Wednesday, March 30, 2011

What Is The Daniel Fast?

I just realized that after having this blog up for over a year I've never actually explained what a Daniel Fast is! When people hear that I'm fasting, they often think that I am starving myself, but a Daniel Fast is very practical and really is just eating healthy foods. Our church does the fast for 21 days at the beginning of the year (when most people make New Year's Resolutions to lose weight anyway, so what a perfect time). They actually collaborate with several churches around the world, because amazing things happen when we all come together in prayer and fasting as a group! On an individual level, I can attest that very positive things come from fasting!

The fast is called the Daniel Fast because the practice comes from the Book of Daniel (see how that works! LOL!). When Daniel fasted, he drank only water and ate fruits and vegetables. There are a ton of resources for the fast if you just do a Google search.

So here's a quick rundown of the diet restrictions for the Daniel Fast (from WikiAnswers):

Foods to avoid on the Daniel Fast

All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.

All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.

All sweeteners including but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.

All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.

All refined and processed food products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.

All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.

All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.

Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.


I would encourage anyone to do this fast and see the amazing things that come from it - the physical benefits, the clarity that comes from fasting, and the deep, genuine love and thanksgiving that you feel with fasting and prayer. It's amazing stuff!! : )

The Beauty Detox Solution

I was in Dallas on my way out to Seattle and I had a 4 hour layover. After grabbing some lunch and chatting with a very nice lady from the San Diego area, I still found myself with time to kill before my next flight. So I stopped in a bookstore hoping to find something to keep me entertained on my loooong flight to Seattle. I picked up a book about how Starbucks re-focused their customer experience in order to save the company from a downward spiral, but I put it back down. I wandered through the store, passing fiction, sci-fi, biographies and stopped at the business section. Nothing there appealed to me. I stopped by the life and faith section, and again nothing really stood out.

Then I turned around and found the health/nutrition section. Since I just finished reading Dr. Joel Fuhrman's "Eat To Live" and I could hardly put it down, I thought I might find something like it. The first book I saw had a bright green cover and it was facing outward as a featured book. I read the title: "The Detox Beauty Solution." Then I rolled my eyes and looked for a "serious" book. Nothing else sounded very interesting, so I looked back at the bright green cover and picked it up and flipped through it. Toward the back I found some recipes, and after seeing several for non-oil based dressings I decided that alone was worth $16.95. I've been looking for some decent dressing recipes that don't include oil.

With about an hour before my flight, I sat at the gate and opened up my new book. The beginning starts with quotes from some of the celebrities that the author, Kimberly Snyder, has worked with. I noticed that a few of them are very outspoken vegetarians, which is cooler to me than the fact that they are celebs. : )

It wasn't until I read the introduction that anything impressed me. She talked about her experiences, how she went from being thin to gaining a lot of weight, and then how she became fascinated by nutrition. She went on a 3 year trip around the world and learn health and beauty "secrets" from other countries. Personally, I think other countries, particularly in the far east, have it right when it comes to physical, mental, and spiritual health! So she had my attention!

The book echoes much of what is said in "Eat To Live," except that Beauty Detox is more about experience than science and research. She includes case studies from some of her clients (which I skipped over, but some may find it interesting). What I liked is that she not only provided an educational approach, but she followed it up with a practical solution and structured program.

I finished the book long before I made it to Seattle. It's an easy and very interesting read, and I am definitely going to try out some of the recipes. I may even follow the program, even though I'm already over a month into already eating healthy. But tomorrow is the last day of my fast, so maybe I'll try something else over the next month!

Speaking of fasting, I love this quote from "The Beauty Detox Solution:"

"Detoxification also serves to purify the mind, because when our bodies are cleansed, our minds become more clear and we are able to strengthen our focus on what we really want to achieve in our lives."

This is so true! One of the things I am always amazed with when I fast is how much I can connect spiritually and emotionally, which is perfect for prayer and devotion. But I also find that fasting (which is pretty much the same as detoxing, just not as trendy sounding) gives me a greater appreciation of my body of the food that God has provided to nourish us physically.

I've been sharing these thoughts with other women I know who are searching for a healthier lifestyle or are wanting to change their appearance. I think those who seek health will find more success with looking hot than those who are focused on physical goals. When I focused on just losing weight for my wedding, 20-25 lbs in about one year. Now, I consider that successful but I spent thousands of dollars on a structured diet program and a personal trainer. Just by committing to a healthy lifestyle I've lost about 13 pounds in one month. AND I'm eating more! And I'm enjoying what I eat more! That's why I decided to go beyond my fast and commit to a lifestyle change. I am beyond pumped up about it!! Hopefully my experience will be an example for the wonderful women I know who also find themselves wanting to change their health and/or physical appearance. I think they deserve to feel and look amazing, too!

I can't wait to try out some of the recipes in here and share them on the blog!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Back to Nature

Matt and I have been buying this for a while now, and it's one of our favorite snacks! We haven't been eating any lately because it has a ton of sugar, but Publix has them on BOGO right now so I bought like 10 packages! I literally wiped the shelf clean of the cranberry pecan one! We've also tried the chocolate, but neither of us liked it as much. They have some other flavors (I think there's an apple one and some others) but we're hooked on this one! I'm flying out to Seattle right now, so I packed a bag to snack on. This stuff is so good, you'll feel like you're being BAD!

Friday, March 25, 2011

More Pita!

I'm on a pita kick lately! It's just an easy (and fun) way to make a sandwich! Today's pita was so tasty that I'm making it again tomorrow to bring with us on our 12-13 hour workday! I just tossed a bunch of yummy things into a bowl and mixed it up: spinach (chopped up), bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes (diced), julienne sun dried tomatoes (double sprouts, why not double tomatoes?), soy nuts, flax seeds, tahini and lemon juice. Oh, and green onions. If I had any mushrooms left, I would have added some of those bad boys in there, too! I only used about a tablespoon of tahini and about a teaspoon of lemon juice. It was enough to fill two pita halves. We each ate one of the halves with some honeydew on the side. It was a perfect little lunch! I can't wait to eat it again tomorrow! This may be my new favorite sandwich!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Pita Cheesesteak (Hold the steak!)

Since we're traveling next week, I needed to start using up the food that we have. So I decided to saute some mushrooms and onions and put them in a pita. I added some soy cheese and it reminded me of a Philly cheesesteak (without the steak, of course). I used lemon juice to saute the veggies (trying to use olive oil less and less, when possible). I also made some oven roasted potatoes seasoned with Adobo, rosemary, and salt and pepper. It was pretty good, though I would have liked to skip the soy cheese just because of the fat content, and for what it adds I'm not sure it's worth the extra calories. But Matt loved it, so it's a win! : )

Mediterranean Pita Pocket with Capri Salad #2

Last night I made a simple dinner with just half of a whole wheat pita and a salad. I heated the pita for about 15 seconds in the microwave to soften it up, cut it in half and opened each of the halves. If you don't, it will seal shut when it cools.

I filled each of the pita halves with some homemade hummus, romaine lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, bean sprouts, tomatoes, and pepper and salt. That's it! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic, but I'm sure we're going to make some again to bring with us to this weekend's wedding. I'll try to snap a pic then!

I also made my new favorite obsession - my vegan Capri salad! I prefer the avocado over the mozzarella! It's so delicious and just soaks up the balsamic vinegar! This time I used cherry tomatoes (cut in half) and diced the avocado. This picture is actually of my late night snack, so I didn't have any basil left and had to use some basil paste. It worked fine. Seasoned with some salt and pepper, and I could eat this all day every day!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Vegetable Paella with Tofu

I found this recipe in the book "Everything Vegan." There are a ton of great recipes in it, and it may be my new favorite cookbook!

The book recommends cooking this in a wok, which is what I did. I used whole grain rice, and the recipe calls for short grain rice, so I had to cook mine a little longer. The rice was still a little undercooked, but this took such a long time to make that I got tired of waiting. It was still okay. Matt loved it. I'm not even sure if he noticed that the right wasn't perfect! So shhhhh! : )



Ingredients
2 tblsp olive oil
2 7oz packages spicy marinated tofu, diced (I used 1 16-oz pkg)
8oz cremini mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
2 large carrots, diced (1 cup)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 14oz can chopped tomatoes, drained
4 cloves garlic, minced (4 tsp)
1 cup short grain brown rice
2 1/4 cups water
1/8 tsp saffron, crumbled
1 cup fresh or frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 green onions, thinly sliced

I recommend draining the tofu as much as possible before cooking. You can do this by putting it on a few paper towels for about 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat the olive oil on med-high heat. After it's hot, add the tofu and saute about 10 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and saute 4-5 minutes. Add carrots, corn, tomatoes, and garlic and saute for a few more minutes. Then add rice and water and stir. After it comes to a boil, reduce heat to med-low and cover, simmering for about 40 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Then add the peas to the top (don't stir). Cook for about 3-5 minutes longer. Add lemon juice, green onions, and salt and pepper.

We didn't have any saffron, so I seasoned it with some Adobo, garlic powder, and curry. We've been eating leftovers, because it makes A LOT. But fortunately, it was pretty tasty!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Oatmeal

This week I decided to buy some oatmeal in case I need a quick snack. I ate a lot of oatmeal when I first tried to go vegetarian over 10 years ago, and since I wasn't doing things right (I HATED most green vegetables back then) I ended up getting sick. Since then, I haven't eaten oatmeal much, but I'm glad to be bringing it back into my diet!

Last night I made oatmeal and topped it with fresh strawberries and blueberries. Today I made it with blueberries, banana and a little raw honey. I didn't add the honey to sweeten it. It may be a crazy idea, but I think raw honey helps with my allergies. And since they are REALLY bad today, I thought it wouldn't hurt to try. So far I haven't sneezed and it has been about an hour. Maybe it's a coincidence, or maybe I figured out a way to stop sneezing without taking allergy medication that will knock me out!! : )

Anyway, it's not an exciting recipe, but I want to remember that there are basic, easy recipes out there that I can make. And since this is my online cookbook of sorts, I'm filing it away with the rest of the recipes!

Caribbean Jerk Wrap with Carrot Raisin Slaw

I got the idea for the Caribbean Jerk Wrap from Native Sun. When we shop there we always get one, and they are sooooo good! Fortunately, they have to list all the ingredients on the label, so they pretty much tell you how to make them!

I made this one just a little different because I had a recipe for the Carrot Raisin Slaw from the book Eat To Live (great read). After making the slaw I realized that it was similar to the ingredients inside the wrap, so I just used that. I made a TON of slaw, so it made sense!

To make the wrap, I seasoned a piece of tempeh with jerk seasoning and baked in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. You can eat it raw, so I wasn't concerned with how long it cooked. I just left it there while I made the slaw. When I took it out, I decided to toss it in the food processor and added some more jerk seasoning, fresh juice from an orange, and some hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce was NOT in the recipe, but molasses and brown sugar was and I thought Hoisin was a better and easier option.

The Carrot Raisin slaw included shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, raisins, apple juice, mustard, lemon juice, and diced apples. The recipe also calls for a baked potato, but I didn't think it sounded good with the rest of the ingredients. Instead, I added some diced honey mango. We served it on the side and inside of the wrap.

So inside the wrap we had the jerk tempeh, the carrot raisin slaw, and some romaine lettuce. Matt said it was better than the one we got at the store. I'm not so sure. I'm pretty sure that Native Sun marinated the tempeh before baking, but I didn't plan ahead. I had some leftovers for lunch today. Definitely going to make this one again! And this was our first time making something with tempeh, which I am not a huge fan of! Yum!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Insalata Caprese

This is one of my favorite salads to make. It's pretty and sooooo tasty! But obviously we can't have mozzarella cheese right now, so I decided to make it with avocado. It has a close texture to fresh mozzarella and also tastes great with balsamic vinegar (I guess that makes this recipe bi-winning!).

You can make this salad a number of ways, but my favorite is to layer it with a slice of tomato, a piece of avocado, and a piece of basil. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar and grind some fresh salt and pepper over the top and enjoy! Make sure to get one piece of each element in every bite.

Ahhh... I'm not sure there is anything better than fresh basil! : D

Zucchini Wraps

I made some zucchini wraps yesterday for lunch. They took a lot of work, but they sure were cute and a nice and light snack. I got the idea from a recipe, but the recipe was just NASTY. The filling was mushrooms and onions with soy sauce and apple cider vinegar. I had some reservations at the thought of those flavors all together, and sadly it was even worse than I imagined! So... I decided to go with some things that I knew would taste good. I filled the zucchini with some alfalfa sprouts, two little strips of zucchini (because I had some left over), two leaves of baby spinach, and a little piece of mushroom. They were wrapped with a string of carrot.

In order to make these wraps, you need to use a mandolin slicer and cut long strips of the zucchini. Then julienne the carrot for the "ties." Then lay everything out on a plate (or paper towel) and lightly salt it. Set aside for a while, and then pat everything dry. The salt will make the zucchini and carrot flexible for rolling/tying.

The recipe also had a ginger dipping sauce, which included sun dried tomatoes. I started off with the sun dried tomatoes, and then I decided not to ruin them by following the rest of the recipe. Sun dried tomatoes and ginger... not so sure about that one and my instincts were right the first time. So I added some basil, garlic cloves, olive oil, water, and a little sea salt to come up with a nice puree. We spread it on top of the little wraps, and Matt loved it!



I decided to make more for dinner since we had a ton of the sun dried tomato puree left. Instead of the carrot (which was a pain to use) I tried using strips of green onion. They were easier to tie, but they liked to come undone. So carrot is definitely the better thing to use. You just need to be patient. This time I only put mushroom and spinach inside. It was just okay. I found another recipe in one of my new vegan cookbooks that looks promising, so I'll give it another shot. They really are cute! Now if they could just taste good enough to be worth the effort...

Raw Vegan Key Lime Pie

I thought the Raw Vegan Cheesecake was good, but this Key Lime Pie recipe is way better! And I'm actually not a big fan of key lime pie!

Some notes about the recipe. I didn't have any almonds, so I used raw cashews and some peanuts for the crust. I also didn't have raisins (why would I? They are gross!). The crust is still awesome! I'm not sure you can mess this up.

Unless... you don't taste the filling before you put it in the pie. Ours was WAY too tart. I mean pucker your lips and squint your eyes tart! I added some raw honey, but it didn't do the trick and I only had a little left, so I resorted to using a bit of Splenda (bad, I know). But... I saved the pie!

For the "frosting," I used almond milk instead of water and dates instead of honey. I topped the entire pie with some shredded coconut. Heaven in every bite! I'm seriously in love! And I'm beyond excited about it having avocado in it. I just think it's brilliant! This was yet another Raw Guru recipe. I love that site!



Crust:
1 cup almonds
2 cups walnuts
1 cup dates
1/3 cup raisons
2 tbs. orange juice

Filling:
2 big avocados or 3 small ones
juice of 4 limes or 7 keylimes
zest of the limes/keylimes
1/2 cup cashew nuts

Frosting:
1/2 cup almond milk or water
1 cup mac nuts
1/4 cup Cashews
1 vanilla bean scraped (optional)
3 tbs honey or 7-10 dates

Garnish:
Crushed pistachios
lemon wedges
Methods/steps

Preparing crust:
Process all ingredients until crumbly and soft. Press into a 10 inch springform pan and chill

Preparing filling:
Either blend everything in blender until thick and creamy or put through juicer (ie: champion, greenpower)

Preparing frosting:
Put everything in a clean blender and whip it up until nice and smooth. No lumps please.

Assembly:
Take out the chilled crust. spoon the filling on top. Smooth it out with a spatula or spoon. Let chill for 1 hour. Take it out and then pipe or spoon the frosting on top. Garnish with lemon/lime wedges and chopped pistachios. Put in the fridge/freezer for another hour to set and enjoy.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Thoughts

It's late at night, and as usual the quiet leads to a lot of internal conversations with myself. Right now I'm thinking about our fast and how it's changing my life. After over 11 years of wanting to go vegetarian and going back and forth about it, I think it may be time to make a commitment to making a life change. I've been talking it over with Matt and he likes the lifestyle changes we've been making during the fast, but he's not quite convinced about making this long term. I think we may have a compromise - one day a week of allowing seafood into our diet. The biggest challenge to committing to changing to a vegetarian lifestyle is not so much will power (though that is A challenge). The bigger challenge is our schedule. Traveling and long wedding days mean that we eat whatever is accessible. So at least for now, having one day a week where we can allow ourselves some flexibility may be just what we need to get started.

Right now I'm getting a lot of inspiration from Elena Wilkins of Vegalicious.com. I found her site as I was searching for recipes for the Daniel Fast, and I just feel I connect so much with her personal journey with nutrition and health and also her beliefs about natural healing over medicine. For most of my life I have believed in the body's natural ability to heal itself over relying on pills - ESPECIALLY when it comes to pain. So I don't take aspirin when I have a headache (unless I am to the point of wanting to cry). Even when I had my tonsils removed I stopped taking my pain meds after a day or two. We rely so much on pills to cure everything, when the side effects of them are usually worse than the symptoms that they cure. And medicine to relieve pain is the worst, because that pain is there to tell you that something is wrong.

So I'm against the idea of putting toxic things into my body - like tobacco, drugs, medicine - but I have put so much toxic food into my body. My body has been telling me for most of my life that it doesn't like dairy, and while I've removed some dairy from my diet I still include some things. Really, I need to commit to letting it ALL go.

But my reasons for wanting to change my lifestyle are more than physical. After working in food sales and marketing, I just learned entirely too much about what we eat. Every time I have tried to go vegetarian, I've been challenged by people - as if they are personally offended by my decision. But if they knew what they were eating - really knew - I bet some of them would change also. They are offended that I'm eating things that God put on Earth for us to eat (things that they also eat) but yet they think it's perfectly okay to eat a dead carcass?

I feel like God is speaking to me right now, and saying that it's time to make a change. I'm not going to try to convince other people that they should do the same (except for maybe my hubby, because he and I both need a healthier lifestyle). But if this change makes my life better, then I hope someone else will learn from it. Every time I fast, I feel a huge difference in my life - physically, mentally, and spiritually. I have more energy and I'm just generally happy and more at peace with myself. And what's crazy is that during the fast, eating this way is so easy for me. But once the fast is over, I go back to my bad habits. That's why this time we're fasting for almost two months! Two months of creative, healthy recipes should prove that we can change our lives. And I can tell you, we have loved the food we've been eating. In fact, I am MORE satisfied with the food we are eating now than what we were eating before. I can't count the number of times we've regretted eating unhealthy food (and too much of it).

It's just about bedtime. My thoughts are all over the place and what better way to process them than to write about it on my blog? : )

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Baja Taco Wraps

After two night of Thai-inspired dishes that were on the sweet side, I was excited to have something savory. Baja Tacos totally hit the spot! They were infused with garlic and cilantro flavor for the "cheese," and smoky flavor for the "meat." I will absolutely be making these again!

Some notes... next time I would leave out the cilantro from the "cheese" part. I love cilantro, but I tasted the mixture before adding it and I think it was better. Maybe I would just garnish the tacos with cilantro next time. Also, I added in some mushrooms just for some added nutrition. It seems like ALL of our raw recipes this week are nothing but nuts! I also used a southwestern pepper spice that I picked up the other day in the "meat" part. Really, you can't mess these up!

I apologize about the presentation. It was an afterthought, and by then I had already plopped most of the stuff on there. So it's not pretty, but I promise it is yummy! : )



This recipe comes from the "We Like It Raw" site. It's a recipe by Ani Phyo, and she's pretty amazing! If you visit her site you can find more of her videos and recipes.

Taco "Meat"
1 cup almonds
1 tblsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp sea salt

"Cheese" Spread
1 1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cashews
2 tblsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves
1/4 cup water, as needed

Top with slices of avocado and tomato (or whatever you prefer).

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Raw Pad Thai Salad and Spicy Thai Vegetable Wraps

It only took me one day of eating raw to realize that I needed a BIGGER food processor! So I went out today and bought one, and as I was out and about I also discovered a great little store in Avondale called Green Man Gourmet. They have a great selection of spices!

As I was getting ready to make dinner, I decided to skip ahead to two Thai-inspired recipes that I had planned for later this week. First, I started by making the Spicy Thai Vegetable Wraps that I found on Raw Guru. They weren't very spicy, so next time I may kick up the heat a notch or two. But, regardless, they were amazing! I've never been a fan of collards, but the raw collard leave was a perfect wrap. The soft mango slices inside the wrap mixed with the salty crunch of the raw cashews made things interesting. I was never sure what kind of bite I was going to get!

Next, Matt helped make the raw pad Thai salad that I found on About.com, which was very refreshing. I think next time I'd also like to add a little kick to this one. A little bit of the salad and one wrap and I was full! We have tons of stuff left over, so we'll be making more tomorrow night! Yummy!



Easy Raw Pad Thai Salad Recipe
2 zucchinis, sliced into strips with a vegetable peeler
2 large handfuls of bean sprouts, approx 2 cups
3/4 cup chopped nuts (use almonds, peanuts or cashews)
1 red or yellow bell pepper, sliced into strips
4 green onions, diced
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
juice from one lime
1 tablespoon raw, cold-pressed olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preparation:
Toss all ingredients together in a bowl until well coated. Add a dash more salt if desired and enjoy!


Spicy Thai Vegetable Wraps
1/2 cup chopped raw Cashews (dehydrated, if preferred)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chipped red chile, seeds included
1 1/2 tablespoons nama shoyu
1 cup raw almond butter
1/2 head savoy cabbage, shredded
6 very large collard green leaves
1 large carrot, cut into matchstick-size pieces
1 large ripe mango, cut lengthwise into strips, about 1/4-inch thick
2 cups bean sprouts
1 handful cilantro leaves
1 handful torn basil leaves
1/2 handful mint leaves (torn or cut if leaves are large)

The site also includes a Tahini dipping sauce, but honestly I don't think the wraps need a dipping sauce. They are packed with sweet, salty, and spicy flavor already!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Falafel Salad

Since we had a ton of falafel left over from last night, I thought I would make a nice salad with Tahini dressing to go with some of the falafel for lunch today. It was delicious, but I can't even finish the whole salad. The falafel are so filling!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Raw Vegan Cheesecake

Up til now, we've only been having fresh fruit for dessert. But to make the challenge of going raw for one week even "sweeter," I decided to try out some recipes for raw desserts. I think I now have my hubby sold on the idea of raw foods!

This recipes was so easy to make! It took a little time, but it was well worth it. My hubby and I both had a second slice of it tonight! I found this recipe on the Gone Raw website and I knew I HAD to make it this week! I may just have to make it EVERY week! Try it... you won't be disappointed!!



Raw Vegan Cheesecake

In this raw food cheesecake, dried coconut is used as the bottom layer (to replace the crumbled graham crackers), macadamia nuts are used for the bulk of the "crust" layer, and cashews make up most of the "cheese" portion.

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer Ingredients:

1/4 cup of dried coconut

Crust Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of raw macadamia nuts
1/2 cup of dates
1 pinch of sea salt (optional)

Raw Cashew Cheesecake Filling Ingredients:

3 cups of cashews
3/4 cup of lemon juice
3/4 cup of raw honey (or other raw sweetener)
3/4 cup of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of vanilla

Sauce Ingredients:

2 cups frozen mixed berries (or any frozen fruit)
1/2 cup of dates
Preparation:

Directions:

1. Sprinkle coconut on the bottom of cheesecake pan (or any glass 'baking' dish).
2. Blend crust ingredients (you'll see when it starts to get 'crusty') in food processor and spread on top of coconut layer.
3. Blend filling ingredients in food processor and then spread on top of crust layer.
4. Cool in fridge or freezer to firm up a bit. It took about 45 minutes in the freezer when I prepared it.
5. Blend sauce ingredients in food processor and then spread on top of cheesecake layer.

Raw Falafel and Tabouleh

We started off our raw challenge with something we are very familiar with - falafel and tabouleh! They're both great vegetarian items, but falafel is fried and tabouleh has cous cous in it, so this was our first time trying it RAW!

I wasn't sure what to expect. I saw comments that it's really better than the "cooked" versions, and it took a lot of prep work to make these. Plus the recipes yielded A LOT of food! With so many leftovers, it would have been bad if we didn't like it!

Fortunately, we loved it! Matt said the tabouleh was his favorite, and I really enjoyed the falafel. I would definitely say it had more flavor than regular falafel. You could really taste the ingredients since it wasn't fried. The tabouleh was really interesting because the recipe used cauliflower instead of cous cous. And though I looooove cous cous (and hate cauliflower!), I really didn't miss it in this recipe!

I found both recipes on the Raw Guru website. It's a fantastic resource, though for this recipe it didn't really share any directions. I took all of the ingredients for the falafel and put it in the food processor. Then I formed meatball sized balls and put them in the fridge. For the tabouleh, I put the cauliflower and cilantro in the food processors, but everything else I diced by hand. I would suggest cutting the recipe in half unless you are going to a potluck or family reunion. It's a ton of food!



Falafel
2 portobello mushroom caps - cubed
2 medium carrots - peeled and sliced
1/2 small onion - diced
1 garlic clove - sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup raw pistachios
3/4 cup raw almonds
3/4 cup sunflower seeds - soaked for at least 30 minutes
1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds


Tabouleh
1 large cauliflower head - florets only
3 cups cucumber - peeled, seeded, and finely diced
3 cups chopped parsley or cilantro
3 cups tomato - seeded and diced
1/3 cup scallions - thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper


Tahini sauce (we dipped our falafel in this sauce)
1 cup raw Sesame Tahini
1 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt

Raw Week

Matt and I are so pumped up about our challenge for Week 3 of our fast! When we decided to do the fast, we knew that being vegan for a month (longer for me) wouldn't be so bad. We cook a lot of vegetarian dishes anyway, so we just had to cut out a few more things. So to really push ourselves, we said we would make Week 3 a raw week!

I was so worried about it because we haven't really done this before. And raw recipes aren't that easy. A lot of them have things that I can't pronounce or have even heard of. Fortunately, that helped me eliminate a lot of recipes. I found a few recipes for this week's dinners, and I am so excited about it that I said "Hey, let's start it a day early!"

We hit the farmer's market to get as much off our grocery list as we could. We found most of our ingredients there:



8 zucchini
4 Asian pears
5 avocados
12 limes
10 lemons
1 bag of yellow onions
2 bags of bean sprouts
1 cabbage
10 oranges
1 cauliflower
8 apples
2 containers of blackberries
1 huge piece of ginger (and that was a SMALL one)
5 tomatoes
6 Roma tomatoes
1 huge bag of romaine hears
1 bag of Bosc pears
2 bunches of green onion
1 container of baby spinach
8 cucumbers
2 bunches of cilantro
2 packs of mushrooms
1 pack of baby bella mushrooms
and 12 pints of strawberries

This massive pile of fresh deliciousness only cost us $58! It would have been twice as much if we had gone to Publix.

So we're getting ready for our first night of our raw week, and I've already made a gorgeous vegan raw cheesecake for dessert. I've been tasting some of the ingredients along the way, and I know it's going to rock! I will definitely post some pics and the recipe and report on how it turns out! : )

Friday, March 11, 2011

Zeytinyagli Mantarli Kuskonmaz

Tonight we made a Turkish dish with a name that is much too long for what it is. It's basically sauteed asparagus and mushrooms! But it sure sounds fancy! : )

I got this recipe from Mediterranean Vegan. I know we'll be trying some other recipes from there in the future!

For this one, I added some onion because I had half of one that needed to be used. I also used both fresh squeezed lemon and lemon zest. And before I took the pan off the stove, I added in about 5 drops of soy sauce. It just looked like it could use some! Matt and I both really liked it. He said it was nice and light. It was very easy to throw together. I'm sure we'll make it again sometime!

3 tbsp olive oil
10-12 mushrooms, sliced
1 bundle of asparagus, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tsp lemon zest or lemon juice
2 cups cooked rice (optional)

In a large pan, heat the 3 tbsp olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the chopped mushrooms, asparagus, salt, pepper, and lemon zest and sauté for 10 minutes. If you are using rice, add the cooked rice and mix for another 3 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Lettuce Wraps

Tonight as Matt and I were driving around, we talked about all the places that we passed and how we couldn't eat there. So Matt posed the question, "If you could have anything right now, what would it be?" I'm sure he expected me to say something bad, but I answered him honestly and said "lettuce wraps." In anticipation of next week's challenge of eating nothing but raw/living foods, I've been reading and thinking about possible meals for us. One that I was planning on was lettuce wraps. I've never made them before, but today I was considering what to put inside the wrap and I thought of a dressing to put on them and honestly have been craving them all day.

So we stopped at the grocery store and picked up some Boston lettuce and some other ingredients for our lettuce wraps. All the while, I was thinking "Please let these be as good as they are in my head, or he is going to hate me!" Well, fortunately it worked out because it is the BEST thing we've had since starting the fast! I may just eat them every day next week!!

I started off by making the "dressing" so that all the flavors had some time to blend together. I took some fresh ginger and garlic and diced them up, squeezed the juice of one lemon, and added just a little bit of olive oil and soy sauce to a dressing container. I also zested the lemon and put ALL of it into the dressing. I'm a bit obsessed with lemon zest (hey, that rhymes!!). I let it sit while I was prepping the rest of the stuff for the wraps (occasionally shaking it up).

For the filling, I grabbed a big bowl and tossed in my ingredients as I cut them up:

shredded carrots
diced zucchini
diced mushrooms
diced tomato
alfalfa sprouts
soy nuts
green onion

Then I washed our cute little Boston lettuce, dried it, and assembled it on the plate to get ready for the yummy filling. I gave the dressing another shake and added it to the bowl of filling, stirred it all around and added a bit of salt and pepper then filled all of the lettuce leaves. In the center I added some carrot sticks just because something needed to be there.

Oh... my... goodness! The lettuce wraps were amazing! The dressing really made it. Can you really go wrong with ginger, garlic, and lemon zest? I think not!

Wheat Spaghetti with Garden Sauce

After a couple of disappointing meals, we decided to go with a safe choice - spaghetti! I can't believe that I didn't eat spaghetti for a long time. Growing up, my Grandma made spaghetti EVERY Sunday. It was even included in her obituary, because she was semi-famous in her hometown for it.

Well, I don't quite make spaghetti the same way as Grandma, but I'm always inspired by her when I made spaghetti. The difference is that hers had a TON of meat in it, and I like to put tons of veggies in mine! Last night I added even more than usual, and we loved it!

First, Matt and I had some challenges with rolling the pasta. I turned around and had this soupy mess in a bowl and I just started laughing. He was stirring it, I guess hoping it would thicken. It was hilarious!

We finally sorted that out and now Matt knows what consistency pasta needs to be before it can be rolled! Then I started working on the sauce. I always start off with a little olive, and once the pan is hot I toss in some garlic and onion. I love the aroma that fills the air when those two start going! Ahhhhh! : )

I also added some zucchini, since I had a bit left over from our sushi night, and some fresh mushrooms. Then I added some fire roasted canned tomatoes and (gasp) a jar of Barilla spaghetti sauce. And every time I use a jar of sauce I remember my Grandma telling me "That isn't sauce!" But we didn't have tomato paste in the pantry, so I had no other choice. Besides, if you ask Matt the sauce was rockin'!

I know my cell phone pics are horrible, but it was awesome! My Grandma had it right - you just can't go wrong with a big bowl of spaghetti!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Palak "Paneer"

I LOVE INDIAN FOOD!! It is my favorite food! So when I was planning this week's menu I knew I had to include an Indian dish. I've made Indian food before, but it doesn't count when you just buy a sauce that is already made. This was my first time cooking an Indian meal from scratch.

I found this recipe on About.com. It was pretty good, but I think it could have been better. It may have been the quality of the spices that I used. I added more spices than it required, but that still didn't seem like enough. Also, next time I would not put the spinach in a food processor. The photo shown on About.com doesn't appear to have been put into one, even though it says to do so in the instructions.

Ingredients:

* 1 package firm or extra firm tofu, well pressed and sliced into 1 inch cubes
* 2 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 3 tbsp curry powder
* 1 tsp turmeric
* 1 tbsp cumin
* 1/4 tsp ginger
* 2 tbsp water
* 1/3 cup soy yogurt
* 6 bunches of spinach

Preparation:
Sautee tofu and garlic in two tablespoons of olive oil until tofu is lightly crisp.

In a separate large skillet or a wok, heat the other tablespoon of olive oil. Add the spices and water, then whisk in the yogurt.

Add the spinach, stirring to cover in the yogurt sauce. Remove from heat and process the spinach mixture in a food processor or blender until almost creamy.

Return the spinach to the skillet and add the tofu. Cook and stir until the tofu is well mixed with the spinach.



I may or may not try this recipe again. I think there are plenty of other Indian dishes that I want to try before making this one again. I did like that it included so much spinach, though! Yummy!!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Spaghetti Squash with Basil-Walnut Cream Sauce

Last night we made a recipe from the Ultimate Daniel Fast blog: http://www.ultimatedanielfast.com/2010/10/looks-like-pasta-tastes-like-pasta.html

Matt and I both felt about the same about it. It was good, and we ate it all, but not sure it's something we would make again. We had some leftover asparagus and baby bella mushrooms from last night's sushi dinner so I sauteed them in a pan and added it on top. If I hadn't done that, I think the dish would have been a bit boring just because the cream sauce is so mild. But I'm glad that we tried it out. It was satisfying, just nothing too exciting.



Tomorrow night we're going back to international food and we'll be spicing it up with an Indian dish! We also found an Asian food market near our house and we're so glad because we found a lot of things that we can't find at the regular grocery store. I may be able to convince Matt to permanently go vegetarian now that I can find everything I need to make pho from scratch! Oh, and the nori that we paid $8 for at Native Sun we found for $1.59 at this store. Plus they had Asian Pears for only $2 each (Matt's absolute favorite fruit). Score!!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Vegan Sushi Night!

As we head into Week 2 of our fast, I decided to create a menu of international dishes for the next 7 days. We started tonight by rolling our own sushi! It was delicious and so fun to make! I also made a cucumber salad and some pan fried tofu since I had some tofu left over from last night.

I prepped all the veggies and the rice earlier this afternoon. I steamed some asparagus and baby bellas for one of the rolls, made 1 cup of brown rice, and made the cucumber salad. I also sliced up some fresh ginger, made wasabi, and chopped some fresh parsley for garnish.


Cucumber Salad
This is such an easy and refreshing little salad. It's just sliced cucumbers and rice wine vinegar. However, I made a lemon-ginger dipping sauce for the sushi that I ended up dipping my cucumbers in, so next time I will be using that for the salad! It was delightful!


Lemon-Ginger Sauce
I found this recipe on the Vegan Eats blog and it just sounded incredible:
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
½ heaping teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced

I used just a little bit of honey instead of sugar. It's a nice complement for veggie futomaki. But as I said, next time I plan to use this as the dressing for our cucumber salad!


Futomaki
We made 3 different futomaki. If you have never rolled sushi before, you can find a ton of video tutorials online. Here's one site to check out: http://www.marisabaggett.com/2008/05/29/brown-sushi-rice-a-wholesome-alternative/

Roll #1: Cucumber, avocado, and carrot
Roll #2: Zucchini, avocado, and carrot
Roll #3: Asparagus, baby bella mushrooms, carrot and avocado (the asparagus and mushrooms were steamed earlier and then chilled in the refrigerator)

Roll #3 was our favorite by far. It was just so good! The texture of the mushrooms is similar to fish, and the carrot gave it a little crunch and the flavor of the asparagus just made everything right. A little avocado to give it a smooth finish and it was everything you could want in a roll. The other rolls were light and refreshing, and we couldn't finish everything. Fortunately, since there's no fish in the rolls we saved them and will hopefully be able to have the rest for lunch tomorrow! It's in a vacuum-sealed container, so hopefully it will keep.

This is definitely going to be on our regular rotation of meals! I wouldn't be surprised if we end up making it once a week, or at least every other week!


Cucumber Salad



Pan Fried Tofu and Asparagus/Mushroom Roll



Rolls 1 and 2 (one made with too much rice and another made with too little! LOL!)

Friday, March 4, 2011

Tofu and Fried Rice and... Sweet Potato Fries??

Sigh... tonight's dinner was a success and a failure. Everything tasted great, but I misunderstood my hubby earlier today and thought he asked me to make some sweet potato fries tonight. So that threw off my plans for our stir fry night and I cut out the vegetables to make room for his fries. I added a salad so we'd have "something" green, but while we were eating dinner he said "This would be great with some stir fried vegetables, too." I just had to laugh.

But... the GOOD thing is that I get to share two recipes tonight! I can't tell you how much I LOOOOOVE pan fried tofu! I love it so much, in fact, that I started prepping dinner about 2 hours before I started couldn't just because I was craving the tofu! It makes my heart sing! : )

Pan Fried Tofu and Fried Rice
Take some extra firm tofu and slice it according to your desired size/thickness. Set down some paper towels (about 4 sheets thick) and lay the tofu out on it to drain some of the moisture. After the paper towels are drenched I put down a new set and flip the tofu slices over and move them to the new towels to dry a little more. This will help with achieving crispy tofu that is to die for!

While the tofu is drying, I make my brown rice. I just use instant rice so it only takes 5 minutes, but you want to let the rice cool completely before you toss it in the pan for fried rice. So just make it and set it aside.

Spray the bottom of the frying pan with some olive oil (highly recommend using something like a Misto so you don't have to use much). Heat the pan on medium-high heat and make sure it's very hot. You want the tofu to sizzle when it hits the pan! Put the tofu in the pan and and cook for about 8 minutes on the first side. Don't shake it and move it around. You oiled the pan so it shouldn't stick. : )

At this time you can season the tofu. I just put a little sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. When it was ready to be flipped, I added just a tad more olive oil and also added some lemon zest that I put aside from making my pitcher of water earlier. I also saved a piece of lemon and I squeezed the juice over the tofu... ah! My mouth waters just thinking about crispy tofu with some lemon!

The tofu only needs to cook 4-5 minutes on the other side. Remove it and set aside. Add about a teaspoon of olive oil back into the pan and coat to get ready for your rice. Add the cooled brown rice to the pan and shake it around so it all coats with the oil. Add a little soy sauce to taste. I also add just a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic powder because I think they should be in everything!

I think I'll just have to make this again next week so I can add the vegetables to it! It really was a delicious dish!


Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet potato fries are so delicious and easy to make! Just wash your sweet potatoes and slice them up into fries. Heat the oven to 425 and arrange the fries on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Spray the top of the fries with olive oil (you really need a Misto or similar for this - drizzling olive oil won't do). I think they cook for about an hour, but make sure you keep an eye on them so you know when to flip them. I season them with some seasoning salt. This recipe came from my friend Nancy (including the Misto, which she bought me for my birthday!). I can already tell we'll be making sweet potato fries a lot next football season! They are awesome!

Water

I'm so excited about getting some use out of our big pitcher that we bought! I intended for it to be used this spring/summer for fresh lemonade and tea but it's perfect for water during our fast! I just slice up a lemon and a lime and squeeze the juice into the pitcher and fill with water and it lasts us the entire day. I don't mind drinking plain water, but this is just more fun and it's pretty!

We've also tossed in cuccumber and oranges (not together). But I love having lemons and limes on hand to add some flavor to what I'm cooking. I try to zest them whenever I think I can add it to the dishes (like I did tonight) or a side salad.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Enchilada Bake

One of Matt's favorite things from our last fast was the Enchilada Bake that I made. Instead of referring back to the recipe, I just grabbed a bunch of ingredients and made it the way I felt like it. Because that's how I roll! : )

I set the oven to broil and placed 6 corn tortillas on a cookie sheet, lightly misted and salted them and placed them in the oven. When they got a little brown I flipped them over. The casserole dish I used fit about 6 tortillas across the bottom, and I made 3 layers.

While the tortillas were browning in the oven, I started making the filling. I started with a little olive oil and some diced onions. Then I added some unsalted corn and diced green peppers (which I bought frozen because I wasn't sure I'd be using green pepper this week). Next I added kidney beans (next week I'll buy dry beans, as I was disappointed to see that the canned kidney beans had CORN SYRUP in them - nasty!). I also added some diced tomatoes, green chiles and enchilada sauce (save a little sauce to top the casserole). Everything cooked over medium-high heat and I used garlic powder, Adobo, pepper, sea salt, and a little curry to season.

At the same time, I heated up some refried beans (vegetarian kind) and seasoned them with Adobo and lime juice.

Once everything was done cooking, I was ready to layer the enchilada bake! I sprayed the bottom of the casserole dish with a little olive oil (just because I adore my Misto so much!!) and started with a layer of tortillas. Next I added a layer of refried beans and then a layer of my filling and topped with soy cheese. Added another layer of tortillas, beans, filling, and cheese and then topped the dish with a layer of tortillas and some more soy cheese. I forgot to save some of the enchilada sauce to top it with, but I didn't feel like opening another can.

I let everything bake together for about 30 minutes and then served it on top of a bed of mixed greens and garnished with green onions. Definitely an easy dish to make, and hard to mess up. Who knows what I will throw in there next time!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Homemade Wheat Pasta

One of the things I am enjoying most about my fast is preparing the food. As I make everything, I reflect not only on the ingredients that are going into the meal but also focus on how the fast gives me a closer connection to God. It also makes me thankful for the abundance of delicious things that God put on this planet for us to eat!

Last night I finally went out to get a pasta machine. I've been wanting to get one for a while now. I roll my own gnocchi and there's just something amazing about making your own pasta. It tastes better, it's fun, and being in the kitchen always reminds me of my Grandma.

We made wheat spaghetti tonight. I didn't want Matt to miss out on the fun, so I had him come in to the kitchen to crank the pasta roller. He also prepared the salad while I sauteed some baby bellas, spinach, and garlic top put on top of our fresh pasta. It's so fun to cook together, and after dinner we washed the dishes together. I'm thankful for having time to enjoy dinner with my honey!

I'm not one for actual recipes, but here's how I made the pasta:

1 cup 100% whole wheat flour
1/2 cup water (plus another 1/2 cup on standby to add as needed)
Pinch of salt

Place the flour into a bowl and add 1/2 cup of water. Mix the dough with your hands until the water is all mixed in. Keep some additional water nearby, and reach in to the water with your fingers and just splash a little on the dough. Continue until you have a workable dough and kneed it a few times. Roll into a bowl and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

Before you start rolling your dough, start your water bowling!

Open your pasta roller to it's widest setting and take about half of the dough and roll it through. Fold in half and place the creased side back through the roller. Repeat two more times. For the last two times, I actually adjusted the setting to make the pasta a little thinner (started on a 7 and ended on a 5). Don't worry if it looks like it's falling apart the first time through. It will get better as you put it through more!

By now you should have a nicely pressed dough. Send it through the type of pasta cutter you want and you're done! It takes about 5-8 minutes to cook.


To top our pasta, I just sauteed some baby bella mushrooms in olive oil. Then I added some fresh garlic and a bag of spinach. Season with fresh black pepper, sea salt, and garlic powder (yes, I always cook with fresh garlic AND garlic powder because I LOVE garlic!). Cover and stir frequently until the spinach is cooked through. Add some chopped tomato and cook for another minute or two. Top with soy parmesan cheese and YUM!

Juice, juice, baby!

I thought I was crazy to allow myself only liquids during the day for my fast, but it really isn't as hard as it sounds. This afternoon I had a smoothie (unsweetened soy milk, strawberries, and oranges - next time will do bananas). But for "breakfast" I had my favorite juice combo - apples, oranges, and carrots! Mmmmm!!!

Is it cheating if I added a little strawberry garnish to my liquid breakfast? ; )