Announcements: MoFo, Raw Food Rehab, and Naked Food

Good Morning, Friday!  I'm feeling awesome this morning for many reasons and I'm super excited to make some announcements before the weekend.  First of all, in the blink of an eye Fall weather has arrived in Portland.  One day it was 90 degrees and sunny and then suddenly we have a chill in the air, gray skies, and sprinkles of rain.   I'm an Oregon girl all the way and love everything about this weather!  Boots and cardigans and pumpkins, yay!  My first announcement has a Fall theme.  This year's Vegan MoFo starts October 1st. 

 

This is my first year participating and my theme is going to be Fall inspired raw vegan gluten free yumms.  Pumpkin, apple, persimmon, squash, sweet potato.... I'm going to celebrate Fall's bounty every day in October.  You should sign up too!  Raw vegans represent!

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Another place that's going to be happening starting October 1st is Raw Food Rehab.  They're kicking off their final 11 week initiative RAW BALANCE and Penni Shelton along with her new team are putting together a program that's sure to inspire us to new levels of wellness .  If you're not a member already you might want to check it out.

 

Talk about inspiring... I saw the gorgeous Diana Stobo last night.   She is bursting with energy, encouragement and information about healing and nutrition.  Not to mention absolutely stunning, engaging and super fun to watch.  She's down to earth, approachable and makes getting healthy seem totally do-able (because turns out, it is!).  I picked up her books and can hardly wait to refer some of my raw-curious friends and family to her website and videos.  I love how she's left out the fuss and fancy of getting raw.  She's all about Getting Naked, or "stripping away the foods that weigh you down" to facilitate detoxification and healing.  Ok, I'll stop my star-struck gushing now.  You get the point. 

I'm going to spend some time today planning out my MoFo.  Let me know if you decide to join in on the fun!  Who doesn't want to spend the month of October going nuts about vegan food? 

Light Lunch: GF Pistachio Pesto Wrap

I'm trying my best to get caught up on some things around the house today, but wait... I'm here watching twitter and blogging about my lunch. 

I was in the mood for something quick and high raw so I wrapped up spinach, tomatoes and some pistachio pesto that my bf made earlier in the week.  Yummmm.  The wrap is gluten free, made with teff flour.  It was ok, a little chewy, but not bad in flavor.  The pesto was super flavorful so the teff wrap was really just a vessel for the filling's goodness. 

Ok, back to my chores.  I have a few announcements to make tomorrow about projects I'm starting in October.   Can hardly wait to share! 

Hope you're all having a nice lunch today. 

Lunchbox 9/14/11

Hi-ho, hi-ho....

Clockwise from top left:  grapefruit, kale salad (purple kale, avo, tahini, lemon juice, sea salt, hemp nuts, sunflower seeds), chia pudding (chia seeds, coconut milk, coconut shreds, currants), banana.

Have a great Wednesday!  What are you having for lunch today?
.....

Dinner Two Ways: Veggie Bowls, Raw & Cooked

Sometimes we don't want the exact same thing for dinner.  Our taste buds are in different moods or one of us wants to eat more raw.  Whatever the reason,  it's easy to please everyone with a veggie bowl.  And they're both packed full of vegan, gluten free, nutrient dense goodness.  Here are two that I had on the (coffee) table in about 20 minutes: 

Left = Cooked, Right = Raw

More Cooked Veggie Bowl

 Arugula

Quinoa cooked in Miso Broth

Steamed Kale

Sauteed Mushrooms

Tahini Sauce

Avocado

Green Onion

More Raw Veggie Bowl

Arugula

Raw Kale Salad with Tahini Sauce

Avocado

Green Onion

Both bowls have kale, avocado, green onion, arugula, and tahini sauce, but were just different enough to satisfy both appetites.  I'd like to note that this particular Raw Veggie Bowl is much lighter than my usual dinner would be because I wasn't feeling very hungry.  Normally I would make it more hearty by adding hemp or sunflower seeds, raisins or dates, nut pate, raw hummus, and more veggies.  That's the beauty of the Bowl, it's so easy to customize.  My tahini sauce is super easy to whip up and is good warm or cold.

Quick & Tasty Tahini Sauce

1/2 cup raw tahini

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon miso

1 teaspoon liquid sweetener of choice

salt & pepper to taste

Whisk up in a bowl, adding more water if needed to make a creamy, pourable consistency.  Use as a dip, dressing, or sauce.

Voila!  Two happy eaters in 20 minutes or less.  I love whipping up food that makes everyone healthy and happy.  How do you deal with differences of diet or appetite? 

Jungle Bars & Day 8 of Cleansing Food

Yesterday marked one full week of eating raw and of course I feel great.  My daily diet has been mostly smoothies, juice, and salads with some raw crackers, dips, and whole fruit for snacks.  It was already a delicious experience, then I made Jungle Bars.  They're full of cacao and coconut and raw vegan energy.  Yum! 

Jungle Bars

1 cup medjool dates
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup cacao powder
pinch of salt

Blend in a food processor until fully combined and mixture starts sticking together.

Add 1/2 cup walnuts

Pulse until nuts break into small chunks.  Press the mixture into a 7 inch springform pan.

In a mixing bowl combine:

1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup agave or maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon melted cacao butter
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 teaspoon salt

Spread this mixture on top of cacao mixture.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cacao nibs on top and lightly press into coconut.

 

Chill in refrigerator for an hour.  Remove the top of the springform pan and cut into 1 inch squares.

 

Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container.  Share with friends.  Take 'em to go, they like to travel:

These have really come in handy when I was craving chocolate or sweets.  They're rich so one square does the trick, even with my mega sweet tooth.  Enjoy!

Lunchbox: Raw Cleanse Day 6

After 5 full days of raw food I woke up feeling energized this morning.  Today I go back to work after the long weekend, which means being away from home for 14 hours.  This is my lunchbox:

Clockwise from top left:  Salad (romaine, avo, tomato, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, currents, lemon ginger vinaigrette), Fruit (grapefruit, orange, peaches), Jungle Bars, Frawnch Onion Dip, Raw Crackers.  All Raw Vegan.

I'll also take along some extra pieces of fresh fruit, just in case.  Recipes for the easy Tahini Sauce and Jungle Bars will be posted this later this week.

What are you having for lunch today?  Have a great Tuesday!

Labor Day Picnic Eats: Frawnch Onion Dip and Rosemary Hemp Flax Crackers

Happy holiday Monday U.S. readers!  Today's recipe is perfect for picnics, potlucks, and snack time.  Actually, it's inspired by a dip that showed up at just about every gathering that involved food during my childhood.  French Onion Dip.  You know the one where you take a packet of dried soup mix and stir it up in a tub of sour cream then serve it with some potato chips?  Well, this one is even more tasty than the original and full of healthy raw vegan ingredients. And it blends up in less than five minutes.

 

Frawnch Onion Dip

2 cups raw cashews
Juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic
the white portion of two green onions
1 1/2 cups water

Blend in a high speed blender until smooth & creamy.
Chop up the remaining portion of the green onions used above plus 2 more chopped green onions and stir into the dip.  Sample.  Season with salt  & pepper according to your taste buds.
Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.  The longer this chills the more flavorful it becomes. 

Serve with Rosemary Hemp Flax Crackers (pictured above) or your favorite bread, cracker, chip, or veggie.

Rosemary Hemp Flax Crackers
1 1/2  cups flax
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender.  Spread about 1/2 inch thick on a teflex sheet and dehydrate for 12 hours.  Flip onto a mesh sheet, score if desired, and dehydrate another 12 - 24 hours, or until completely dry and crispy. 

We've been enjoying a tub of Frawnch Onion Dip kept in the fridge for snack attacks at our house and the Rosemary Hemp Flax Crackers are great on their own too.  If you try these recipes let me know what you think! 

Are you going to any food related gatherings today?  What dish are you going to bring?   Do you have a favorite summer picnic dish?