Clean and Green

I found an amazing blog that I'd love to share with you. She has so many amazing raw recipes that I just have to share this goldmine!!
Her name is Natalia and you can enter her blog here.
Sign up for her mailing list and you will get an amazing free e-book with some pretty fantastic recipes. Also click on her recipe page and be prepared for some wonderful raw entrees you can add to your collection of recipes.
Today I made her "Clean & Green" whole fruit juice for part of my lunch. It was so crisp, clean and refreshing that I wanted to share her recipe with you. I love the idea of making a green juice using the high speed blender vs the juicer. Clean up was a breeze and I really felt satisfied having all of the fiber in the juice. I hope that you will try it too and also go check out her wonderful blog.

Clean & Green
by NataliaKM.com

Serves 1

1 C fresh squeezed OJ
1 green apple, core and chop (I used an organic Fiji)
2 stalks celery (I used organic)
1/2 C fresh parsley (I used a cup)
Blend in a blender until smooth.
*I added 1/2 C of ice to the blender to chill the juice.

+JMJ+Today I am grateful for sleeping through the night!

Cabbage Rose

Lately I have been loving our daily juice routine. We tend to have our green smoothies first thing in the morning so our juicing happens right before lunch. Usually our juices are quite GREEN so this recipe was a change. It was really sweet with the 3 apples and the carrots. I found it on line and decided to give it a try. The children loved it!! This would be a great juice for those new to juicing. It is excellent.

Today this juice was my lunch. I am experimenting with a different form of the raw foods diet to see how I feel eating a low fat, high carb raw vegan diet. You know where this is leading--yes it is basically 80-10-10. I have not read Doug's book but have been following several raw foodists who eat this way and it is pretty basic.

I gave up oils several weeks ago and have been consuming no nuts, only occasionally some soaked seeds. So this will not be a big transition for me considering I eat a very low fat raw diet to begin with.

I stayed so full after my large green breakfast smoothie that this juice is all I could really eat for lunch. I will  make up the calories at dinner. I'll have a large bowl full of bananas and dates and then a green salad with some of my homegrown white clover sprouts and some fresh tomato dressing.

Here is Philip McCluskey and Natalia KW's juice recipe:

Look at this gorgeous color!

Cabbage Rose
by Philip McCluskey & Natalia KW

1/2 small purple cabbage
3 carrots
3 apples
1 inch knob of fresh ginger
Prep all ingredients and juice.

+JMJ+ Today I am grateful for beautiful memories of my lovely mother-in-law. May she rest in PEACE.

Bean Free, Oil Free Raw Hummus

Today I played around with Choosing Raw's recipe for zucchini hummus. I started making her original recipe but decided to add some tahini, hemp and additional spices. The original recipe was too bland for me, I LOVE loads of tahini in my hummus and lots of seasoning.
Here is how I made my version of:

Bean Free, Oil Free Raw Hummus Dip
by Elizabeth @ rawlivingandlearning.blogspot.com

1/2 C soaked and sprouted raw almonds
2 T hemp seeds, Nutiva
2 small organic zucchini
1 clove garlic
cumin to taste
sea salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 tsp onion powder
2 small Meyers lemons, juiced
2 heaping T raw tahini, Artisana is nice!
pinch of chili powder

Process the ingredients in a small food processor until creamy smooth. If needed you can add small amounts of water as it is processing to get it the consistency you desire. I only had to add about a tablespoon of water to mine.

Use as a dip with cucumber, celery and carrot sticks. Before serving you could add some diced olives as a garnish as well as some diced tomato. I used the leftovers the next day to make some killer collard wraps for the hubby and me. Look for that post next!

+JMJ+ Today I am grateful for caring, giving people.

U-Pick Citrus

Today we went on a wonderful field trip to one of THE last U-Pick Citrus Farms in Southwest Florida!!

It is owned and run by a couple by the name of Johnson. Judy and Bob began planting there 10-acre grove in 1980. Bob planted all 3,000 trees himself, from seed! Unfortunately they lost that initial crop to frost. But that did not stop him. He has had a thriving business for many years that also helps support local needy people.

 Each season they donate 12,000 pounds of fruit to the Harry Chapin Food Bank and they also work with churches in their area to help feed hungry children.

They also sell some local wild flower honey from their nieghbor's bee farm down the road.

Their barn is an eclectic mix of antiques, Bob's sign and license plate collection and the supplies he needs to run the farm.

The grove is open from November to May. The location is:
 18971 Misty Morning Lane, Ft. Myers, FL.
Email address is: upickcitrus@netzero.net
Phone: 239-657-4996

Judy and Bob were a delight and they were so wonderful to our homeschool group. The children had just as much fun playing with their dog and cat as they did picking the oranges and tangerines. The older two children were there as well but I didn't get a good photo of them...bummer!

I bought almost 60 lbs of citrus!!! You can imagine how much fresh juice we will be getting from that! And how wonderful the juice will be in our morning green smoothies.

 And I am happy to say that they do not use any pesticides on their fruit! Grazing in the grove is free and they allow you to taste from the tree before you pick so you can select the fruit that is right for your individual taste. How great is that!!

Thank you Bob and Judy for allowing us to spend the day at your lovely home/grove. It was a splendid day and we had so much fun.

How about a green smoothie recipe with fresh squeezed Honey Tangerine juice:

I juiced several of the Honey Tangerines and added the juice to a blender full of raw sunflower seeds, freshly ground flax, 4 large collard leaves, banana and finally frozen mango and some ice.

U-Pick Green Smoothieby Elizabeth @ rawlivingandlearning.blogspot.com

2 C freshly juiced honey tangerine juice
4 T raw sunflower seeds
3 dates, pitted
3 T freshly ground flax seeds
4 large collard leaves, torn
3 small bananas
2 C frozen mango
1/2 C ice
Blend till creamy and smooth. Enjoy the goodness!

Our oldest son enjoyed a large glass of fresh squeezed Valencia juice with his breakfast--yum!

+JMJ+ Today I am grateful for a day in the sunshine picking fresh citrus with friends and family.