Pre-Party Smoothie

We had two birthday parties to go to yesterday. Which means there would be a lot of unwholesome eating in one day. I try not to be too strict with my kids with that stuff. I don’t want them to form a negative relationship with food because “mom never let us eat “junk””. At home I feed my family what I believe to be the highest quality foods and nutrient dense meals, and when we are out, while I still try and make sure they don’t spend the whole time gorging themselves with sweets, I let them eat what is offered.

I do put a limit on things such as “You either get a piece of cake OR a cupcake. You get the juice box OR the ice cream”. They are still just children and need a little bit of guidance, no? For the most part they are on board with this. And if I do catch my 6 year old daughter sneaking an extra piece of cake, or juice box or cookie (or anything else, because this happens, often) I try not to make her feel bad about it. I use this as an opportunity to check in with her and ask her how it makes her body feel, or if it makes her happy to eat sweets, or any other question that comes up that will allow me to have her be in touch with a deeper part of herself versus just the immediate palate satisfaction. While eating just for pleasure is fine sometimes, when it happens too often, it is not just for pleasure anymore. If it were up to my daughter, she would have it all, 3 times. My son can easily have his piece of cake and go right back to playing. The baby, well since he is only 15 months, has not really been exposed to sugar yet. Holding off as long as I can on this one. With two older siblings its just a matter of time.

So while I want my kids to be exposed to other peoples way of eating so they can make their opinions about food, their health is still very important to me. That is why I make them a Pre-Party Smoothie before we leave the house. The Pre-Party Smoothie allows me to make sure they get a good dose of healthy fats, fiber and protein in order for their little bodies to function properly not only to be able to play and have fun with their friends, but also so they can handle what ever foods they might eat that their bodies are not used to digesting often. And, if done right, they might not even be that hungry to have pizza AND cake AND ice cream. *wishful thinking* 

While I get my kids to drink their smoothies and juices regularly, they still sometimes put up a fuss. The Party Smoothie is easy because they know we are not leaving until their cup is empty. I make sure to remind them that this smoothie will give them lots of energy so they can play for along time.

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 TBS hemp seeds
• 2 cups almond milk
• 2 cups fresh greens (this time it was spinach)
• Optional: a handful of sprouts because I had some handy.

Steps:

• Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth
• this made enough for 3 small servings

For some of my thoughts on eating at parties, you can check out my post from a few months ago:

https://anaboreal.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/tips-to-avoid-over-eating-at-parties/

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Apple Carrot Muffins

Just the right amount of sweet thanks to the honey and fruit, these little muffins are sure to give you plenty of energy without the nasty refined sugar crash that can sometimes come from baked goods.

We finally ran out of all the muffins I had made over the fall and winter and stored for later use. Which means it’s time to get baking again! I love muffins. Not to eat myself but to have on hand for my kids. They can be so nutritious as well as versatile.

And if you make a big enough batch, they can be a handy quick snack.

These muffins are packed with vitamins and fiber from the carrots and apples, as well as from the flax seeds. Those also provide a good dose of omega 3’s essential fatty acids (the good kind of fat that helps with cholesterol). The almond base gives  this muffins a delicious flavor while keeping it suitable for gluten intolerant people. And the honey. Well that kind of sweetener just always makes my kids happy 🙂

I am hoping to put some away in the freezer, but at the rate my family is eating them, I better hurry up!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup almond meal or almond flour
• 1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup small oats (regular oats work fine)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds soaked for 10 minutes in 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup shredded apple
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey

Steps:

• preheat oven to 375*F (190*C)
• soak the flax seeds in water
• in a large mixing bowl combine first 6 ingredients and mix
• in a blender combine remaining ingredients
• pour the wet ingredients in the flour mixture and mix
• grease some mini muffin tins and put dough in them
• bake for about 10 minutes for mini muffins, around 18-20 minutes for larger ones

This recipe made about 54 mini muffins. I think it will make about 16 large ones.

 

Francais:

• 1.5 cups de farine d’amandes (340 grammes)
• 1.5 cups de farine de sarasin
• 2 cuillere a caffee de bicarbonate de soude
• 1 cup de flocons d’avoine (225 grammes)
• 1 cuillere a caffee de canelle
• 1/4 cup (6o gr) de graines de lin moulues trempees dans 1/2 cup (125 ml) d’eau pendant 10 minutes, bien remuer 
• 1/2 cup de compote de pommes (115gr)
• 1 cup carrotes rapees (225 gr)
• 1 cup pommes rapees
• 1/4 cup d’huile de noix de coco fondue (65ml)
• 1/2 cup de miel  

 

Buckwheat Breakfast Bowl

I love breakfast. I love drinking tea. I love drinking green juices. I love smoothies. I can last all morning on a fresh juice or green smoothie, but some days I want to sit and enjoy a nice meal. And I really love putting intention in a nice wholesome meal for my breakfast. I am sweet breakfast kinda girl. Although I do love eating savory from time to time, my go to is usually sweet. Chia seed porridge is my most frequent go to. Although I have changed it quite a few times since that first post and will be continuously changing it as that is how life goes.

This breakfast bowl is so delicious and nutritious. Even the boys loved eating!! It resembles oatmeal in texture, but is packed with so much more goodness!!!

I use buckwheat frequently at home, mostly for raw granolas, but also for raw breads, patees and other savory dishes. I always sprout it first to maximize the nutrients I can get from this superfood. But you don’t need to do that if you don’t feel like it. Just make sure you soak it at least 8 hours and rinse it REALLY well before eating it.

Ingredients:

• 2 dates
• 1 TBS almond butter
• 6 TBS almond milk
• 1/2 an apple
• 1 cup sprouted buckwheat (or buckwheat soaked for 8 hours)
• 2 TBS shredded coconut
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp sunflower seeds
• 1 tsp dried cherries (or raisins, or cranberries)

Steps:

• put first 4 ingredients in food processor and blend until well combined
• add the buckwheat and coconut and pulse a few times until desired consistency
• top with remaining ingredients
• chow down and feel happy!!

Kabocha Persimmon Pudding

Thick. Creamy. Dreamy. Nutritious and satisfying. 4 ingredients and 3 minutes later and I had myself a super tasty vegan pudding. Kabocha squash and persimmons being two of my favorite seasonal produce items, I cannot believe this is the first time I combine them. I had just gotten home from a workout and was going to be working shortly after. I needed something quick and satisfying. This was it. I love it when I can get away with eating something after a workout that seems like it should be had for dessert. I would have this pudding at any time of day really.

Persimmons being super high in vitamin A (Good for eye sight, and skin as well as mucus membranes), as well as vitamin C (great for the immune system and mucus membranes). Kabocha squash has half the calories of butternut squash, yet double the richness in flavor in my opinion! It is also very high in vitamin A and C and beta carotene (powerful antioxidant and anti inflammatory).

Needless to say, this pudding is a great way to get a good dose of vitamin A and C !

Ingredients:

• 1 cup roasted kabocha squash
• 1 cup fresh ripe fuyu persimmons
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk
• 2 medjool dates
• cacao nibs as toppings

Steps:

• put everything in the blender and blend on high until nice and creamy
• makes 2 servings, (but I got jipped cause all my kids wanted some)

Raw Green Onion Crackers

I eat so many raw crackers, they are a staple in my house. So coming up with new flavors that I love is always awesome. This one didn’t mean to be so tasty. I just really needed to make some crackers as we were out and didn’t have much around so I just did what I could with what I had. What I had was a bunch of green onions. And now I have super simple, super tasty crackers 🙂

Ingredients:

• 4 sprigs of green onions
• 1 1/2 cups of flax seeds, soaked for a minimum of 4 hours in 3 cups of water
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups water

Steps:

• Put the onions, flax seeds, tamari, salt and water in the blender and blend until the flax seeds are broken down
• Mix everything in a bowl
• spread on dehydrator sheet at least 1/4 inch thick
• dry on 105 for about 8 hours
• score, flip and finish drying until crisp, about another 8 hoursStore in an airtight container for weeks!!

Raw Oatmeal

I ran out of my favorite breakfast foods this morning and had no milk on hand for my raw granola, so I improvised quick before I  got too hungry and reached for something that would not nourish me as positively as this did. I call this Raw Oatmeal because it had the look and consistency of oatmeal and left me feeling full for hours the way oatmeal would. But it was way faster to make than boiled oats and in my opinion, much more nutritious.

Although I could just have eaten fruit and nuts or nut butter, which I believe can be a satisfying breakfast, some days I feel the need to sit down and eat something out of a bowl, with a spoon, to make me appreciate what I am eating. And today is one of those days. As usual, sorry for the photograph, this tasted much better than the photo looks, I promise 🙂

As it so often happens, I made this on the fly without writing down or taking specific measurements, so below is an estimation of what I put in this tasty bowl. I am already seeing all the substitutions and possibilities with this that having just one recipe would be so limiting 😉

Ingredients:

• 1 large apple
• 1 banana
• 1 chunk of ginger
• 1 TBS sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1 TBS almond butter
• 1 TBS  shredded coconut (for topping)

Steps:

• Put everything in the food processor and combine until desired consistency
• Top with coconut and enjoy!

Zucchini Pasta with Alfredo sauce

Mmmm mmmm. That was a tasty dinner!!! I truly love spaghetti, and I definitely do not want to be eating the real stuff often. Eating it this way satisfies my craving for pasta. Here I had zucchini pasta with my newly created Rawlfredo Sauce 🙂 Because I wanted to keep the whole dish raw, I dehydrated onions and mushrooms to top it off with. I could have easily sautéed them but as I said, I really wanted to keep the dish raw, and these tasted amazing. (Sorry for my lack of photography skills, this photo definitely does’t make this dish justice.)

Ingredients for mushroom topping:

• 1 large portobello mushroom, thinly sliced
• 1 cup buttons, thinly sliced
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 4 TBS olive oil
• 2 TBS balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 TBS dried mixed herbs

 

Steps:

• Put everything in a bowl and gently rub to mix all the seasonings in well with the vegetables
• put on a dehydrator sheet
• dehydrate for about 4 hours.
• Make zucchini pasta , mix in the rawlfredo sauce and top it with the mushroom and onion mixture.

It was my first time making a raw mushroom mixture like this, and it came out perfect. I love it and I will definitely do it again. 

Cacao Rawcoroon

When it comes to my taste buds, I can never go wrong with chocolate, well… except for that one time…. but I learned 😉  

My husband is the same. If I present him with something chocolatey, I know he will devour it happily. So I created this rawcoroon after the lemon one. Because, well I love lemon too. And I was actually inspired to start making rawcoroons when I had an expensive store bought lemon one. So here is my chocolate indulgence for today. 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond flour (made from whole almonds blended down into a flour, not the store bought kind)
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 raw cacao powder
• salt
• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• 1/8 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 TBS coconut oil

Steps:

• in a large bowl mix first 4 ingredients
• in a small bowl or blender mix remaining ingredients
• combine everything until well incorporated
• don’t let husband come in and eat everything out of the bowl
• scoop into little balls on the mesh screen of the dehydrator
• dehydrate for about 8 to 10 hours, depending on what consistency you want and also what size balls you made. I like mine crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. 

Makes about 12 golf size balls. 

 

 

Lemon Cashew Rawcoroons

These are a spinoff of macaroons. A wholesome, nutritious spinoff. They are becoming quite a staple of raw treats I like to make for people. This is the first of many rawcoroon recipes I will be sharing. I am having fun experimenting with flavors! Please feel free to ask if you would like to have me try making a specific flavor! I am always up for new ideas! 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded coconut
• 1 cup almond flour (made from whole almonds, blended down into a flour, not the store bought flour)
• 1/2 cashew pieces
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• zest of one lemon
• 2 TBS coconut oil
• 1/4 cup agave or any liquid sweetener
• 1/8 cup water

Steps:

• in a large bowl mix first 4 ingredients
• in a small bowl or blender mix all the rest
• combine both mixtures until well incorporated
• try not to eat all the mixture before it makes its way onto the mesh screen
• scoop into little balls and put on mesh screen on dehydrator
• dehydrate for about 8 to 10 hours, or until desired texture. I like mine dry on the outside and moist on the inside. 

Blow peoples minds away with these tasty wholesome treats!! Or eat them all by yourself 😉 

Raw Cacao Granola

I love granola. It is so versatile and delicious. Allas the store bought kind is either way too sugary or way overpriced. That’s why I started making my own at home a couple years back. I have a dehydrator, therefore I always choose to make my granola raw and have only experimented with cooked granola a couple times. I prefer the raw version as it is densely packed with high quality nutrients and makes me feel light and alive while still full and nourished. Here is my latest creation. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

• 2 C sprouted buckwheat
• 11/2 C small oats
• 1 C shredded coconut
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 C cacao powder
• 1/2 C soaked sunflower seeds
• 1/4 C melted coconut oil
• 1/2 C maple syrup (or any sweetener of your choice)

Steps:

• after soaking the buckwheat overnight, drain it and put in a bowl (if you have time to leave it to sprout for a few days, it will bring up the nutritional value a great deal!)
• add the oats and cacao powder and mix well
• then add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly
• spread on a teflex dehydrator sheet and set at 105*F for about 12 hours or until desired consistency (I like mine crispy, plus the less moisture left in the granola, the longer it will save).
• serve with your favorite milk and enjoy!