Green Smoothie

Green Smoothie we have all been loving this week:

Chop up some yummy watermelon into large pieces and fill the blender with them. Add 1/2 C water, 1/2 a bag of frozen raspberries, 1/2 a bag frozen strawberries, a squeeze of lemon or lime, and a handful of romaine lettuce. Blend and pour over ice. Perfect for a hot afternoon or right after a couple hours at the park!

One addition we played with was adding Vitamineral Green powder. I used 2 T since we haven't had it in a while and I think we all need a boost after two weeks on the road. I also had some pineapple sitting in the fridge so I added that, core and all, as well. It sweetened up the smoothie when I was running low on frozen fruit.

Another great green to add to this concotion is parsley. I originally found this recipe in David Wolfe's Sunfood Diet book and his green was parsley. The mixture of the red berries, watermelon, and parsley is a huge iron boost. Awesome!

Cheers,
Mary

Chocolate Covered Dates

This post is in honor of my friend Ashley http://www.lovenaturalbirth.com/. She likes when I post simple recipes, and I know she has a hankering for croissants. Well, the chocolate covered dates are exactly what I make when I feel the desire for a doughnut or croissant, because let's face it, it happens. :) When I was pregnant with Leo, I had eaten only raw foods for over a year and felt like I wouldn't have any cravings because of my super nutrition and hydration. Eeeek. I did feel pretty good that whole first trimester, but major cravings for doughnuts kicked in somewhere around 9 weeks. I almost woke my husband in the middle of the night to ask for powdered doughnuts, the cravings were so strong! So here is a trick that I find incredibly yummy. There is just something about the mixing of the date, coconut oil, and cacao...O.M.G. My kids love these too, and they also adore dipping strawberries into the chocolate and waiting patiently for them to set in the fridge. Ha. The whole plate will be immediately gobbled up! Let me know how you enjoy the dates, or if you use the chocolate sauce for berries, ice cream, or anything else!



Ingredients:

10 Dates

Pit the dates and tear or cut them in half. Place on a plate.


Chocolate Sauce:

1/4 C Coconut Oil

Pinch Salt

3 T Cacao Powder

Tsp sweetner


Melt the coconut oil and stir in the rest of the ingredients. If you like carob or mesquite powder, you can use a mixture of carob or mesquite/cacao for a less dark chocolate taste. When the chocolate sauce is smooth, pour a little over each date half. Freeze for at least 10 minutes.

I don't have a picture of these little bites because they quickly disappear as soon as I open the freezer. Enjoy!

Well here I am again...months since my last posting! Somewhere in the days surrounding my last post I started having the strongest urge to move out of Cali. It was so strong that I would wake up some mornings confused as to why we were still in our house! I shared my feelings with my super husband and thankfully he was open to moving...a few days after I initially brought it up. :) We loved our home and neighborhood and fantastic community of friends, so the idea of up and moving away wasn't in his thoughts at all. I just could not get this urge off my mind though. A few days after really talking about things, I had the idea to move to North Carolina. We knew people here, knew people that had lived here before, and my parents had always talked so highly of it...why not? So we started researching. We found lots of websites about the hiking, nature, beauty, low cost of living/housing, great school options, mild winters, vegetarian/vegan friendly options, etc. It sounded perfect! So we moved! We left right before Thanksgiving and spent the week in Minnesota with family, then flew to NC. Once we arrived I felt like I could breathe again...like there was room to roam.



We love it here. The winter was much more than a mild southern winter, but it was pretty easy to us, originally being Midwesterners. The snow and cold really forced us to hibernate and go within. This was an experience I was very much looking forward to, not realizing how much harder it would be with kids that wanted their sun and beach back. Ha. We really bonded as a family unit while we dug in and rode out the winter-we had to figure out new indoor activities and truly look at each other and deal with whatever came up since there was no escaping by strapping the boys in the stroller and heading for the park. When spring came about I had a new appreciation for the buds on the trees and warmer winds, and literally breathed a huge sigh of relief.



Now that spring is in full swing we are meeting many more families and spending lots of time outside again. Thank goodness for our sandbox and the neighbor kids! Watching the boys dig and dig, climb, swing on tree branches, and help me garden and compost is exactly what I was hoping for with this move. They have so much more freedom to move and explore without a car whizzing by! Yes!



I will continue to blog about yummy food and our adventures when I have the chance...winter really held me in but now I feel much more ready to burst with words and ideas to share. One thing I would love to share is a technique we used to cope with outbursts, meltdowns, and the general stress of living together in a small space.

Introducing the wonderful 5 Count Breath:



Either sitting or standing, reach down into the floor/ground with your bum/feet and press in...grow a little taller through your spine. One hand is relaxed and the other you hold up as a fist. Inhale deeply, and exhale deeply. Count that as one breath and point one finger or your thumb out (great for kids learning to count!). Repeat the breathing and counting until all five fingers are released. This breathwork and focus on counting is a great tool to use to sloooow down and reconnect with your heart and/or your child. I started teaching this to Luc when he was little and he still does it on his own here and there.



The lovely Annie Buckley, an artist and yogi, taught me the trick when I took her kids yoga training. You can check out her site and awesome kids yoga card deck here:

http://anniebuckley.com/



I will be back soon with food for thought! Cheers, Mary

Baby Food

Yes, it really can be that simple. :) We never did make purees for either boy; instead when they seemed ready to eat we shared our regular food with them. It has worked out well, even though it can be messy. But having kids is just messy in general so it's a lesson for me in letting go of rigidity. Anywho...:) This little guy here reached out of his sling at 4 months old during a trip to the co-op, grabbed a bunch of watercress, and stuffed it in his mouth as if it were going out of style! I cracked up! When he was a full 6 months old we started giving him food off our plate. His first foods other than the watercress were celery and carrots to teeth on, and avocado. Right now his favorites include: strawberries, cantelope, watermelon, kale marinated in olive oil and lemon, smoothies, slices of avocado with dulse, and chia crackers.

Chia crackers, made primarily from chia seeds, are yummy and nutritious, and if you have a dehydrator I highly recommend checking this recipe out from Kristen Suzanne's blog: http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/2008/09/chocolate-chia-crackers-and-amazing.html

If you have not yet read her blog or tried her recipes, prepare to be amazed! I order my chia seeds here: http://www.therawfoodworld.com/index.php?osCsid=af5e338b8e2696bcdb60dad294bb0206

I usually make two trays, one with cacao for Jeff and Luc, and one modified into an apple-cinnamon version for Leo and myself. If you make the apple-cinnamon, use 1-2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 c carob, and if on hand, 1-2 T lucuma powder. We love to use this bread to make almond butter and jam sandwiches, or just layer some sliced strawberries on top of the almond butter...mmm...Try dehydrating it overnight so you can wake up to warm chewy chocolatey bread in the morning. It's so fun!

Cheers,
Mary

Chocolate Fix

Oh my. Chocolate is one of my absolute favorite foods in the world. Just ask my oldest and dearest friend, Allison, about how I tried to give it up for Lent one year back in early high school. Not pretty. :) Thankfully raw cacao is easy to find and easy to make. And it's fun to make!! So, I have two recipes to share. Get your smocks on and have fun.

A couple weeks ago Nicole and I made the Maca Malt Cups from Sweet Gratitude:

Maca Malt

3/4 C brazil nuts

1/3 C agave

1T liquid vanilla

1/4 C maca

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 C melted cacao butter

*Cacao butter can be melted two ways. First, grate it up or scrape it off the block with a fork and put it in a measuring cup...fill the cup a little higher than the melted amount you are going for. Next, either stick it in your dehydrator and relax, or start your teapot full of water. When water is hot, pour it into a bowl and add your measuring cup or bowl of cacao butter and stir until melted. Should your cacao butter freeze up on you, just add more hot water to the bigger bowl and let it sit or stick it back in the dehydrator. *

Process the brazil nuts in a food processor until they are broken down. Add the agave, vanilla, and salt and process until smooth. (This alone is freaking fantastic) Transfer to a bowl and by hand add the melted cacao butter and maca. Make sure there are no chunks. (I use less maca than called for-I would start with 1T and start adding to taste) Let the mixture sit at room temperature for a bit while you get the cacao coating ready.

Cacao Coating

1 C melted cacao butter

1.5 vanilla beans, scrape the insides...or use 2 T liquid vanilla

1/2-1 c sweetner (honey, agave, yacon syrup)

2 pinches salt

2.5 C cacao powder

Blend the cacao butter and vanilla together until vanilla is broken down. Add rest of ingredients and blend well.

Okay, so you've got your maca malt and your cacao coating ready...what next? If you have chocolate molds, get them out. Line them with the cacao coating and scrape a bit up the sides so the whole thing is coated. Freeze for about 10 minutes. Take molds out of the freezer and scoop some of the maca malt into the molds and cover with more cacao coating. Freeze for a bit longer before thoroughly enjoying.

If you don't have molds, using a small ice cream scoop or your hands, make little truffles out of the maca malt and place them on some parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet or a pyrex, whatever will fit in your freezer. Next, using a fork, dip the truffles one by one into the coating and shake off any excess. Place on parchment paper and freeze for about 10 minutes, or until the coating is hard. This stuff is a.ma.zing!!! It so hits the spot when the kids are driving me a bit batty and I'm looking for some bliss.

Next up is one of my all time faves, a chocolate everyone should try, especially if you love goji berries!!!

Orange Goji Berry White Chocolate Fudge

Oringinal Recipe found here: http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11974&highlight=goji+fudge

My version after seeing Carmella from The Sunny Raw Kitchen use chocolate molds with her creation:

1/2 C melted cacao butter

1/2 C dry cashews

1/2 C agave

3/4 C goji berries

1/4 C cacao nibs

Gratings of 2 oranges

While cacao butter is melting, grind the cashews in a coffee grinder or blender until well ground. Transfer powder to a bowl. Briefly grind cacao nibs and add to bowl with cashew powder. Grate two oranges and add to bowl with nibs and cashew powder. Grind goji berries. Add allllll ingredients to the blender and whir until smooth. There will be a little grit from the nibs, and that's cool. Pour into molds or use a spoon and scoop dollops out onto some parchment paper. Sprinkle with goji berries and freeze for about 10 minutes. This will be the yummiest, most gorgeous chocolate treat ever! And it's full of antioxidants!!

Enjoy,

Mary

Slushies!

Woo-hoo! Slushies! One day we came home a sticky, sweaty mess from playschool & looking for something cold to drink. All of a sudden a desire for a DQ slushy hit me and I came up with this simple concoction. Besides being super quick to make, I love that you can add stuff in without it being noticed. Add ons such as a handful of spinach, vitamineral green, marine phytoplankton, vegan dha, etc. So when Luc asked for one this morning I was stoked!

Basic slushie recipe:

3/4 c fresh squeezed oj

1 C frozen raspberries

1 C frozen strawberries

Put everything in blender and go to town. Add a tsp of water if you need a little extra to get it moving. If the mixture is runny, add more frozen fruit. This is so yummy eaten with a spoon so make it thick. Now, if you want to add something in, like greens, blend them with the juice before adding the fruit. Anything else like green powders, hemp protein powder, or other liquids can be added with the fruit. This amount makes two big drinks, or 3 smaller ones. Enjoy!

Milk & Cookies

A serious favorite, right? An old standby. A comfort. Milk and cookies. These two foods are staples in our house, especially for my 4 year old. He is very particular about what he eats and loves to help make the cookies. My 1 year old also helped make the milk today! He loves to put one object into a container so I asked him to put the dates in the blender today and he did! Go baby Leo!

The cookies pictured here are actually my version of Alissa Cohen's almond butter cookies, made into the shape of mini scones. I loved going out for coffee with my parents when I lived at home, and my mom and I would often split a scone. So I had to find something to satisfy that craving. These scones or cookies are made from buckwheat and almond butter, both being a great source of calcium. We also use currants which have lots of iron! Perfect for my little growing boy.

How I made them:

1 C soaked and dehydrated buckwheat groats

1/2 C almond butter

1/2 C currants

couple pinches sea salt

several dashes cinnamon

1 tsp liquid vanilla

1/4-1/2 c sweetner (yacon, honey, agave)

1 T lucuma powder, optional

In a food processor, process the buckwheat and salt until well ground up. Add the almond butter, vanilla, lucuma, sweetner, and cinnamon and process until kind of doughy. Add the currants and let it get well mixed. Shape into cookies or scones and refrigerate. (You can use raisens here too, I just really love the currant flavor!) Enjoy on own, or add some yummy nut milk. :)

Our favorite Brazil Nut Milk:

4 C fresh spring water

1 C soaked brazil nuts (we soak overnight, but a couple hours is just fine too, as sometimes one cannot wait)

1/2 C pitted dates

couple pinches sea salt

Blend and strain. It's fun and yummy to add extras after straining, such as:

2 T coconut butter

vanilla

raw cacao powder

lucuma/maca powder

carob powder

Luc usually requests chocolate brazil milk so I add coconut butter, dash vanilla, 2T cacao powder, carob, lucuma, and 1/2 tsp maca powder.

My friend Nicole (a fantastic dessertress) came over today to make chocolates and we had an awesome time! We created two recipes from Sweet Gratitude, and I will post the pictures soon. Have fun creating!!

Mary