New Year's Resolution...

My resolution this year?  To make 2010 the best year yet.  This year, I want to take more time for myself.  Do more things that I want to do.  Really take the bull by the horns and make a difference.  What is your resolution??

Molasses... a journey

So, I bought some Organic Molasses yesterday because of all of the good things I've heard about it (high in potassium, high in iron...).  Being the impatient moron that I am (hahaha), I was so excited to try it that I opened it as soon as I got home and took a taste.  BLLLEEEECCHHH!!!!  It was so bitter!  But, rather than getting discouraged about my recent purchase, I decided to make cookies out of it.  What else, right?!  Here is the recipe I threw together...

1/2 C Walnuts
1/2 C Almonds
1/8 C Rasins
1/2 C Dates
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Ground Ginger
2 T Molasses

Grind everything together in a food processor
Roll into balls
Freeze until solid (about 20-ish minutes)

The verdict??

These babies were GREAT!!!!  Molasses is an acquired taste... and with these little guys I think I'll acquire it haha!!

Happy New Year's Eve!  Make it a great day!

UBER Delish Meal- UBER Fast!

Hi all!  I wanted to quickly post a quick meal I made the other day that was absolutely DELISH!

Ok it's not much to look at, but boy was it great!  Here is the recipe:

1/2 C Cooked Lentils

1/2 C Cooked Rice

1/2 C Steamed Broccoli

Handful of Chopped Red Onion

Drizzle of Gluten-Free Tamari (Soy Sauce)

Drizzle of Tahini (Sesame Seed Paste)

That's it!  Mix it all up and you have a meal.  It was SO good.  Happy almost New Year's Eve everybody!

Christmas- Over Already!!

Hello everybody!  It's hard to believe that Christmas came and went so quickly!!  I tried Averie's Raw(ish) Gingerbread Cookies- and I have to tell you, I will make these again and again.  THEY WERE SO GOOD!!! 

Here is the recipe I used (adapted):

1/4 c flax meal (I used Bob's Red Mill Flax Meal)
1/4 c walnuts
2/3 c almonds
2 t cinnamon
2 t ginger
1 t pumpkin pie spice
3 T agave



Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Blend all of the ingredients together in a food processor
Roll into balls or roll out with a rolling pin and plastic wrap and cut with cookie cutters
Bake for 8 minutes


See, they're raw-ish.  I'm not sure what temperature they actually get to...but I bet it's too high for them to really be raw.  If you want them to be raw, you can leave them out on your counter for a few days, dehydrate for a few hours, or put them uncovered in the fridge to harden.  I didn't mind baking them- and they were SO good warm!!!

Isn't that CUTE?!  A healthy cookie.  It was our favorite treat this season.  Thanks for the recipie inspiration, Averie!!!

Drive-Through Diet... give me a break

Yesterday I saw a horrid campaign on the television...

Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet

Ok, sure, if you eat 1250 calories a day, you will lose weight.  Yes, even if your diet is comprised of pop, candy, and cookies... 1250 calories will cause weight loss.  Will you be healthy?  NO.  I can't STAND "diets" like this because THIS IS ONE REASON THAT THERE IS SO MUCH DISEASE IN THIS COUNTRY.  Skinny does NOT equal healthy.  Don't fall for this campaign- the real key to weight loss, and more importantly, HEALTH, is to eat whole, fresh, organic foods.  This campaign is ON THE TV RIGHT NOW.  I can't even watch it without screaming in my head "What is this girl thinking?!".  Brenton just said "So...is this a joke?"

Unfortunately, no... Taco Bell is not making a joke.  They're making a marketing campaign that will probably cause them to make a ton of money.  ...and a ton of sick people.  Make a New Year's resolution to NOT increase your intake of fast food, and in fact, do the opposite.

My FAVORITE Christmas Gift!

Hi guys!!  Just a quickie post before I run out-  I wanted to share my FAVORITE Christmas gift this year...















I got a Wii and Wii Fit Plus this year and I LOVE it.  If you do not yet own one of these babies, you HAVE to get them.  SO FUN.  Seriously.  Brenton and I have been spending HOURS playing it. 

Ok, I will be back later to post some other goodies!

Raw Apple Cobbler

Good-day everybody!  I only have a couple of minutes to post before I have to get our salads ready for dinner.  (We're having BIG Salads.... Seinfeld anyone?)

The other day I made a Raw Apple Cobbler.  A self-made recipe, with the help of Ani Phyo's original Raw Apple Pie recipe.

Topping:
1 C Almonds
1 C Dates, Pitted
1-2 t Vanilla Extract (Alcohol-Free if you want it totally raw)
Dash of Cinnamon

Filling:
4 Apples, Cored, Peeled, and sliced
1 Orange, Peeled and Seeded
1/2 C Dates
Dash of Water
Cinnamon to Taste (I LIKE A LOT!!!!)
Pumpkin Pie Spice to Taste (AGAIN...I LIKE A LOT!!)
1 C Raisins

Directions-

Process (in a food processor) Topping ingredients until finely chopped and mixed together.  Mix should be a little sticky, but crumbly.  Set aside.

Place peeled/seeded orange in food processor with 1/2 C Dates and Dash of Water.  Process until smooth.

In a big bowl, combine the Orange Sauce you just made with the sliced Apples, Raisins, Cinnamon and Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Be sure to mix it really well!

Put the Apple mixture into a Square Pan (I used 8x8), and smooth it out so it's an even layer.  Then, pour the Almond crumble that you made earlier on the top, making sure you cover the whole thing.  You may have some excess crust topping left over.  I sometimes roll the excess with raisins and make raw 'oatmeal' cookies out of them (see the bottom picture).  Or, just dump all of the topping on your cobber... it's good either way~!!!

Refrigerate overnight (if you have the time).

Almost Christmas!

Hi everybody!  It's hard to belive that it's ALMOST CHRISTMAS!  This year has FLOWN by!!  For those of you who are still shopping around for Christmas gifts, I have helped you by creating my own 'must-have list', thank you Amazon.com!  One stop shopping... isn't it great?!







































































































































































These are a few of my favorite things!  I hope this gives you some more shopping ideas!!

Shroom Love!!

Good evening, bloggies!! Tonight I made my absolute favorite new meal- portabella mushroom burgers. OMG guys... this was SO GOOD. Look at these babies!!!



That little black/brown thing is a mushroom cap... under all of my sammich goodies!

Ok, so here's what I did. This is seriously so easy to make.

I took two portabella mushroom caps, cleaned them (aka did the worst thing to do to mushrooms, so I've read... rinsed them under water! AH!!), and marinated them overnight in a mix of garlic, Tamari, and a little bit of EVOO (pretty similar to the raw meatballs I have made). Then, I threw them in a pan over medium heat, and cooked until tender (5 minutes or so). That's it! I then layered them on some Whole Wheat Bread with Onion, Avocado, Lettuce, a little Cheese and some Ketchup. Talk about Heaven in a sammich!! These were so quick and easy to make- I think Brenton would even want them again!

Until next time, Namaste! Don't forget to do some affirmations for the New Moon (and no, I don't mean Twilight...).

Charity Water- 5 Days Left to Donate!

Hi everybody! I don't typically put posts like this up, but this time, it's important.

A group of students (most of whom work for me), are working to raise $5000 for Charity Water, which is an organization that helps bring clean water to parts of the world that need it. This $5000 that these students raise will build a well to bring fresh drinking water to a needy community. Right now, they are at $4,451, and have 5 days left to raise just under $550. Please, if you have the time or ability to do so, donate any amount to this cause. It's amazing what we take for granted in this country that others can not.

This is the link to their site to donate.

Have a wonderful evening! I promise, the raw cookies will be up soon!

Namaste.

Eco-Friendly Christmas Gifts!

'Tis the season to be eco... fa la la la la, la la la la.

For my co-workers this year, I made eco-friendly Christmas gifts. I made these for my flute students last year and got really GREAT reviews!

Gift #1 was a homemade sugar scrub. Since I don't cook/bake with white sugar anymore, I have tons that I didn't just want to throw away. So, why not put it to use? Here are my ingredients...



For all of you Gluten Free readers out there, this is a safe body scrub to use because it is completely GF! This is so simple to make- seriously!!

First, you need a container. I used glass BALL brand jelly jars (8oz), and filled them up half way (so, 4oz...) with sugar, then mixed in just enough olive oil to fully coat the sugar and leave a little bit of oil on the top.





Then, I just put 3 or so drops of Lemon Oil in and mixed it all around. Spoon into jars, and you're done!




This is a great gift to make for yourself, or make in bulk to give as a gift. Be careful though- the oil can make your tub slippery.


Gift #2 was a Rice Hot/Cold Pack. All you do is sew up a little bag out of 100% cotton fabric, fill it with white long grain rice (not instant) about 2/3 of the way, drop in some essential oil (I used lavender), and sew it shut.



You can put this in the freezer for a few hours to use as a cold pack (for say, puffy eyes), or put it in the box of death (aka, the microwave) with a cup of water for a minute or two for an instant heat pack. The lavender made it smell so yummy!!!! Here is the little pack I put together for my co-workers.





Cute, no?

Well, that is all for now- I'll be back soon with some raw cookie recipes that I've made, and will continue to make forever because they're SOOOO GOOD!!!

Holiday Meals... In Review!

Good evening everybody. I have been incredibly MIA for way too long, and for that I apologize! I can't believe how quickly this month... this YEAR... has gone! My halls are decked, packages are wrapped, cards are signed, and festivities are planned, so supposedly I'm ready for Christmas.




But, I'm getting ahead of myself. "How was your Thanksgiving?!" you ask? There were food challenges, but overall, pretty good! I made the lentil loaf, stuffing, and raw pumpkin pie (recipes in my previous post) and it all turned out very well. Even the meat eaters in the group liked it!

Here is the lentil loaf...



...the stuffing...



...the pumpkin pie (in muffin cups)...



...and my plates.





Yeah... that's REAL whipped cream. Nice.

As a reflection back on thanksgiving, in the right company, it wasn't difficult to be a vegetarian. Though, we did have two Thanksgivings, and the 2nd one was a little less accommodating. But, bringing my own food (to share, of course), helped a LOT. I just have to stick to the fact that I will have to bring my own food to share at any party we go to from here on out. I would much rather do this than go hungry or just eat a salad (that may even have meat in it, as many I have come across!). I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes, so I view the holidays now as an inviting challenge. As long as I plan and give myself enough time to take ON the challenge.

Until next time, namaste.