double energy smoothie with pink & green layers

I got the idea for this smoothie from the magnificent Lauren over at Ascension Kitchen. The ingredients are basically the same as my regular smoothie recipe; all you're doing is keep some separate from others and layering them to make it look pretty. I had this after a gorgeous morning run/walk around Burnaby Lake, where I happily picked salmon berries and watched baby geese swim around.

double energy smoothie: serves one or two

Green layer:
2 cups spinach
3/4 cup frozen pineapple
1 banana
Water, as needed (around 3/4 cup) 

Pink layer:
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1 banana
Water, as needed (around 3/4 cup) 

Blend each layer separately then layer them on top of each other in a glass. Slurp!

keep calm and drink juice {a walk through our garden}

Ahhh, Friday. After sleeping in, working out, tutoring a student and making two recipes for my upcoming raw vegan desserts cookcook - creamsicles and coconut pineapple bites - it was time for green juice. And what better place to enjoy the sweet nectar from Mother Nature than in my own glorious backyard? Bees were buzzing, birds were chirping and the sun was beginning to set so I figured I should take some pictures while I walked around barefoot with my mason jar of living juice. 

Our radishes are growing so fast! My mom has been picking them daily and putting them in our dinner. I am not in LOVE with radishes but I do enjoy their fresh crunch and vibrant colour. Our lettuce is also probably ready to nom down. I think I'll make a salad with them this weekend and load it up with peppers, local strawberries, chickpeas, miso tahini dressing and raw organic olives; I shan't be sharing.

The juice recipe I share today (scroll to the bottom if you want to skip my ramblings and just grab the recipe) is one I have been making everyday because it is just so good. Usually I add a ton of things to my juice, and it's always different. But this one is simple and it's all I crave. It is bright green, refreshing, light, sweet and basically addictive. This is one thing you WANT to be addicted to, trust me.

Our collards are little babies right now, but soon they will grow to have huge leaves; I plan on making raw burritos and wraps with them! Mmm... now I want a burrito. What else is sprouting up through our freshly tilled soil? Kale, beets, pak choi (aka bok choy), garlic, onions, strawberries, oregano, and a bunch of other herbs. We recently bought a mini green house (although we plan to build our own large one soon) to grow our tomatoes and basil this summer. They need just a taaad more heat than our other crops. I seriously cannot wait for the tomatoes and basil to be ready for devouring because I WILL devour them. I put basil in everything and our baby tomatoes are essentially candy. 

shining spirit green juice: serves one

4-5 cups spinach
2 apples
2 oranges
1 lemon
1 cucumber
4 pineapple slices 

Wash, peel and chop as needed. Put everything through your juicer, alternating the spinach with the fruits. Strain if desired, then sip outside with your honey bee friends. 

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. 

raw pizza with spinach pesto & marinated vegetables

every saturday for as long as i can remember, we have family video night. this entails pizza for everyone and a good movie or two. it's the night of the week where we can all relax and be together. since adopting a vegan diet, my family has naturally stopped eat most processed foods as well as most animal products. most of the time our meals are vegan now. yahoo! so as you would assume, our pizza nights now include vegan pizza (which is always delicious). the carnivorous men of my family are usually merrily surprised with the taste. this week i decided to make a raw version because, ya know... raw food is totally rad and stuff.

i wish we had some raw cheese to top this off with but alas, not this time - anyway it was delectable sans aged nut cheese. i could seriously eat a bowl of the pesto by itself, i luuuurve me some spinach. and as for the crust - i was schnarfing spoonfuls while i put it in the dehydrator. if you don't have a dehydrator then just use your oven at its lowest temperature. i do this all the time and never fret; work with what ya got. 

one thing (of the plethora of things) i LOVE about raw food - you can eat as much as you want, but often that isn't as much as you might predict because the food is so nutrient dense! it fills you up super fast. so as you can see, these pizzas are pretty small, but very satisfying. i do warn you, don't expect this to taste just like cooked pizza. in all honesty it has nothing to do with it except the inspiration and general shape. it is DIFFERENT and delicious... 

so open your mind (and your mouth). 

raw pizza with garlic & seed crust, spinach pesto and marinated veggies: makes four small pizzas

crust:

1/2 cup each of hemp seeds, raw pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds

1 cup walnuts

1 teaspoon salt & pepper

2 teaspoons dried basil (or a handful of fresh, lucky you)

1 tablespoon agave/maple syrup or a few dates

1-2 tablespoons water, as needed

1/2 onion, sliced

4 peeled garlic cloves

spinach pesto:

4-5 cups organic spinach
1/2 cup raw pine nuts

1 peeled garlic clove

1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
1/4-1/2 cup water, as needed

1 teaspoon agave/maple syrup or a couple dates

toppings:

3 mushrooms

1 bell pepper

1 tomato 

1 teaspoon tamari

1 teaspoon fave dried herb blend

to make the crust: pulse all ingredients in your food processor until it sticks together (and tastes delicious!) now divide the mixture into four and shape each of them into your desired pizza crust shape with your hands on dehydrator trays or parchment paper. dehydrate (or cook in your oven at the lowest temperature) for 4-5 hours, or until crispy. 

to make the pesto: put all the ingredients in your food processor (no need to wash it after making the crust) and process until it reaches that yummy pesto consistency - not totally smooth, but still quite creamy. mmm. put in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. 

to prepare the veggies: cut them all into thin slices and mix in with the tamari and herb blend.  marinate them in your dehydrator (or oven) until they are soft and taste freaking amazing. 

put it all together: when the crusts are finished, gently spread the pesto on all of them, followed by the veggies. if you have any raw vegan cheese that would be a tantalizing addition for your taste buds. 

EAT. BE HAPPY. YOU ARE WELCOME. 

blueberry hemp smoothie

i love my blue blue blueberries. 

ours have, of course, stopped growing for the winter season and i've already eaten all the extra ones we froze. but yesterday my mom bought a giant bag of frozen organic blueberries! organic is always better (i don't want my food having nasty chemicals on it that the military originally used to kill their opponents in the first world war... no way) but for berries, spinach and apples - organic is EXTRA SUPER awesome because otherwise they are some of the most contaminated foods. check it out here, homies. 

and hey, lucky me - i've also got organic spinach. be jealous. so i threw all these magical ingredients together in my vita-mix blender and out came a delicious dark purple concoction that i will call a blueberry hemp smoothie from this day forward. it makes the spinach seem like a secret... shhh.

blueberry hemp smoothie with secret sneaky spinach: serves one

1 banana

1 cup frozen blueberries

2 tablespoons raw hemp seeds

1-2 cups water/vegan milk

2-3 cups organic spinach

1/8 teaspoon stevia (or a few dates)

blend. sip. smile.

juice fast: day 4

juice fast still going strong. although today is definitely my most intense detox day so far. i have a pretty bad headache, feel light-headed and all my muscles are sore. similar to what i've been feeling, but more concentrated. i am supposed to work tonight but i might just take it off to rest. good thing i don't have class on tuesdays.

today's post is actually about yesterday so i'll keep it short because later today i will also be posting about my day... today. confusing, i know. time warp. yesterday's juices were green and delicious. the first one was mostly parsley carrot orange with apple, tomato and a bit of spinach.

skin cleanser: serves one or two

1 cup spinach
1 cup parsley
2 apples
1 orange
4 carrots
2 tomatoes

wash. peel. juice. drink. 

i was also pretty physically involved yesterday. i vacuumed the house then carried crates of wine downstairs, and later later helped my boyfriend move into his new place. i carried his stuff up six flights of stairs. i got a bit light-headed at times but i did it. i can be kind of stubborn.

my second juice of yesterday was similar to the first. lots of parsley, apple and orange. i wasn't sure if i'd like the parsley but i LOVED it! it adds a sensational savoury tone to the juice that fills you up and highlights particular flavours.

green juice goddess: serves one or two

1 cup parsley
2 apples
4 carrots
2 oranges
1/2 cucumber 

wash. peel. juice. drink. <3

my dinner juice was this recipe. current fave!

then i got my parents to watch a documentary about juice. fat, sick & nearly dead. you can find it for free online if you try. i watched it during my previous fast and was inspired! there should be more docs about juice fasting, and fasting in general!

at this point, the fast seems to be flying by and i'm not craving any food yet. right now i feel i can go for another 16 days. especially since i'm experiencing detox today - good sign! i had trouble falling asleep last night but once i DID get asleep, i slumbered pretty deeply. was FINALLY able to sleep in.

i dreamt of kittens.

i am craving some juice right now (haven't had any today yet) so i will talk to you guys soon! going to take it easy today, have a bath, and let my body do it's thang.

creamy zucchini pasta & avocado soup

this was really delicious. you should make it very soon and enjoy the incredible flavours that come from the mixture of avocado, zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, garlic and love. i don't think more introduction is required here.

zucchini pasta with garlic avocado sauce: serves 1-2

2 zucchinis sliced on the mandoline or spiral slicer into noodles
1/2 avocado 
2 peeled garlic cloves
1/2 onion
salt & pepper, to taste
2 cups non-dairy milk
handful pine nuts or cashews
1/4 cup tamari
handful basil leaves
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup cauliflower

put noodles into large bowl and set aside. blend all other ingredients together until smooth. taste it. it'll probably be a little bland but i left it that way so you could add things to your liking. some curry powder might be nice. i add that to everything though... :) pour the sauce all over the noodles - BUT YOU SHOULD HAVE SOME LEFT OVER! set it aside and massage the sauce into the noodles with your hands.... mmm, sensual food time. get dirty. i suggest adding some salty veggies to the noodles now. i put on some mushrooms and tomatoes.

 

avocado, cauliflower & spinach soup: serves 4-6

now using the rest of the extra sauce from the noodles, add:
1/2 avocado
2 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup tamari
1 cup non-dairy milk (more or less) - or use hot water to make the soup warm
salt & pepper to taste
handful spinach
5 olives

i think that's all i threw in there! it was an improv situation as usual. taste it and see what you wanna add or change. serve in bowls with hemp seeds, basil leaves and maybe some olives or something with saltiness/flavour. pickled artichokes would be nice.

break [the] fast

so the day before yesterday - i finally broke the juice fast. my mom had bought me a papaya and i had been letting it ripen the last few days of the fast so it could be the first delicious piece of solid food i put in my mouth on saturday.

i look kinda crazy... but hey, i go nuts for papaya

it was an other-wordly experience. i transcended! i could hardly even control the ecstasy that was food-tasting. if you ever lose your passion for eating, or think everything tastes bland - just drink juice for a week. the rest of the day i had a few pieces of fruit and then an AMAZING smoothie at gorilla food. remember how i was super stoked to eat a salad for the first thing? nah. i don't think i could've handled that much on saturday, plus i was only craving fruit, to be honest.

later in the day my muscles were getting really sore, especially in my legs. i also had a head ache. i suppose it was the final steps of my detox. i slept really well saturday night.

yesterday i ate several fruits most of the day. it was canada day! so my friend came over and we went downtown to celebrate. super fun ;) when we got home we made a raw feast of creamy pasta with mushrooms, basil and tomatoes along with an avocado spinach soup, and durian pudding for dessert! i will post all the delicious recipes in the days to follow :) don't ya worry. here's some pics to tempt you:

i hope you all had a great weekend; i sure did. namaste!

friends & salad

i've been eating a lot of salad lately. our greens are growing like crazy so i can run out to the garden and pick some lettuce and spinach whenever my heart desires. my friend christine came over yesterday and we made a lovely mix of greens, cucumber, tomato, olives and mushrooms. it was nice to catch up with her, since we hadn't seen each other in awhile.

she's all cool and awesome so she made this photo:

i also added some oregano, basil and cilantro. i think sweet basil may be my favourite conventional herb. my mom's is cilantro. i tear the herb leaves up really small, so it's lovely when you get a bite of salad and every now and then there's a hit of basil or what ever.

mmm...

oh goodness. i just ate a salad (a lot like the one above) but these photos are making me want to make another. i think i actually might. because after i finished eating the first one (just now) i went into the kitchen and realized my friend amber had left two avocados as a gift.

because she's the best.

she's also all hip, so she took these trendy hipster pictures last night: 

as far as salad goes, it's pretty much the greatest thing ever. except maybe for avocados. so when you combine them both - it's almost too much to handle. almost.

i'm definitely going to go make another giant salad now. 

i hope you have an amazing weekend! here's an easy and delicious recipe for you:

green love salad: serves 1-2

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes

1/4 cucumber

1/2 cup mushrooms

4 tb olives

1/4 red onion

5 figs

1 handful of fresh herbs like basil, oregano, cilantro, lemon balm, rosemary, etc. 

5 cups or more of fresh, organic greens like lettuce and spinach

chop up the tomatoes, cucumber, mushrooms, olives, onion, figs and herbs to your liking. set aside. 

in a big bowl, pour a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the greens and mix them up with your hands, coating them all with the dressing. throw on the chopped goodies and enjoy! 

this is best enjoyed outside on a sunny day, right beside your garden.

i usually add hemp seeds and sometimes salt and pepper. 

oh! and avocado. duh.