Ten on Thursday…

The lovely Jolene at Every Day Foodie had this on her blog, and I stole it! muahahhaaa!!   (you can steal it from me if you want!)

10 on Tuesday: Foodie Edition

1. What is a food that you never thought you would try, but then tried and liked?   I was a bit resistant to Sushi at first, now I would try any of it!!   My friend got me to try a small piece with fish eggs and a raw quail egg on it and I did it (and it was good!)

2. Do you subscribe to any foodie publications? If so, which ones? 

Not as of right now, but I would LOVE a subscription to VegNews

3. What ingredient do you find yourself reaching for the most when you cook?  Nooch and garlic powder

4. Are there any foods that you hated as a child, but then learned to like as an adult? Olives beans, oysters…

5. What do you like to eat that others may consider weird? Dave doesn’t understand the nutritional yeast thing… 

6. What is the weirdest ingredient you’ve ever cooked with? I honestly can’t think of anything!!

7. Do you have any major food allergies? Just dairy, but red meat and pork and I aren’t friends anymore either, not an allergy though!

8. Is there an ingredient that you would like to cook with, but are intimidated to try? Hmm.. Although it’s not cooking,  I’m intimidated by kombucha,  I would LOVE to make it, but I’m worried I’ll do something wrong and make myself sick..  justified?

9. Do you bake? I do, but I like to cook more.  Lately I’m more of a savoury than sweet gal!

10. If you could go on any “foodie” show to compete, which one would it be, and why? Hhhmmm..  I am loving “America’s Next Great Restaurant” or whatever it is!    I would push a great raw cafe!!   I agree with Jolene, Iron Chef would be fun too!! 

 

OK, your turn!!

Almond Cheese

Glad you guys all enjoyed the Fresh Almond Milk post!  I am loving it bunches!

And I will definetly be making it again soon, especially since after playing around a figured out a great use for the almond pulp!!

ALMOND CHEESE!

Take remaining almond pulp from making almond milk

Toss it into the food processor.

Blend in some herbs, spices, salt, lemon juice and whichever extras you want!

Here is what I did…

Almond pulp

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

1 tsp nooch (nutritional yeast)

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 sundried tomatoes (drained and rinsed if oily)

Blend together until smooth – make sure to taste test, in case it isn’t quite right (mine was a little lemony)

Place in a glass container and let sit for a few hours until the flavours meld together!

Serve on crackers, as a base for pizza (oh yes), use as a sandwich spread,  have with veggies, stuff pepper boats (fun for kid’s lunches) or you could even mix with chopped veggies as a salad!!

The possibilities with this are endless!!  So go play and let me know what you come up with!!

PS. the Clean Eating Mama has a recipe similar to this, but made with cashews 

I’ve tried her recipe before (and followed her directions to a T) and it was fantastic!  I thought it was funny because I searched out this recipe after I had made my cheese and it’s almost the same!!

Enjoy!

Fresh Macca Flavored Almond Milk!

I was SO inspired this morning when one of my readers, Jana mentioned that she made fresh almond milk!!   I remember when I was doing my raw foods course last summer, we made almond milk, hemp milk and a few other nutty milks and they were so good!

This is the recipe she sent me!

Of course I didn’t follow the rules!  

Macca Flavored Almond Milk (Unsweetened!)

1 cup raw almonds

1 tsp macca powder (would up it to 1 TBSP next time)

3 cups water

a tsp good quality vanilla (Mine was from Mexico – sooo good)

BLEND UP 1 cup of almonds and 1 cup water, macca and vanilla

Once almonds look a bit smooth, add other 2 cups of water… until it looks like this.

Frothy goodness.

Then pour it through a strainer bag (mine is for nut milk, but you could use panty hose, a pudding bag (for any Newfoundlanders reading) or whatever you have!)  You can usually find these at the health food store!

Keep pouring

Once it’s all in there…  Lift it up and let it strain

Until it starts getting a little dry… and then squeeze all the last bits of goodness out

And that’s it!!  The entire process was under 10 minutes!   And SO worth it!

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From there I made a creamy, dreamy breakfast smoothie

3 huge handfuls spinach

1 frozen banana

2 tsp macca powder (oh yes, I heart this stuff)

1 tbsp Vega Shake and Go Almond Vanilla (SO GOOD)

Blend it up with about 3/4 cup of your fresh creamy almond milk!

This smoothie should be illegal!  It is SO amazing.

And it feels like it will fill me up too!

Thank you SO much Jana for the inspiration – I think you’ve created a monster!!

ps.  I’m going to play with the pulp from the almonds and see what I can come up with!!

Any suggestions – let er rip!

Ps… because I know someone will ask.  I buy my macca at either Navitas Naturals or Real Raw Foods

Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta

 

Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta

You guys know me. I don’t really measure, but I tried to keep track while cooking!

Inspired once again by Oh She Glows!

• 1/2 avocado
• 3 huge handfuls of spinach
• as much fresh basil as you can handle (about 1/2 cup) + extra for garnish!
• 3 TBSP lemon juice
• 1/4 cup soaked cashews (I might try walnuts or almonds next time)
• garlic powder (or fresh garlic) to taste
• 1 TBSP (or more) tahini
• 3 TBSP nutritional yeast 
• 1/2 cup chopped marinated artichoke
• salt and pepper to taste (lots of pepper yum)
• Pasta of choice (I used 3 handfuls for 3 smallish servings)

Blend first 8 ingredients in a food processor until almost smooth – you may need to add a bit of water, I added a little less than 1/4 cup.

Rinse artichokes and chop to desired chunky-ness!

Mix pasta, sauce and artichokes together.

Serve!

Mmmmm… so tasty!!  Next time I will be adding some extra sautéed veggies, it was missing some extra texture!

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I am LOVING the natural sunlight right now!! I’ve been taking pictures like crazy!!  Here is a photo of the flowers my friends gave me for my birthday!!

Pretty hey?  I love flowers and I LOVE pink!!

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What do you think?  Would you give this recipe a try?

Salad Wraps

Good morning!!

A fun, quick meal idea for you!

Take your favorite veggies (oops, I forgot cucumber)  The fresh herbs in this are essential!!  

Adding some fresh mango slices is amazing too!

And some rice paper wraps…  put it together…

Make an awesome sauce (tahini, peanut butter, fish sauce, hosin, water and lime juice)

Another sauce I make – peanut butter, fish sauce and a whole fresh mango (blended!!)

 

Dip and enjoy!!!!!!  

This is easily one of my favorites quick, easy meals!

Do you make salad wraps?   What are your favorite ingredients?!

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Ps.  Up in the next few days – AMAZING creamy avocado pasta!!  SO GOOD!!

A Green Smoothie a Day…

 

Remember my 31 at 31?   Well… here goes nothing!!

I am LOVING this book!  It easily is the best and most inspiring book I’ve read in a LONG time!!  It’s so good it’s distracting me from my school work, because I just want to keep reading!!!   There is absolutely no way that this book won’t inspire you! 

IN MY SMOOTHIE

2 huge handfuls of spinach

1 tbsp spirilina powder

1 and a bit cups frozen mango (frozen mangos ROCK in smoothies)

1 tbsp berry force

1 tsp probiotics

1/2 a nanner

It was a tasty very GREEN breaky!!

What else has been tasty in my life???

There has been some Fattoush Salad  - which was a beautiful break from writing a paper!

I heart fattoush…. it’s SO good!

And i got it with a homemade flat bread the size of my head!  Or bigger?    I ate it with some hummus! 

PS.  My new FAVORITE hummus – ala Costco  - It’s SO incredibly tasty!!

Anyways… I must get back to the research papers!  I got a lot finished last night, but I’m hoping to finish off 1 of them today, so I can send it into the teacher!!    Wish me luck!

 

PS.  What’s your FAVORITE smoothie recipe??  Feel free to link in the comment section, or on facebook!  I am teaching a class on smoothies and making smoothie book for the adults with special needs that I’m doing my practicum with, so I need some tasty ones!

ps. I bought and paid for Crazy Sexy Diet with my own cash-ola – opinion is strictly based on it’s awesomeness!!

Farty Girl Guest Post - The Great Calcium Debate part 2

You guys are in for a treat today!!  I have been pestering a few bloggers out there for "Calcium" related guest posts for all you dairy free folks!  And they lovely Anney from Farty Girl agreed!!  I read her blog, and her posts are always fun and witty, so I knew it would be a great match - plus, she's spent TONS of time researching this topic too!!

Thanks Anney for doing this and I hope you guys enjoy!!  (PS. I'm having major internet troubles right now, and when I hit publish, I am off to school, so if some of the photos don't load, I apologize!)

***Please note, these Calcium posts (and all the posts on DFB) are strictly opinions, and should you be having any problems, please talk to your doctor.

Every time I see one of those "Got Milk?" ads, I roll my eyes.

You rolling your eyes too? I thought so.

In my experience, getting enough calcium has NOTHING to do with drinking milk. It has everything to do with eating kale. And swiss chard. And spinach.

When Dairy Free Betty asked me to write this post, that's exactly what I wanted to say. But I wanted to get all researchy on your asses. So I sifted through my bookshelf to find some facts n' stats, as my English students say, proving that a person can get enough calcium from leafy green vegetables.


Imagine my surprise when I came across this in one of my loves, "The Complete Vegan Kitchen:"

“Dark leafy greens contain oxalates that bind calcium and iron, making it unavailable to the body.”

Whaaaaaaat?!

So all of my green smoothies have been for NOTHING?!

Further research added to this stone in my shoe. Pretty much any veggie that's green and contains calcium, also contains oxalates. The only non-oxalate food I could find that has lots of calcium? Sesame seeds.

Start guzzlin' that tahini!

Next I went to my favorite, Alex Jamieson. Jamieson is author of "The Great American Detox Diet," "Living Vegan for Dummies," "The Week in a Weekend Cookbook," and Delicious Vitality. You may also remember her from Supersize Me!

In "The Great American Detox Diet," Jamieson explains that too much animal protein makes the blood acidic. To heal the blood, calcium is drawn out of the bones (134-136). This means that if you want to eat a diet high in dairy to get calcium, the protein in that dairy can adversely affect your intake of calcium.

Didn't anybody tell you that, Miley?

This makes no sense to me. There are millions of vegans on the planet! How are we not holed up in the emergency room with osteoporosis? How are we not lugging casts and limping around like Quasimoto?

Welcome to the fight, ladies and gentlemen.

It's Calcium vs. Oxalates.

The battle for your bones is ON!!!

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Welcome Marion Nestle to the ring. Meat and cheese-eater and nutritionist, Nestle tells it like it is. In her book, What to Eat, she'll tell you that yes, meat and cheese are tasty, as well as Easy Mac, Coco Puffs and other processed foods. BUT she'll add that studies show vegetarians (not vegans) to be the most healthy people on the planet.

I love her. Her writing is cutting, sarcastic, and down-to-Earth. If you are interested in food and haven't read her, read her. Even if you are NOT interested in food, read her. You will be by the time you are done the book!

Enough butt-kissing!

What does Nestle have to say about calcium?

In her book, What to Eat, she points out that the DRI (Dietary Reference Intakes) for calcium is a little off-the-chain. To get that much calcium, she says, one has to eat lots of dairy, plus calcium supplements. She adds:

"Calcium balance depends on getting enough of every one of the nutrients involved in building bones, and also depends on how active you are, whether you smoke cigarettes, and how much alcohol you drink" (73).

Anyone who's read John Robbins' "Healthy at 100," or is familiar with centenarian cultures knows proof of this. An overwhelming majority of Hunzas, Abkhazians, Vilcabamans, and Okanawans lived well into their hundreds with little to no instance of osteoporosis. All except the Abkhazians are dairy free, and they eat yogurt only once in a while.

Some Abkhazian dudes chillin', back in the day

Let me return to Nestle. In "What to Eat," she starts with milk and takes it back to the cow. Guess what? The cow doesn't want it! That's because cows don't drink milk after calfhood. Do cows get osteoporosis? NO! (74).

Nestle reminds us: Cows eat grass. So eat a lot of veggies. The calcium in those veggies adds up. And - unlike meat and dairy protein - veggies are less likely to pull calcium from the body (74).

I'll just return to my green smoothies then...

Easy Green Smoothie

Two fistfuls of spinach, chard, and/or kale
One fistful of basil
1 Vita Coco coconut water
1/2 cup of nut milk
5-10 drops stevia (to taste)

Sources

Bennett, Jannequin. The Complete Vegan Kitchen. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2001.

Jamieson, Alexandra. The Great American Detox Diet. Rodale. 2005.

Nestle, Marion. What to Eat. New York: North Point Press. 2006.

31 at 31

Well… today’s the day.  IT’s My BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! 

In honour of my birthday, I thought I would pledge 31 (eerrr 15) things I would do for my 31st year!

Here' goes nothing;

1. Graduate! (no brainer, but trust me, it’s harder at this point than I thought!)

2. Read Crazy, Sexy Diet! (got it in the mail yesterday)

3. Do a 100% raw week this summer!  (which should be easy since I did almost 3 weeks last summer)

4. Read the China study (which I also got in the mail yesterday)

5. Blog!!! Back to 5 days per week with yummy recipes and not half ass posts!!

6. Travel somewhere hot!! ( I LOVE hot places)

7. Run 5km (race or no race) – this may seem small in the land of bloggers, but I used to run lots, and haven’t been able to find motivation, so 5km is a good goal for ME!

8.  Post a ton of OPERATION BEAUTIFUL notes – especially when working in the schools!!  I’m going to say 50… and I’m going to start TODAY!

9. Read at least 3 novels before summer is over

10. Commit to 2x green smoothies per week.

11. Have a blogger meet up!  There are so many of you lovlies SO CLOSE  - we need to make a date!

(ok this is getting hard now!)

12. Attend a foodie event (maybe while meeting up with the bloggers!!?)

13. Take a photography course!!

14. *shutter* register for an online course to start my degree!!  One at a time… (yes, I said it Tash, feel free to hold me to it)

15. Read the 4 Agreements (Guess what, I got THIS in the mail yesterday too – thanks to a gift certificate from Airmiles)

 

As for the other ones – I can’t think right now, I have to get going, because I’m going SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!  Today is a no homework – spend it with my hunny kinda day!!

What are your top 3 things to accomplish for the next year?

Plus – because it’s my birthday – I challenge each of you to post an operation beautiful note somewhere today!! YAY!

and then come and tell me about it, because that would make me REALLY happy and would make my birthday even better (and someone else’s day better too!!)  

What I’ve been up to!!

Hey guys!

Sorry for the lack o posting!!  These last 4 weeks of school are taking over my life (plus I had the FLU! YUCK)!  I’ve been flat out reading, studying, working on projects, and hardly any time for blogging or cooking!

BUT I am here today to give a wee update on what’s been in my kitchen lately!

Let’s see…

I’m SO GLAD it’s getting light out earlier now, most of my pictures were taken in dark places so they aren’t so good!!  WARNING – SOME CRAPPY/DARK PHOTOS AHEAD

This was amazing – bread, spread with refried beans and a bit of daiya “cheese” popped under the broiler, and then topped with avocado and cilantro!! *love*  such a quick meal too!

Last night for dinner, we had the 1st BBQ of the season!!   YAHOO!!  I had BBQ veggies with sautéed kale and shrimp!   I also had a big ole’ slice of bread to go with this – dipped in balsamic and oil! (YUM!)

I love veggies cooked on the BBQ

There has been A LOT of Starbucks in my last 2 days!  I’ve gone about 6 months as a starving student not having starbucks and then one of my BFF’s came to town – she’s brought me Starbucks 2x’s and Dave got me one yesterday  - Gotta love them!

My drinks of choice -  this is a shaken green tea lemonade (YUM), I’ve also had my 2 other favourites – shaken passion lemonade and a steamed soy milk with toffee nut syrup!!

I also got a lovely knock on the door the other day with a sample pack from the people at Artisana! (HOLY YUM!)

Seriously?   when they said they would send some samples,

I thought maybe a wee bit, but this was a serious haul!!

So far I have been LOVING this stuff…

Almond butter on rice cakes = delicious!  This almond butter is the SWEETEST (non sweetened) almond butter I’ve tasted!!  Them are some sweet almonds!  SO GOOD!

And yesterday for breaky I tested out the Macadamia Butter

No joke,  this stuff should be illegal

When I see a jar of this, it’s all mine!!  (Obviously my favourite so far!)

Anywhoo… I’ll get back to you guys, and review the other flavors as I test them out!!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago we hosted a Mexican Fiesta dinner party!!

Good times!   My recap is coming soon (with recipes!) I promise!

Anyways, here’s to the ending of the worlds most random post!!

2 questions for you?

Anything FABULOUS I need to pick up at Costco tomorrow?  It’s my birthday tomorrow, and Dave’s taking me SHOPPING and then we’re heading to Costco (YAY!) – oh and then to SUSHI with 6 of my favorite people!!

What’s your Starbucks drink of choice? 

I love hearing all the wacky drink orders out there – mine USED to be – Tall, soy, 1/2 sweet peppermint latte – easy on the foam…

Have an AWESOME MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS… FUN STUFF – Lance was featured on BLOG DOGS!! Go check it out and if you click his name it takes you too a silly video of his Lancey-ness!