. I'm a smoothie person myself because I love the fiber, and you take that out when you juice. Having said that, fresh juice is AWESOME! Make it. It's delicious and the since you DO take out the fiber, the nutrients enter your blood within like 15 minutes. Crazy. Juice definitely has it's benefits - it's great for fasting, detoxing and nourishing nutrient deficient individuals. Juicing has saved lives! 

And here's a smoothie I've been making after my workouts these past few days. We don't have any greens so for ONCE my smoothies are actually a pretty colour. It matches my pink glass straw =) It's a blend of a banana, kiwi, protein powder, coconut milk, hemp seeds, and strawberries. 

Okay... coming to a close soon - I made some more chocolate. Of course. For the first time it's TOTALLY RAW! In the past I've only been able to use cocoa because we didn't HAVE cacao. Now we do =) I can never leave things be so I also added mesquite, goji berries, coconut and jungle peanuts. Greg called it chocolate brittle.

ALRIGHT THE LAST THING. Mad Men premiered again after an 18 month hiatus! If you watch the TV show, you will understand the importance of this event, if you don't watch it - you should. It's an awesome show, not only for the sets, costumes and 60's era feel, but for the human drama as well. It's smart and different. 

Anyways, we made vegan White Russians - oh so 60's - and I made raw finger food... dates and nut butter with toothpicks. I suppose any small food with a toothpick in it could be vintage finger food, right? The drinks and snacks were great, and the show's premiere was like seeing a friend after 1 year and a half.

I will post a baked cupcake recipe tomorrow, and some links to recipes in this post! 

That's all for now, folks.

noodles with creamy almond ginger sauce, stir-fried veggies & crispy tofu

*clearly, not raw

Tonight was my night to make dinner, and I decided on a pretty simple yet (apparently) tasty meal.
I made a sauce with almond butter, ginger, garlic and other spices and poured it on whole wheat noodles. I also stir-fried a bunch of veggies and crispy tofu. My parents said it was really good!

It seems like an excellent dish to feed anyone you care about, especially if you're trying to get them to eat more veggies - AND see how delicious vegan food can be.

This meal is easy, scrumptious, and good for ya. Eat your veggies!

Noodles with Creamy Almond Ginger Sauce, Stir-fried Veggies & Crispy Tofu: makes about 5 servings

Crispy Tofu:

2 packages of chopped tofu 

Put oil in pan and heat. Add tofu and let cook, stirring/mixing often to get them all crispy. It'll take awhile. The secret is medium-high heat, oil, and time. (I added some soy sauce to the tofu while it was cooking, to add salt)

This method is the best way to evenly cook food in a pan. It's what I do. 

(Side note: check out these photos of food from the Modernist Cuisine cook book. They're so cool!)

Stir-fried Veggies:

4-5 mushrooms

1 onion

2 bell peppers

2 carrots

2-3 cups broccoli 

1 eggplant, if you have it

Put a pot of water on to boil for the noodles. (When the water is boiling and you have about 10 minutes left until your veggies are done, put the noodles in the water). 

Chop all veggies and add to a different heated, oiled sauce pan. Stir-fry until they're cooked as you like. I added soy sauce and hoisin sauce as they were cooking for more flavour. As the tofu and veggies are cooking, make the noodle sauce. 

Creamy Almond Ginger Sauce:

1 cup almond butter

2 cloves garlic

1 T ginger

Sriracha (or other thai hot sauce)

2 T sweetener

3-4 T soy sauce

1 T salt

1/4 oil (or use more water)

1/4 water

Blend all ingredients together and see if you like it, change it if desired. I also added mustard, chili, and some other things. When the noodles are ready, pour sauce on them until they're evenly coated. 

Serve with the noodles as the base, with a helping of veggies, and a bit of crispy tofu to top it off! Enjoy!

I had an avocado for dinner, as my family enjoyed the noodles =) 

And I drank this delicious smoothie earlier today:

It had a kiwi, 3 cups of kale, an orange, some frozen strawberries, water and stevia in it. I topped it off with some dried coconut and goji berries. YUM!

chocolate protein truffles & green smoothie recipe

Not that I'm back to my crazy workouts (it was just a matter of time... I'm an addict), I have to make sure I get enough protein. If I weren't raw, it wouldn't be something I'd have to think about.

Most people actually get 5 times more protein than they need everyday (USDA, 2005).

But the fact that I am raw PLUS my workouts are really intense, my protein intake is something I need to watch. Mostly because I love muscle, and always want more =)

One way I do this is by adding protein powder to my already protein-packed green smoothies, with hempseed and flax. I DO prefer getting protein from unrefined sources; even though my protein powder is high quality, it's still processed.

When I'm done with this container of powder, I'm not buying anymore. From now on I'll just be getting protein from nuts, seeds and greens (which I partly do already).

Yay! In nature, there aren't protein powder trees. Wouldn't that be nice though?

After my workout today - which involved plyo-metrics, kickboxing, yoga and weight training - I made a DELICIOUS green smoothie and gulped it down. Then I stretched and watched the end of a Doris Day movie.

I could feel my muscles calling for some more building materials, so I decided to make a chocolate-y treat with mostly oats, nuts and rice protein powder. They're turned out like truffles because I rolled them into balls and coated them with cocoa =)

Protein Truffle Bombs: makes about 50 small balls

1 cup oats

1 cup mix of brazil nuts, cashews, peanuts or whatever nuts you like

1/4 cup cocoa/cacoa

2-3 scoops of fave protein powder

3 Tb agave

1/2 cup soaked dates

1/4 cup water (or more/less as needed)

1 t vanilla

Pinch of salt

1/8-1/4 cup coconut oil

Cocoa/cacoa for rolling

Process all dry ingredients until they're like a super hefty flour. Add all other ingredients and process/mix by hand until they're like cookie dough. Roll into balls and roll in the cocoa until coated. 

Chill for an hour or so. Or just eat them right away. I probably devoured half the batter while I was making them... 

Berry Green Smoothie: makes around 3 1/2 cups

3 loose cups of spinach

4-5 leaves of kale

Grapefruit, peeled

Lime, peeled

Banana, frozen

1/4 cup frozen berries

1/2 cup pomegranate juice

Stevia if desired

2 T peeled ginger 

Handful cilantro 

Blend all ingredients until smooth! Sip and enjoy good health! Dang IT'S SO GOOD.

green ocean of life

Thought of those words after I poured this smoothie. They're always this beautiful but I HAD to show this one. How can you not want to become this?! It's an ocean of nutrients and vitality!

Check out my post on the power of green smoothies here. 

Green Smoothie: makes about 4 cups

1 peeled lemon

1 peeled orange

3 cups dino kale/rainbow chard

1 frozen banana

2 cups water

pinch of stevia

half cucumber

handful of cilantro

chunk of peeled ginger

Blend it up and absorb the energy!