Pizza Salad

Okay, this is probably not revolutionary, but it made my day.  TH was having raw pizza for dinner last night.  (It makes me so happy that he loves raw pizza!)  

I was trying to decide what to make for my lunch the next day when it hit me- raw pizza salad! 

I started with a bowl of zucchini noodles.

Then I added a mound of kale, chopped and marinated in a little EVOO, ACV, and sea salt.

Carmella's tomato sauce from Delightfully Raw came next.  (I love that stuff.)

Viv had previously blended some cheeze for TH's pizza so I added a bit of that, along with some olives. 

Macadamia Nut Cheeze

1 cup macadamia nuts

juice of 1 squeezed lemon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 cup water

Blend until smooth, adding more water if necessary.

It was such a delicious lunch!  I'm so glad I have enough ingredients to make more for tomorrow. 

Question:  Do you make actual salad recipes, or just toss together whatever veggies/fruits you have available?  (I tend to ignore the salad sections in recipe books.  Maybe I shouldn't...?)

Birdseed Cookies

Yesterday I declared my intention to tell you about the quinoa cookies I made.

Now, I have to put a disclaimer out there that I think they are delicious, but they are not 'cookies' in the 'I-could-eat-the-whole-bowl-of-raw-dough' cookies.  They taste healthy!  

Sprouted Quinoa Cookies

3/4 cup pecans 

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and soaked overnight (until tails pop out)

 3 soaked dates

1 ripe banana
 1 tsp vanilla
 1/2 tsp salt
 1 tsp cinnamon

add-ins of choice (raisins, walnuts, goji berries, chocolate chips, etc.)

Pulverize pecans in a food processor.  Add all of the other ingredients and mix until smooth.  Hand mix in any add-ins and then spoon onto lined D trays.  Dehydrate four hours (105 degrees) and then remove liners and continue to dehydrate on the mesh for another four hours. 

I added in left over chocolate chips from Matthew Kenny's Everyday Raw. 

Question:  Do you like the taste of quinoa?  (I know someone who can't eat it because she thinks it tastes like birdseed.)  

Kickin' it with Kale

If you eat a lot of raw food, you know the joys of kale.  However, if you are new to raw shenanigans, you might think of kale only in terms of reuseable salad bar decoration. I remember waiting tables in college, fluffing out the same pieces of salad bar kale for weeks on end.  I never knew the stuff was edible.

Now I eat it as often as possible.

In smoothies:

In the form of kale chips: 

Marinated and massaged:

Today I cut thin strips of dinosaur kale and massaged a little olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and ACV into the leafies.  I let it sit while I skied and on my return, poured some of yesterday's curry soup over the top.  It was sooooo good.  Sometimes I think things taste better when I know they are healthy for me.

I also had a small bowl of beet salad from the Flying Squirrel. 

My good friend, Shannon at Healthy Starts just posted about checking your digestive system by eating beets.  I'll let you know if I learn anything interesting.  :)

I made some seriously nutritious sprouted quinoa cookies today (that kids might even eat!)- check back in tomorrow for the recipe!  

Question:   Did you eat your kale today? 

Spring Alaska Style

I love hemp seeds!  I buy them in bulk and store them in glass jars in the freezer.  Not only are they nuttily tasty, but they are stacked with goodness: easily digested protein, all essential amino acids, calcium, antioxidants, chlorophyll, and calcium.  (source)  I use hemp in milk, dressing, Kristen Suzanne's Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce, crackers, granola, smoothies, and sprinkled on salads.

Hemp Milk (is super easy)  

1 cup hemp seeds

4 cups water 

At this point you can blend the hemp and water and then strain through a nut bag for smooth, creaminess, adding the below ingredients later.  

(I personally think this step is a messy pain, so I often skip it.)

Put strained hemp milk back in blender and add: 

7 drops liquid stevia

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

I also used hemp seeds in a lovely soup today, in which the base was carrots and peas.  Ela from Ulterior Harmony loves to put peas in soups and smoothies so I went for it.  That girl is on to something.  Peas were a wonderful, thickening, but undetectable ingredient.  I thought this turned out delicious.

Spicy Curry Soup 

4 cups water
1 cup hemp seeds
6 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
10 oz peas (I used frozen)
1/8 cup nama shoyu

2 dates
2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp tumeric

2 tbsp coconut oil 

I put a bowl of soup in the D and headed out for a divine spring ski.  Here is what spring looks like in Austin, Texas:

And here is what spring looks like in Talkeetna, Alaska: 

Open water!!  Very exciting!

 

snowless trees and bluebird sky

The start and end point of my ski was The Flying Squirrel.  This deli/bakery is healthy and innovative and they have ski trails right out the back door.  How cool is that? 

I brought home a raw beet salad to enjoy with my warm curry soup.  

I sat on the sunny porch reading until about 8:30 pm.  Look at the thermometer:

Of course the actual temperature was just over 30 degrees, but the sun felt intense. 

Denali, getting ready for climbing season.

Question:  Do you have a favorite ingredient that you stick into as many recipes as possible?

Clean and Green

This morning on rising I drank a glass of warm water with lemon and cayenne, per Crazy Sexy Diet recommendation.  While the taste was fun, it gave me a very tickly throat and made my empty stomach a tad uneasy.  Does anyone drink this concoction joyfully?

Meals today looked very familiar.

Breakfast

Smoothie,  not nuclear waste.

Lunch

I mixed things up a bit.  

zucchini noodles, Delightfully Raw tomato sauce, Brazil nut parmesan  

Snack #1

Snack #2

Satay Kale Chips

2 head kale, deveined and cut into bite sized pieces

3/4 cup almond butter

2 dates

1/2 squeezed lemon

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp nama shoyu

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/4 cup water

couple shakes of red pepper flakes

Blend above ingredients until creamy and then massage into the kale pieces.  Spread pieces onto lined trays and dehydrate at 110 overnight, or until crispy.  

Dinner

big bite of salad

Did you see all those green things I ate?  That makes me so haaaappppppy!  

Question:  What made you happy today? 

Operation Spring Clean my Bod

After a wild and crazy week at SXSW in Austin, my body felt in need of good clean eats.  Maybe it's psychological (probably not), but my pants are feeling a bit snug.  A while ago I read Crazy Sexy Diet and for the most part agreed with the info presented.  (More about that this weekend.)  The book ends with a "21 Day Cleanse" that is not too different from my normal way of eating- except for ixnay on the occasional glass of wine and/or nightly dessert.  I decided to give it a whirl.  Here are my eats from Day 1 of Operation Spring Clean my Bod:

Breakfast

Spinach/Kale/Strawberry/Banana Smoothie

Lunch

Palak Paneer (from Crazy Sexy Diet-almost followed the recipe)

a few olives

an apple 

Pre-Workout Snack

Raw Food Real World corn chips

avocado

Making Dinner Snack (I was starving, darn it!)

Spicy Almond Butter Kale Chips (I will share the recipe when I decide if I love them or not)

Kombucha (picture taken with sunset at 8pm!!)

Dinner

Giant salad with sauerkraut and hemp seeds

Sweet Dijon Dressing from Crazy Sexy Diet 

Dessert (because I don't really like following rules)

Frozen banana (whipped up in FP)

 a little caramel sauce 

So, my food intake today was not that different than pre-Austin eats.  Normally I might snack a bit more after my workout because I get crazy hungry but today I just had a few kale chips and ate an early dinner.  I also usually have a more aggressive dessert.  The other change I made is to try to finish eating by 7pm (as opposed to eating at 9pm). 

Question:  What do you do when your body feels in need of a spring cleaning?  

Hipster Bowling

One of the activities we enjoyed in Austin was bowling at the High Ball.  I don't think I've bowled since high school and I'd forgotten how much fun it is.  

The decor was so hip and beautiful, I just had to share. 

Brunch mimosas were $1!!

I'm not a dairy eater, but I couldn't resist snapping a pic of the cheese plate my friend ordered.  Reminder, we were in a bowling alley! 

I love living in the boonies, but it is so invigorating to get out and see what the sophisticated city folks are up to.  

Spring Break, Y'all

It was not my intention to be absent from the blogoshpere for so long!  TH and I are just returning from my little brother's place in Austin, Texas and the South by Southwest Festival.  I brought my computer, expecting to do a little blogging, but the trip was a whirlwind of music, eating, site seeing, and bar games.

As usual, I stuffed my departure carry-on with dehydrated goodies; this time Cranberry Maple Granola (subbing blueberries) and corn chips, both from Raw Food Real World. The granola was a big hit with everyone who sampled it.

Viv did not get to go on this trip* (a week vacation does not call for checked baggage in TH's mind), so I encouraged the boys to get their vitamins with me, via green smoothies from The Daily Juice or Whole Foods.

*Don't worry,  a friend checked in on her in our absence.  :)

The Austin Whole Foods is actually the flagship store and it is magnificent.  There is a raw food bar which  I visited on numerous occasions.  It's not very often that I get to sample raw food that is not prepared by me.

raw tostada

mock tuna salad

Whole Foods also has a new wine bar, which was surprisingly bumpin'!  Friends of ours joined us in Austin for a few days of the festival and we sampled beer and champagne flights.  It was so much fun to hang out at the bar, occasionally sending someone off on a mission to find delicious, healthy snacks.  I think we spent five hours there one afternoon/evening.  (Whole Foods, will you please come to Anchorage??) 

Austin is a funky, eclectic, vibrant community.  There is a palatable creative energy that seems to pulse through the city.  Here are a few scenes from our week, before I hop on our flight to Anchorage.

 Question:  Did you have a spring break?  If so, what did you do?