88 posts tagged “food”

Thank God for Dr.Oz and so many others that are showing a vegan diet can be healthy and are encouraging people to give it a try!

Specifically, a few family members of mine are taking Dr.Oz's 28 day vegan challenge and I'm so happy for them! And so of course I want then to enjoy the food so very much that they don't miss what they thought they might. I have about a zillion ideas so let's see...

*While I don't own this book I have heard good things. And I like to keep meals easy so this book could be a good choice: The 30 Minute Vegan

*Books I know and love: Eat to Live and Skinny Bitch

*Website: Post Punk Kitchen  - Loads of free recipes!

*One of my personal favorite dishes from a local PDX vegan restaurant called Blossoming Lotus is called the Green Gaia which is steamed kale, mixed greens, sprouts & avocado tossed in garlic olive oil, topped with sesame seeds with a choice of rice or quinoa. Actually all of Blossoming Lotus's bowls are fantastic and you could make them at home. I highly recommend quinoa as a great rice substitute. Find it in the bulk bins at the grocery store and cook it up like this:

1 cup quinoa

2 cups filtered water
Rinse quinoa well and drain.
Add water and quinoa to sauce pan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook on low heat until all liquid is absorbed, approximately 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and enjoy. Makes about 2 generous servings.

*Doing a bit of research online is very helpful. Exploring a food shopping site like Food Fight will give you lots of ideas of things you might want to try to find and/or ask your grocer to carry.

*Field Roast and Gardein are amazing. My meat-eating husband likes them. Seriously. So Good! I would suggest Gardein's Santa Fe Good Stuff with a big spinach salad. (Husband even diced it up and put it in a whole wheat tortilla with salsa, guacamole and greens once). Yum! Or the Smoked Apple Sage sausage from Field Roast sliced onto mixed greens, chopped celery and use fresh salsa as dressing. Delish.

*And last but most importantly increasing fresh low sugar fruits, eating more greens then you ever imagined possible, eating colorful veggies, orange peppers, broccoli, red peppers, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers... explore the produce section like you never have before. When I first started eating more raw foods I was not shy about asking the produce man questions, and most of them were basic, like how do I cut this open? And again going on line really helps just omit the dairy and meat from whatever recipes you find and use the yummy Earth Balance butter and eat more greens and eat more greens and eat more greens. Can't say it enough.

*My personal dessert of choice is Endangered Species 88% dark chocolate. One square satisfies my sweet tooth. And another sweet craving curbing food for me is Kombucha. I adore Kombucha. Here's a link to my fav: http://www.synergydrinks.com/ 

Coming up I hope to share breakfast ideas, more greens recipes, and smoothies. Tell me what you need and I will do my best. I hope I can help. Much love and yummy food to you all. Love you!

This was so goooooood, I may make it for dinner again tonight. Although my sunburgers didn't turn out like a pattie the taste was just what I was hoping for. This is Ani Phyo's "burger" recipe with a Bubbies pickle and an arugula, cucumber, lemon juice and honey salad. I topped my burger mixture with some nutrtional yeast, try to get that B-12 when I can!

This was last night's dinner, more arugula salad with lemon, celery, zucchini and dulse with cucumber lining the sides of my bowl/plate so I could dip them into some fresh salsa. Yum.

I made this the other day when I was craving brussel sprouts. I gently cooked them on the stove top with a lot of water and some apple juice. Carrot sticks and a raw zucchini-cucumber hummus rounded out my meal. However, I didn't like the hummus so disposed of it and the recipe.

Kelp Noodles!

Tonight I gave Sea Tangle Kelp Noodles a go in my own kitchen. I've had them prepared for me in raw vegan restaurants but this was the first time I found them and brought them home! First I soaked them in warm water for about 30 minutes (I've read that soaking them for about half the day gets them soft like glass noodles) while I threw together the following (measurements are rough, sorry I just eyeball it):

1/2 avocado
1/2 garlic clove
dash of cayenne
ginger
onion powder
pink salt
shredded carrots
apple cider vinegar
balsamic vinegar
1/2 squeezed lemon
fresh parsley
dulse flakes

Delicious!

Food!

This is quinoa macaroni, broccoli, artichokes, and white beans with nutritional yeast and spices. Yum!

This is a raw curry soup made with carrots, orange cauliflower and avocado in my fast BlendTec this gets warm and smooth. I sprinkled the top with lots of black pepper and pumpkin seeds. This was so filling!

This local, organic heirloom tomato was just too pretty with it's butterfly shape. And it was divine to eat. I made a simple cucumber and tomato salad with this beauty.

Singing Horse answered these fun questions so I thought I'd join in. Sorry I haven't posted in quite a few days. Personal quiet has been needed. I thought this would be a good way to ease back into voxing.

1.  Name a song that involves food in some way.
     Baker Baker
2.  What criteria do you use when choosing a new cookbook to buy?
      Vegan, preferably raw and easy
3.  What did you eat today?
     It's morning time, so far I've had a big kiwi fruit and a green smoothie- kale, celery, lemon, flax, Navitas Naturals     Tropical blend, a very ripe pear, and a few frozen strawberries to make it cold.
4.  Name a vegan food that you know exists but you have never tried.
     I don't think I've tried Rice Mellow.
5.  The Food Network just called and needs you to start your new show tomorrow.  What will the title of the show be?
      Ami's Mostly Raw
6.  Favorite hot sauce or other spicy condiment?
     Lately spicy dijon mustard
7.  How old were you when you became vegetarian/vegan?
     I was 16 when I went veg and 32 when I went vegan.
8.  Favorite vegan cheeze?
     Cashew cheeze sauce I mix up in my BlendTec
9.  Cutest baby animal?
     Calf taking their first steps
10.  Favorite type of jam/jelly/marmalade/preserves?
      Raspberry preserves
11.  Do you take any vitamins/supplements?
      Loads- Maca, MSM, Cacao, Carob, Sun is Shining, Marine Serum, Flax, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
12.  What food/dish most embodies the Fall season?
      Pumpkin pie
13.  What food would you have a hard time living without?
      Chocolate
14.  Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?
      Occasionally I drink tea
15.  It's 10PM and you're starving.  What do you eat?
      Drink water or if training for a marathon, a sandwich!
16.  If you have an animal companion, what is his/her favorite food?
       I don't.
17.  Worst injury you've gotten in the kitchen?
       Haven't!
18.  When you have a food-related question, who do you call?
       Summer, Gina, or the internet
19.  Summer is ending- What food will you miss most?
      Blueberries
20.  What snacks do you keep in your purse/backpack/desk at work?
      Thrive bars, chocolate, raw truffles, goji berries
21.  Favorite soup to make on a rainy day?
       Throw whatever veggies I have into the BlendTec with some garlic and cayenne.
22.  What's your favorite combination of fresh vegetable and/or fruit juices?
        Greens and lemon.
23.  Favorite brand of root beer?
       I don't drink soda
24.  How many times do you eat every day?  Three square meals or four snacks a day?
       I eat all day. I don't watch the clock.

This is chocolate hemp milk. Completely yummy and good for you. I loosely used the recipe from Brendan Brazier's book, The Thrive Diet.  As you can see it separates, but you just give it a little shake and there you go! Better then almond milk, no soaking or straining needed!

Ingredients:
hemp seeds
cacao powder
water
agave or honey to sweeten

I use Manitoba Harvest Hemp Seed Nut- Shelled Hemp Seed because they have no herbicides or pesticides and are grown sustainably! Nutrition wise they have omega 3, 6, and 9, protein, and iron!

http://www.manitobaharvest.com/cartshop/productview.asp?key=5

People, what are we doing with our food?

http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/2008/08/mms-and-potato.html

This disturbs me:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/06/scientists-invent-me.html

Meat spaghetti? What?

Yesterday I ran six miles, hung out with Eliot, did three loads of laundry, took him to swim lessons. Swam after swim lessons, played at the park, drove home, cat napped, then took a one and a half hour long power vinyasa class. I ate, took a shower and slept.

This morning I lifted weights, jumped on my rebounder, ran four miles and came home to shower and get everyone ready for a trip to the farm! We went to a berry farm today with the family and Eliot was an amazing berry picker! He even got to pet a very busy pig who was too engrossed in eating to care. The pigs did snort in happiness when Summer gave them some rubs on their backs. Sweet. I wore sandals and a sun dress and now I have a sunburn and a few scrapes on my ankles from the brambles. Dropped Eliot and Andy at the pool for swim lessons while the rest of us had an adventure going through the Burgerville drive-thru. Forgotten sandwich, fries, stickers and a drink and we finally got out of there. They were crazy busy! Ran back over to pick up Eliot and Andy and give them their lunches, home for napping, and then off to another yoga class for one hour. The grocery store alone was my last trip of the day.

I just can't believe how busy the last couple days have been and the summer promises not to slow down. We've got more swimming lessons, music classes, gym classes, grandparents visiting, marathon training, business trips, Hawaii trip, birthdays, our nine year wedding anniversary, and I just signed up for a month long introductory membership to a yoga studio which means I can go to as many classes as I can fit into my schedule (and that my body can keep up with)!

Napping is the key, and green smoothies!

Favorite green smoothie recipe of the moment:
one whole lemon
water to get it moving
kale or spinach- as much as I can cram in
one cucumber
an entire head of celery