Starbucks gone RAW!

It's been a long time since I've been in Starbucks.  Actually, the last time I was in one was before our trip to Miami last October.  My sister and I went a few days ago, and let me tell you, I was AH-MAZED!

I cannot BEGIN to tell you how excited I am that Starbucks carries Annie's organic snacks and (OMG!) RAW FOOD BARS!   

Look how great!  These are made by Two Moms in the Raw, and I gotta tell you- the bar that we split was DE-LISH!  Look at all of the yummy goodness!!!  It was SOOOOO good.  We'll be stocking up the next time we go!




















What I like even more is all of the natural and organic ingredients.  WHO KNEW YOU COULD FIND SOMETHING SO GREAT AT STARBUCKS?!

Nutrition in a pouch.  What a great snack to have on the go to give you tons of energy!!



















Thank you, Two Moms in the Raw and Starbucks for making healthy choices available.

Simple Raw Fruit Sorbet

Boy do I have a treat for you!!!  This weekend I made raw fruit sorbet and it was DE-LISH.  Look at all this fruity goodness!!!!

















Freeze 1/2 to 1 whole banana, peeled and chopped into smaller pieces, per person.

Dump in some fresh or frozen fruit (your choice!  I used fresh strawberries and frozen blueberries).  I think I used 4 large strawberries and about 1/4 c of frozen blueberries.

Blend away in your food processor, and here's what you have!  You can eat it as soon as it's blended, or freeze it to eat later.

OOOOMMMMGGGGG.  It's THAT good.  Look at all of the bits and colors!  Beautiful.  Heaven in a glass.  And remember-  you can use what ever type of fruit you like!  I bet raspberries and mango, pineapple and shredded coconut, or peanut butter and cocoa powder (yum!) would all be good combinations!  Be creative!  Just make sure you have your frozen bananas as your base-  that's the "Ice Cream" part of the whole concoction. Enjoy your treat and enjoy your Monday!

Quinoa Soup Recipe- SO EASY

SUPER EASY Quinoa soup recipe!! It's what was for dinner tonight!

Travel Breakfast

It's almost TGIF day!!  With summer just around the corner, and a trip to Disney following closely behind, I have been thinking about different types of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks that are good "on the road" types of meals.  This breakfast that I made the other day requires nothing that HAS to be refridgerated- and can be made right in your hotel room with no fridge or (YIKES) microwave.

Yummy Peanut Butter and Nanner Oat Groats

Soak 1/4 c of Oat Groats in water overnight. 

Rinse the Oat Groats under running water in the morning and then mix in 1/2 mashed Banana, 1 t of Peanut Butter (or Almond Butter), a heaping dash of Cinnamon, and give it a good mix.  And devour.

SO SO good, easy to make, and a great travel breakfast because no refridgeration is required.  These little babies were really chewy, and it kept me full for about 4 hours or so.

Healthy... what does that mean?

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you are all enjoying this very strange weather we're having!  Today in Columbus it felt like Seattle!  SO WEIRD. 

Not to rant, but I have a little nugget for you to think about today.  Last evening, I was on one of my favorite message boards, and someone had posted a question asking about a 'healthy cake' for them to take to a party.  The FIRST reply was a recipe that included a box of devil's food cake mix, a can of diet Dr. Pepper, sugar-free cherry pie filling, and a tub of fat-free whipped topping.

I about fainted.  And then immediately emailed my husband and my sister in amazement... and disgust.

WHY is it that this is perceived as 'healthy'?!  One big cake of chemicals!  YUUUUM-MY!  (gross...)

You better believe that I proceeded to post Ani's Raw Chocolate Raspberry Cake recipe!! 

What is it going to take for us to get out of 1985 and stop thinking that fat-free, sugar-free, CHEMICALS are the way to be healthy?!  Stop it.  Do you see people ANYWHERE else on the planet eating this crap?  No.  Do you see people ANYWHERE else on the planet as obese as the majority of North America?  No.  Do you see people ANYWHERE else on the planet that have as much heart disease, cancer, and diabetes?

NO!

Just out of curiosity, I decided to look up what one of these 'healthy' cakes looks like!! 

(source)

Looks yummy... right?  (gross...)  Then, I decided to look up the ingredients that make up the ingredients used to make the Dr. Pepper (death)Cake.  This is what I found: 

ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), MALTODEXTRIN, SUGAR, MALTITOL, WHEAT STARCH, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, BAKING POWDER (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE) CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF PROPYLENE GLYCOL MONOESTERS, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, CELLULOSE, CORN STARCH, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, CELLULOSE GUM, XANTHAN GUM, POLYSORBATE 60, SUCRALOSE (NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENER), COLORED WITH RED 40, TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS), SOY LECITHIN, CARBONATED WATER, CARAMEL COLOR, ASPARTAME, PHOSPHORIC ACID, ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM BENZOATE (Preservative) CAFFINE, CHERRIES, WATER, HIGH FRUCTOS CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, FOOD STARCH-MODIFIED(corn), SUGAR, SALT, POTASSIUM SORBATE(preservative), CITRIC ACID, CARRAGEENAN, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, ERYTHORBIC ACID, RED NO 40, WATER, CORN SYRUP, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL* (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, LESS THAN TWO PERCENT OF SODIUM CASEINATE (FROM MILK), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, XANTHAN AND GUAR GUMS, POLYSORBATE 60, POLYSORBATE 65, SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, BETA CAROTENE (COLOR).

 Ho-ly cow.  Those are the ingredients in the box of cake mix, pop, cherry pie filling and whipped topping, combined into one nice yummy cake.  ...o-m-g.

So the moral of the story?  Don't....eat....crap.

Have a nice day :o)

The Almond Milk Experiment- part 2

Good afternoon, bloggies!!!  I'm excited to share that I have made a SECOND BATCH of almond milk!  So, that goes to show you that the first batch was good enough to try again!  I tried my first ever almond milk green smoothie this morning, and let me tell you, it was DI-VINE! 

That's a tower of raw goodness if I've ever seen one.  Smoothie of champions.

Ingredients:

1/2 C Almond Milk

1/2 Banana

1/4 C Pineapple

1/4 C Zucchini

1/4 C Cucumber

1/2 C Frozen Spinach

1 T Chia Seeds

1 Scoop Amazing Grass

LOVELY.  Look how greeeeeen!!   

See all of the chia babies in there!?  If you want to feel good all day, make a green smoothie.  The raw foodies swear by it- everyone I've ever seen that is a raw food lover makes green smoothies.   Have you made yours yet?  I'm still working on Brenton- we'll get him there... eventually.  (muah hah hah....convert.....convert....)

Healthy Chocolate Brownies

Good afternoon, bloggies!  I am so excited that I found Happy Herbivore's recipe for brownies!  These are great if you're on a whole food or vegetarian diet (not diet.  LIFESTYLE), or if you're just trying to eat healthy but still want to have a treat.  Boy, are these a treat!

Here is my version of HH's Black Bean Brownie recipe  (you can see the real version here)

Ingredients:

1 Can of Beans (black preferred... but I used pinto and it woked just fine), drained and rinsed

2 Bananas, peeled (as ripe as possible)

1/3 C Honey (agave works too if you're vegan)

1/4 C Cocoa Powder, unsweetened

1 T Cinnamon

1/4 C Instant Oats (though I used a little bit extra to thicken the batter a bit)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray an 8x8 pan with a little bit of oil (just to keep it from sticking).  Throw all of the ingredients in the food processor:

And blend it all up!

Then, pour it into the pan and bake for 30 min, until you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.  Let cool, and cut into squares.  I have been keeping mine in the fridge, though I'm not sure you HAVE to, better safe than sorry.

YUM.  YUM YUM YUM!  I have been eating these with a little bit of peanut butter or some smooshed raspberries on top.  DOUBLE YUM.  SO easy to make- give it a try!  OH and I did the calorie count on these, and for my recipe it was about 100 calories per brownie if you cut it into 9 squares.  Happy Baking!

The Almond Milk Experiment

Are you ready for this?  Brenton said to me the other day "you know... we don't NEED milk..."  So that got me thinking- should we start getting Almond Milk?  But the pre-packaged stuff has all that junk in it- even the organic kind!  So, how about making my own?  You bet-cha!  It was SO easy.  Seriously!  And if you're wondering about calorie breakdown, each Cup of this recipe is 138 calories.

First, I soaked a cup of almonds overnight in Brita filtered water. (enough to cover)

24 hours later, look how fat they got!!  Then, I watched Angela Stokes-Monarch from the Raw Food World take the outer film off half of the almonds, so I did it too!

Then, I blended the almonds with 6 cups of water (eventually... I only have a personal blender so I had to do small batches at a time).

Once the liquid formed a foam at the top and looked all blended up, I poured it into a strainer (you could use a nut bag or cheesecloth if you have any... I didn't...), and used a spatula to push the pulp to get the liquid out.

Once strained, I poured it into mason jars and put it in the fridge.  This will keep 4-ish days.

SO EASY!  SO GOOD!  You should try it!!  There are variations that you could do-  add dates and vanilla extract for sweetness, add cinnamon and nutmeg for a warming drink... feel free to experiment!!

And now... the directions in pictures!

You Say Tomato...

You say tom-a-to, I say tom-ah-to...

...ok that's enough.

I made two GREAT tomato dishes yesterday that I want to share with you!!

First up, a tomato-caper sauce for pasta.  TALK ABOUT MAJOR YUM FACTOR!!!

All I did was saute cherry tomatoes (a good couple of handfuls), a couple of teaspoons of capers, dash of olive oil, 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, and black pepper in a pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Then, I mashed half of the tomatoes to create a sauce.  Dump on whole wheat pasta and you have one GREAT dish!!!  Look how lovely?!

The next recipe was SO easy to pull together.  Throw a handful of tomatoes and half of a chopped cucumber, mixed with a clove of chopped garlic, dash of olive oil, dash of oregano (dried), and salt and pepper to taste.  It's the quickest recipe to throw together and SO easy!

Slop for school lunches? Think again.

One of my students said to me today "Hey, did you read this article in the paper?!  Granville is getting rid of processed food in their cafeteria!!"  WHAT?!  THIS IS HUGE!!!!  Thank you Jamie Oliver for seriously staring the 'revolution'!!! 

Here is the article if you would like to look at it: Fresh food pays off for Granville schools.  To paraphrase, if you don't have time to look at it, this school district by me has gotten rid of processed foods and is now going for all local meat and produce!!  The only frozen thing in the kitchen is the corn.  And, all it's going to mean cost-wise is a $0.10 increase per plate!  Like I always say, "who says you can't eat healthy on a budget?!" 

I hope this starts a trend around the nation.  Around the WORLD!  Down with processed foods!   Down with processed foods!  (that's my protest chant...)  In fact, processed food isn't even FOOD!   The word 'food' in our minds has morphed and changed over the years.  In fact, most of the 'food' that sits on the shelves in the grocery store isn't REAL FOOD!  Do you know how long that stuff in the box on the shelf has sat?!  If it doesn't decompose on the shelf, what do you think it's going to do inside of you?  Don't buy, as Jillian says, Franken Foods.  Eat an APPLE and some ALMONDS... not an Apple Flavored Granola Bar that has been sitting on the grocery shelf for 6 months!  Ja-know?!

Moral of the story-  I think it's GREAT that schools are starting to get the message.  Now we just need to get that same message out to the rest of the world.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there!!!  In celebration of this day, I made a BRAND NEW (to me) recipe!!  Pineapple Icebox, thank you Ani Phyo!  You can also watch her make it here. 

Look how FABULOUS this looks.

Yeah, it's THAT good.  And SO easy to make.  Here is my version of Ani's recipe.

Crust:
2 C Cashews
1 Vanilla Bean, scraped (I used 1 T vanilla extract)
2 T Honey

Filling:
1 1/2 C Cashews
1/3 C Honey or Agave
1/4 C Coconut Oil (liquid)
2 1/2 C Chopped Pineapple

Blend the crust ingredients together until it forms a powder with some texture.  Sprinkle half of this mixture into the bottom of the pan, save the other half.

Process the filling ingredients except for the pineapple until it forms a smooth creamy texture.  I had to add a tiny bit of water to help this along.  Once the cashews form into a 'cream', fold the pineapple in and mix well. 

Pour pineapple mixture on top of the crust, then sprinkle on the remaining processed cashews (crumbly topping) and press down. 

Put in the freezer for 2 hours, until chilled.  Place in refrigerator prior to serving.

THIS IS FABULOUS. 

On with the festivities-  Mom opened her presents, and I also had fun taking pictures of flowers with my wonderful new camera!

Hodge -Podge Dinner

So as weird as this looks... I made a fantastic dinner the other day!!  This recipe was SO quick, and SO hearty.  Oh, and was FABULOUS as leftovers (as Brenton says)

Here's what's in it-
(serves 2)

1/2 C Brown Rice
1/2 C Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 C Frozen Peas
1/2 C Frozen Peppers, chopped
1/4 C Salsa
Salt, Pepper, and FRANKS RED HOT SAUCE to taste (I love Franks...mmmm)

Boil the water and cook the rice as directed.  During the last minute of cooking, add in the beans, peas, and peppers.  Drain the water and mix in the salsa and spices to taste.

This took me 10 minutes to make because I used the quick-cook brown rice.  Talk about a quick meal!!!  Try it, you'll like it.

Breakfast of Joy

Hi everyone.  Just a quicky green smoothie recipe because I have a busy weekend ahead.  Luckily it's a foodie weekend, so there will be lots of pictures to come!

Pick Me Up Green Smoothie

In this baby I have:

1/8 c Chia Seeds, soaked to form a gel
1/2 Frozen Banana
3/4 c Frozen Spinach
2 Kiwi
1 scoop of Amazing Grass Green Powder
Water to help it blend

This smoothie picks me up every time!  Give it a try.  Throw it in a travel mug and it's a great 'to-go' breakfast!

Tempeh Chili

Good evening bloggies!! In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I decided to experiment with a tex/mex recipe tonight! Tempeh Chili!! SO GOOD. SO VEGAN. SO NOT REALLY CINCO DE MAYO-ISH. My new camera came in the mail (yay!), so I decided to try some shots. Can you believe that there is a FOOD MODE just for taking food pictures?! A food blogger's dream.

On to the chili!

Very VERY easy recipe-  I just kind of threw things in the pot as I went along.

1 package Tempeh
3 C tomato sauce (jarred)
4 mushrooms (baby bella), chopped
drizzle of olive oil
2 cans beans (I used red kidney and pinto), drained and rinsed
1/2 C frozen peas (Brenton likes peas...)
1 T crushed garlic (jarred)
2 C water (more if needed)
Franks Red Hot Sauce (a lot... as always)
Typical chili spices to taste- Chili Powder, Salt, Pepper, Cumin, Paprika

What a nice picture!  Anyway, all I did to start was chop up the tempeh and throw it in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, the crushed garlic, a handful of mushrooms, and a number of good shakes of Franks.  I let it brown in the pan a couple of minutes (on medium heat) until it started to crisp a little bit. (I'm still getting used to the camera... sorry blurry shot!)

Hello action shot!!  Look at that swirl!!  All I did was throw in the rest of the ingredients and stir like crazy.

Let it simmer a good 10 minutes or so with the lid off so it thickens up a little bit.  Look at the veggies and tempeh in there!  SO HEARTY AND YUMMY!!

In the bowl it goes!!

HOLY YUM, BATMAN!  This made 7 servings- we ate 2 of them, have one in the fridge for Brenton's dinner tomorrow night (I'm going to a rummage sale after work- YAY!) and have the rest in mason jars in the freezer.  Such a simple and quick meal to make.  We added up the calories, and it's only 175 calories per bowl of heavenly chili goodness.  NOT TOO BAD!!!

Have a lovely evening, all!  Time for bed!

4 Year Old McDonald's Video

This is too amazing NOT to be shared.





What do you think of that?? I'd love to hear your comments.