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? 

Tomato Sauce Three Ways

I've been trying out some more complicated recipes lately, but eating raw can be so easy.  I usually make  a sauce, a dressing, and a dip over the weekend.  Throughout the week I just add veggies or raw crackers and I'm good to go.  One sauce that I adore is Carmella's tomato sauce from Delightfully Raw.  I make a double batch at a time and then use it to make veggie pasta, raw pizza, and cracker bites.  It's also really good as a dip for veggies.

Cacao was also kicking it in the D this weekend.  I made Matthew Kenney's chocolate chip cookies, which were quite easy (once the chips are done).  

Warning #1:  These taste nothing like your mom's Tollhouse cookies.  

Warning #2:  It is hard to stop eating these fudgey brown goo piles straight out of the D. 

Warning #3:  Unless you have extra normal sticky-batter spreading skills, they won't look as pretty as Matthew Kenney's.  In fact, they bear a striking resemblance to a prank you can order from the back of a comic book.  

Question:  Do you plan and prepare workweek eats over the weekend, or wing it?  

Viv Goes to Town, Part 2

As I was saying, my kitchen was mayhem over the weekend.  I love experimenting with new recipes, and I was intrigued by Russell James's Tomato and Macadamia Mozzarella Linguine because:

a.  I relish every opportunity to say "mozzarella" in a thick, Italian accent (you know you want to...)
b.  It involved making veggie noodles (hello, Cook Help!)
c.  I could make a pasta tower!
d.  One must drink wine while eating (and making?) pasta.

This recipe was enjoyably creamy, but maybe a little bland.  I added a lot of red pepper flakes to compensate.  I also didn't have any fresh basil, which probably would have helped.  

The next thing I made was Cafe Gratitude's Coconut Curry Soup.  This recipe is a keeper.  It had that perfect Thai restaurant curry flavor, even though I had to substitute coconut flakes blended with water for the young coconut the recipe called for.   I had it again for lunch today over veggie noodles and it was really yummy.

For a dinner party dessert I knew I needed to make something fabulous and appealing to a mainstream group of eaters.  Here's how I got busy with the springform.

Layer 1:  Chocolate coconut crust from Pure 2 Raw's Grasshopper Pie

Layer 2:  Caramel sauce #2 from Sweetly Raw's Just Desserts 

Layer 3:  Nutless Chocolate Creme from Sweetly Raw's Just Desserts

Layer 4:  Whipped Cream from Sunny Raw Kitchen's Banana Chocolate Cream Cake

Layer 5:  Chocolate caramel candy bits: 

• Spread a layer of chocolate (1/2 cup raw cacao, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup melted coco oil, dash of vanilla and sea salt) on wax paper and freeze
• Layer Caramel Sauce #2 on top and allow to freeze
• Add another chocolate layer, freeze, and chop to bits.

This pie, which I am calling "Are You Kidding Me?!", was devoured after a blissful sauna.  I barely escaped the raving fork-wielding mob with a piece intact.   Seriously fabulous.  

Question: Do you have a recipe that you rely on consistently as a crowd pleaser?  

Rawtalian

(Have I mentioned that I really want to be one of those clever individuals who thinks of cutesy names for raw food?)

My eats today felt un piccolo Italiano.  I was in the big city visiting a friend, so I made my customary stop at Freddie's to hit the olive bar.  

I also had pasta with zuke noodles and sauce from Delightfully Raw. 

Yesterday my girlfriend and I were at Natural Pantry in Anchorage.  When I go there I let myself choose one raw snack food item to sample, as they are so pricey and I think I make pretty darn good snack foods myself.  This time I bought granola bars made by Two Moms in the Raw.  We were really hungry and quickly tore into this bag.

My non-raw friend thought they were lovely, and my verdict is the same. The bars somehow tasted hearty and light at the same time.  The sweet/salty ratio was also enjoyable.  Nice job Raw Moms! 

Up until last week I'd been on a hiatus from P90X.  I was able to run and do yoga daily while in Mexico, and then I enjoyed a week of skiing/yoga when we returned.  My X comeback has been hard!  Today during legs and back I had to go to my happy place to get through iso toe lunges.  

Question:  What's your favorite way to exercise?  How do you get through hard workouts?  

Ta-ta, I'm off to my to my happy place!