Peppermint shake

I'm on a quest.

A healthy beverage quest!

I'm tired of craving a Starbucks frappuccino, only to deny myself the pleasure because of how unhealthy they are! So the next few posts will be dedicated to healthy frappuccinos and coffee drinks.

A few days ago at Target, I discovered that they are now selling Peppermint Mocha Coffee-Mate Creamer year-round! That means you don't have to wait until Christmastime to enjoy this AMAZING flavored creamer!

It's great in coffee. But what about a smoothie?

And thus, the Peppermint Banana Smoothie was born.

Peppermint Banana Coffee Smoothie


Makes 1 frothy glass of deliciousness
1 Cup dairy-free milk (I used Silk's 35 calorie almond milk)
1 frozen banana (freezing bananas and blending into smoothies creates a thick, creamy texture)
1.5 tablespoons peppermint creamer (add more if you desire a stronger mint flavor)
.5 tsp vanilla extract
Sweetener of choice, to taste (I used 1 tablespoon Splenda, but other options include stevia, agave, honey, etc.)
6 cubes of frozen coffee (simply pour leftover coffee into an ice cube tray. Great for adding to your breakfast smoothies!)

Blend in a high-speed blender (I use a Vitamix, which is great for creating very smooth and thick shakes but any blender should work just fine!)
ENJOY! :-)

After whipping up this gem of a recipe, I found out online that a lovely lady had created an even healthier coffee-free version of this recipe that includes most of the ingredients above, but adds in 1/4 cup of frozen spinach, some cacao nibs, and 2 drops of peppermint extract instead of peppermint creamer. The picture above is from her site, chocolatecoveredkatie.com. Here is the link to Katie's recipe for the "Raw Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake."

Recovery Days

Incessant studying tickles my inner raw goddess and inspires me to create more creative meals from my usual coconut green smoothies. Yesterday and today were two of those special days where I did absolutely no taxing work and simply spent quality time with me future hubby and "uncooked" delicious meals all day! I NEEDED this break. It reminded me not to feel guilty about relaxing, because we all need to kick back and savor life once in awhile. And I know that this break will give me more "bang for my buck" when I study tomorrow...studying should be about QUALITY, not necessarily quantity. : )

Yesterday I enjoyed:

Quart of water

1 and a half bananas

Raw cucumber wraps, from Angela and Matt at the Raw Revolution! Delicious and eeeeeeeeeasy to make and requires only a few simple ingredients!!!!

Quart of water & my vitamins

Half a banana mashed with pumpkin butter and a squirt of agave

Smoothie of coconut meat, Vitamineral Green powder, handful of spinach, 4 strawberries, 1 mango, 2 fo-ti capsules, cinnamon, cacao, vanilla, bee pollen. You can buy the Vitamineral Green, bee pollen and MANY OTHER amazing natural raw products made by organic loving companies, not money-hungry corporations at: http://store.rawreform.com/

Quart of water

a couple of hempseed brownie bites with a cup and a half of Cardamom hempseed milk

(YUM!)

Today I looooved:

a breakfast of raw oats soaked in leftover hempseed milk from last night with cinnamon, a splash of vanilla and a sprinkle of walnuts and a splash of agave

Quart and  a half of water and my vitamins o:)

A smoothie of young coconut meat, spinach leaves, vitamineral green powder, 2 fo-ti capsules, 1 mango, 4 strawberries, a teaspoon of cacao powder, a sprinkle of cinnamon

Quart and a half of water

WONDERFUL NEWS: my PACKAGE from The Raw Food World FINALLY arrived today! It was full of lucuma powder, dark mesquite powder, stevia sweetener, a BIG bottle of Vitamineral Earth and the CREAMIEST of creamy Go Almond Butter made with organic Italian almonds. As SOON as it arrived, I ripped open the package and went to work on making Herbal Elixir ice cream. Jonathon was laughing at how excited I was to get started! I have been waiting for a week, which has seemed more like an eternity, to make this ice cream that I saw Angela Stokes-Monarch making with Matt Monarch (see here). The result? DELICIOUS. This ice cream is not as decadent as nut-based raw ice creams I have made, but it is super creamy and delicate in flavor. I love the flavor of lucuma - like a butterscotch sort of taste. MMM!

Here is the Recipe for Herbal Elixir Ice Cream by Angela Stokes-Monarch. But remember: be free, don't abide too strictly by this recipe. I didn't have some of these ingredients like the immune boosting liquid or the Icelandic Nature Essences. Add your own herbs and make it a unique recipe that is especially for you :)))

1.5 trays of ice cubes
3 Tbsp lucuma powder
1 Tbsp mesquite powder
1 tsp maca
½ tsp vanilla powder
1/16th tsp stevia powder
1 Tbsp Vitamineral Earth
½ tsp cardamom powder
½ tsp cinnamon powder
few drops of Icelandic Nature Essences
5 drops pau d’arco liquid
7 drops immune boosting liquid
3 drops raspberry fruit extract
2 Tbsp Go! Almond Butter
½ cup water
pinch of Himalayan crystal salt

For dinner I enjoyed crisp romaine wraps with shredded beets, zucchini, sunflower butter and a bit of an avocado and garlic mixed together, and for a dessert hempseed milk and a hemp brownie : )

I also got a chance yesterday to prepare Chef Russel James' Spinach Mushroom tartlets. I was so excited to try this tart out, but to be quite honest I found it a bit too rich for my taste. I can only handle a few bites at a time. It is way to heavy on the nuts...the crust is made of nuts and the filling of the tart is also nut-based. Ah well, you can't win em all. But I don't want to make it seem as though this is a bad recipe...it's actually very good, but VERY RICH. I guess this recipe sort of made me realize that, while I truly truly TRULY enjoy a decadent raw meal every once in awhile, I prefer fresh raw entrees over dehydrated ones WAY more. I mean, just look at the picture of the quiche compared to my other pictures. It just doesn't even compare to the pics of the fresh entrees! My theory is, if it looks good enough to eat...has droplets of water and bright colors and FRESH written all over it, it's probably DELICIOUS and GOOD for you ; )

Russel James, I adore you, but this...not so much!

I LOVE BEING RAW!!!! <3

Today's journal

2 heaping tablespoons young coconut meat
1 tbsp spirulina
1 tbsp Nutiva's "Amazon Acai" protein powder
1 tbsp hempseeds
1 1/2 tbsp cacao powder
1 date
1/2 tbsp bee pollen
sprinkle cinnamon
splash vanilla
2 caplets of Fo-Ti

Cauliflower Curry wrap

Smoothie of filtered water, young coconut pulp, tablespoon spirulina and Nutiva "Amazon Acai" hemp protein powder, cacao powder, bee pollen, fo-ti, cinnamon and vanilla

Food journaling=great!

After my Vitamin B-12 deficiency scare, I decided to start keeping track of my B-12 intake. I have been following Angela Stokes' Raw Reform journal and was inspired to invest in chlorella "nuts" and bee pollen from the Raw Reform store, among other things. I'll just mention these two items since they arrived today (yay!)

Today I enjoyed

1 quart water

For breakfast I loved a Rich Mix of:a teaspoon of tahini, a 1/3 a cup of sesame seeds, about 5 or 6 almonds, a squirt of agave and maple syrup, 1/2 cup of dried coconut, 2 teaspoons of cacao powder. I've never had something this sweet and decadent for breakfast, but let me tell you that it kicked my day off to a fantastic start!!

Vitamin B-12 tablet, Omega 3 pill and multivitamin.

For lunch I had a smoothie of: water of one coconut, a couple of spoonfuls of coconut meat, a tablespoon of spirulina, a tablespoon of "Amazon Acai" Hemp shake powder by Nutiva, 2 tablets of Fo-Ti (a Chinese herb that is great for longevity like premature greying), a sprinkle of cinnamon, a splash of 100% pure vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons of cacao powder.

A snack of two tablespoons of: a delicious concoction of 2 tsp tahini, 2 tsp coconut oil, tbsp of cacao powder, squirt of agave and maple syrup, a few almonds and dried coconut

1 quart water

For dinner I enjoyed a collard green wrap with Cauliflower Curry, Cauliflower Curry patties, young coconut meat, tomatoes and a sprinkle of hempseeds.

For dessert I snacked on 2 teaspoons of hempseed mixed with two teaspoons of bee pollen, and about 16 chlorella "nuts." (yes, it made my tongue quite QUITE green! haha!)

Observations on my overall energy: Considering the fact that I only got 5 hours of sleep last night due to studying for an Acupuncture Points test, I must say that I fared pretty well energy-wise. That is, until this afternoon when I took a two hour nap which left me groggy and disoriented. After I finished my nap, I enjoyed my dinner and dessert and now feel absolutely amaaaaaazazing! This past week has been very much a 100% raw week. To give you an idea of what I've been munching on all week, it's pretty similar to what I had today: I have been drinking one to two coconut spirulina smoothies per day and having my collard green wraps along with my supplements. I've noticed that eating this way (100% raw) has actually made me drink large quantities of purified water. All the water has improved my running (exercise) performance. I haven't been exercising as much lately because I'm preparing for my year end exams, so I try to eat my dinner at 4:30 to 5 pm and have a tiny snack before bed. Previously, when I had been running longer distances and doing weight training once per week I'd normally eat between 7 and 8 PM. Nowadays I run every other day and do 15-30 minutes of yoga (3 Sun Salutations with Ujai breath, dhanurasana, chikitsa vinyasana in the morning and in the evening: restorative poses like forward bends, pigeon pose, balasana (Happy Baby pose) and neck rolls) and the 4 purifications (Nadishodana: alternate nostril breathing, Kapalabhati breath, Agnisaura Dhauti: abdominal rolls and ashvini mudra: perineal pulsations), one to two times a day.

I feel really good doing a daily "intake" of what I have consumed and done for myself. I must admit, I am feeling super fantastic AWESOME! Thank you, raw lifestyle, for your spiritual and nutritive gifts that you give me every single day.

Crazy about Curry (and Cauliflower!)

The title of this blog is inspired by one of my raw gurus, Carmella. See her lovely post here.

When I first read Carmella's blog on vegan wraps, I had just started my raw journey. That was about a year ago (?) Honestly I have lost count of my months on raw. And I take that as a positive sign....time does, indeed fly when you're raw! ; )

Anyway, more about raw wraps. Wraps are super awesome and easy. You can puree vegetables and dehydrate them to create your wraps, or just buy some collard greens, shave off the thick spines with a peeler and soak them in warm water with a teaspoon of salt to make them pliable. Experiment with making delicious fixin's to fill inside your wraps. I remember a delicious recipe that you could use for wrap filling, Carmella's "Creamy Spinach Spread" which you can read more about and get the link for here .

Lately I've been bitten by the creative bug and have experimented on my own in creating some delicious raw dishes. It's nice to finally have enough knowledge under my belt to be able to think independently and make my own dishes rather than following other peoples' recipes.  Speaking of knowledge, here are some titles that started me off on my raw path. 

Some fantastic books on raw veganism

The Raw Truth, by Jeremy Safron

Green for Life, by Victoria Boutenko

Raw Family, by Victoria Boutenko

The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell

I Am Grateful, by Terces Englehart

Sweet Gratitude, by Matthew Rogers and Tiziana Tamborra

And now, for the recipes : ) 

Cauliflower Curry (Beet variation)

I am proud to say that I made up this variation, but I must give credit where credit is due! I was inspired to add various spices and beets to Poemomm's delicious Carrot Curry recipe, found here. My variation includes using 4 carrots instead of one, adding one beet, a teaspoon of ground cumin, a teaspoon of curry powder, 1/2 tsp of asfoedita (a traditional Indian spice found in most Indian stores) and a 1/3rd a bunch of cilantro. I didn't have a chilli pepper so I used a teaspoon of chilli powder. I also didn't have any paprika or garam masala. But it came out great with my variations! Honestly, though, you can follow a recipe by rote and be quite bored or you can pick and choose what you want to add. The choice is yours! I tend to use recipes as guides and then use my imagination...and my taste buds...to guide me : )

Collard wraps with Poemomm's Carrot Curry, Beets, onions and Cauliflower Curry Patties

Cauliflower Curry Patties

These cauliflower curry patties were sort of an accident. I started off making a recipe off goneraw for Cauliflower curry, found here. No offense to the chef, but the recipe just didn't do it for me. I decided to use my own creative inspiration to make "burger patties" out of what I had made by adding:

3 cups portobello mushrooms

2 cups walnuts

half tbsp asfoedita

3/4 tbsp himalayan salt

1/8 cup Nama Shoyu

1 tbsp curry powder

1 jalapeno pepper

The result? Magnifique! Upon tasting the batter, I knew I had a winner. The texture was very liquidy, though, so I kept checking the dehydrator to see if the patties were getting crispy. Nope! They came out chewy and pliable-perfect for wrapmaking! Yess! I was so pumped and honestly, I have been enjoying the patties in collard green wraps for one meal a day for the last four days. And there are still plenty more to munch on! Yum yum!!

Last but not least, I made the BBQ strips about a week and a half ago and they came out deeeeeelicious! You can find the recipe here.

Auntie L's BBQ strips

In closing, go out and make some raw wraps! You won't be disappointed. But then again, does the raw lifestyle ever let us down?

Personal Thoughts on Raw <3

Recently I've had a couple of occasions in which living foods have made me feel so incredibly ALIVE, and since I'm close to a laptop with internet connection...I figured, why not post an entry about it?

Before I express my thoughts on how raw makes me feel RAWsome, let me preface everything by explaining that this semester has been one of the hardest in my life. I am studying for my acupuncture school's cumulative year end exams along with doing a yoga teacher training program and working at an acupuncture clinic once a week. However, I've been managing it incredibly well (and "it," by the way, encompasses not only studying, but maintenance of my personal life, my athletic routine, my spiritual practice...the whole shebang).  This is NOT to say that I do not have my "moments" in which I either break down crying over the little things or have a generally crappy day every once in a while (not often, thank goodness) due to sleep deprivation.  Life isn't perfect. We are infallible. We must learn from these fallacies and embrace the power within each of us that enables us to conquer our weaknesses, whether it be emotional, physical, or nutritional.

The reason why I chose to blog, my friends, is that today was one of those unique days in which my energy levels began at the crack of dawn on a steady note. After my morning class, I came home and prepared a batch of some BBQ strips and studied some material for year-ends for 2 hours.  At that point, I began to crash. I had enjoyed a lunch of crisp romaine, sliced beets and sprouts with a splash of olive oil, honey and Bragg's but apparently what my body wanted most was an hour nap. Upon awaking from my nap, something happened that I've only experienced in my new life as a raw foodist. My body literally craved the watery nutrients of fresh, abundant live foods. No, it did not want water. A sip of water did not satisfy my needs. No, it did not call out for carrot or celery sticks. My body craved creativity. The creative juices within me seem to dry up more quickly whenever I burn my mental energies on studying for massive tests such as the year end exams. The best remedy I have for this is Living Foods. Thank heavens for this blessing in my life. After preparing my very own signature Ginger Maple dressing on fresh romaine leaves wrapped around alfalfa sprouts, young coconut meat, basil leaves and onions, I feel ready to run a marathon. 

Just say no to chips and diet mountain dew! (lol, that may seem random, but I can't tell you how crappy stuff like that has been making me feel whenever I try to stave off my "study bug" cravings. Which is why I resorted to a not so healthy but much healthier than SAD junk food, raw vegan "junk food"--the bbq squares. They're in the D now, and boy am I excited to taste the final product!)

Thank you for being a part of my raw foodist journey. This journal is healing on so many levels and I hope that you find some sort of light in it along your journeys.

Thoughts on Raw

For a couple of months now, I've been following a 75-80% raw diet. Morning and lunch I try to have green smoothies or a bowl of fruit and dinner is either another green smoothie or a salad with homemade dressing. Recently I've been whipping up some nori rolls and am going to experiment with some other raw dishes.

The second month was difficult because I began another semester at school. Being raw at home during spring break was much easier in that there was more time for food preparation and it was much more relaxing overall. Three weeks into my semester, I could tell that something was wrong. I was extremely fatigued and grew sleepy during classes even after a full night's sleep. I feared B12 deficiency and after reading Victoria Boutenko's "Green for Life," discovered that my fatigue was probably due to eating conventionally grown produce. Organic produce has much more vitamins and minerals including cobalmin, the basis of cobalt, which is the foundation of B12. I started eating more organic produce and felt much better after a few weeks.

Last week gave me another challenge. I bought some naan, an Indian bread, to make veggie sandwiches for Jonathon. At home, I used to enjoy dipping this bread in hummus. The next day after enjoying the naan I woke up with a terrible cramp in my lower abdomen. I had to lie down on the floor for a couple of minutes until the pain subsided. I forgot to mention that Jonathon also bought some cinnamon raisin bagels which I hadn't had for a long while. I'm not sure what's going on chemically in my body, but I'm thinking that it has something to do with sticking with raw and steering clear or breads.

Cheers and celery sticks,

Siham