What's For Breakfast?

Fruit & Veggie Bowl

kiwi

orange

red bell pepper

orange bell pepper

celery

spearmint

dulse granules

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Most days I begin my morning routine by drinking water and following it with a Green Smoothie or fruit bowl.

Mid morning I will have more fruit with nuts (walnuts or brazil nuts) and/or a green juice

Fruit in the morning keeps our bodies flushing out the toxins from the normal detox that goes on during the night time hours.

What's on Your Table?

Most days I like to keep fruit and veggies on our table for in between snacks.  This will help you and your family from eating unhealthy snacks.

Sometimes I make a Cashew Cream for dipping or pouring over fruit.

Cashew Cream

1 c. raw cashews (soaked for 1-2 hrs. & drained to soften)

3/4 c. or more cold water (begin with lesser and add as needed)

1 1/2 T. raw honey or agave

1/4 t. vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and pulse until incorporated and then blend until smooth.  You can adjust liquids to get desired consistency.

option: you can remove vanilla & honey and add in savory spices like dill or chives and garlic for a ranch dip

SUNWARRIOR

In the raw food world you hear a lot about SUNWARRIOR products and since I have never tried them, I thought that I should.

I have read many blogs and those that consume this product say that it is one of  the best protein and green supplements.

For a late afternoon snack I blended the Chocolate Raw Protein with 1 cup of almond milk and 3/4 c. of mixed berries.

First I sampled it without the fruit, and it was very palatable.  It was smooth with a mild chocolate flavor.

I then added the fruit and enjoyed it as much as without the fruit.

I found it to be very tasty, not very powdery like many other protein powders.  

I enjoyed all of the items pictured above by adding them to my smoothies!

When I can add this to my budget I would like to add it to my stash of supplements!  :)

Find them here @ Sunwarrior

The Better Chip

The Better Chip sent me all of these goodies!

My husband endeavors to eat healthy while on the road and will sometimes shop at Meijer's.

One of  his staples is hummus.  While making his purchase he happened upon, "The Better Chip",  Jalapeno flavored.  Every week he would tell me how great these chips were and that I would probably like them.... because they were healthy.  hmmmm....I thought.

So I contacted the company to see what all the fuss was about.

Oh my goodness!!!

These are the best tasting chips up to date!!!

They are packed FULL of intense flavor and thick and crispy.

Here is some info from "The Better Chip" website

Made with 40% fresh ingredients so the flavor is inside

All Natural

Gluten Free

Non-GMO

Made in a completely nut-free environment. No Kidding. We touch no nuts in our chip facility.

Lactose free (Red Pepper & Salsa Fresca, Jalapeno Sea Salt)

Contain NO animal bi-products

Made on a line dedicated to only tortilla products

I will eat these occasionally

 because chips are not part of a nutrient dense diet.

BUT

we all have our weaknesses   :)

...and they are vegan  :) :) 

Bean Mash

This is one of our family favorite go-to's for snacks or as part of a complete meal.

BEAN MASH

2 cans of organic garbanzo's drained & rinsed

1 to 1 1/2 c. of finely chopped celery (the more the better in my book)

dried onion or chopped onions to taste ( I use about 1/3 c. dried onions)

dill to taste

organic sweet pickle relish to taste

Vegenaise to moisten

Pulse all ingredients except the celery in the food processor until slightly chunky.  Be careful not to over process.*

Place into a bowl and add in the celery and enough Vegenaise or almond mayo to moisten.

If you want to make it taste like tuna salad, sprinkle it with dulse granules. 

You can use this as a dip, a spread with crackers,  as a wrap on a whole grain tortilla, lettuce roll up, or a sandwich on sprouted bread with lettuce and tomato!

As you can see it is very versatile....as always use your imagination and change up the beans, spices and or veggies and make it your own. 

*If you prefer a pate or hummus like consistency you can blend it until smooth

My Date with the Blender

Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours in my kitchen with my Vita-Mix.   A friend had sent me an e-mail question about constipation and sluggish bowels...

I do have some experience in this area with my own GI tract issues, so I was happy to share how I deal with this situation.  I then became inspired to do a little cleanse of my own.  

The pictures below are the recipes I use to get things moving.  I find it helpful to consume mainly raw foods in blended forms to move things along and juice to allow my digestive tract to rest in between meals and for their healing properties.

RED LEMONADE

1/2 cucumber 

mixed baby greens

collards

1 small beet~unpeeled & quartered

celery

ginger

romaine

water to blend

strain & add

100% organic lemon juice

liquid stevia to taste

This is my finished product and it was refreshing & delicious!

BLENDED SALAD

2 vine ripe tomatoes quartered

baby greens

romaine

lots of celery

cilantro

mango

jalapeno

lemon or lime juice

I like to blend mine into a chunky consistency so that it has some texture with something to chew on. I also find that this helps with bulking things up to get them moving.

ARUGULA SMOOTHIE

1 c. of water

1 c. mixed berries

1/2 c. mango

2 c. of arugula~this has a very unique taste so do not use this much unless you like it

hemp seeds

ginger

blend & serve

These are the ingredients for the smoothie I made for my children.

almond milk

spinach

banana

mango

blueberries

hemp seeds

blend & serve

I really love fresh raw almond milk!   We drink a lot of it at our house.

I used one cup of soaked almonds and 6 c. of water and blended

I strain mine through a nut milk bag for a smooth & creamy milk.

If you prefer at more creamy milk, just decrease the amount of water to nuts.

Stevita

The great people at Stevita sent me a goodie package!

Around my house we love using stevia in place of other sweeteners because it does not affect blood sugar and Stevita is gluten free, sugar free, chemical free, allergen free.

Daily Greens