RAW Living and Learning

I've been in juice mode lately; consuming a large quantity of fresh juices everyday. It feels totally amazing!!! Satisfies my nutritional needs so adequately that I am not feeling hungry until evening time. So I've been intermittent fasting for even longer stretches of time each day. Has been coming out to be about 20-23 hours between my last meal of the previous day and my first meal of the following day. And it feels really great! Today I have had my usual morning lemon water followed by my 2 ounce shot of fresh wheatgrass juice about an hour later. And in place of my morning carrot juice today I was feeling the need for a large green juice cocktail. I made a Mocktail that I'd like to call my Broccoli Appletini. Broccoli Appletini by Elizabeth @rawlivingandlearning.blogspot.com 3 leaves of "Broccoleaf" (visit www.foxy.com to see this) 8 stems from Broccoleaf leaves ( www.foxy.com ) 3 broccoli stalks from fresh broccoli (see photo below) ...

The other night I experimented with making a Vegan Sour Cream using just 3 ingredients and I am very happy to say that it was delicious! It does take a small amount of pre-planning as you will need to soak the "raw" cashews for a minimum of 2 hours; to ensure easy blending and an ultra creamy result, and it will need to chill for a minimum of 4 hours. This makes a great base to many other recipes. For instance, I used just 2 Tablespoons of this in a recipe that I created for a low fat vegan Ranch Salad Dressing (let me know if you'd like that recipe). You also could sweeten it slightly with some organic coconut sugar and use it as a fruit dip. I'm sure it would work well as a "raw" frosting on a raw cake if you blended it with some fluffy date paste. For my date paste recipe click HERE . The possibilities are many, I'm sure. 3 Ingredient Vegan Sour Cream (oil free, salt free) 1 cup of "raw" cashews, soaked in water for 2 hours, the...

One of my little guys requested an Apple Pie Smoothie the other day so that is exactly what I made him! We all have been enjoying my Pumpkin Pie Smoothie recipe and he thought, since I could make up a recipe for that, surely I could make up one for Apple Pie. It was a success!! He was very happy and satisfied. You can use any apple you like for this recipe; he chose Golden Delicious, so that is what I used. Apple Pie Smoothie by Elizabeth @rawlivingandlearning.blogspot.com 4 frozen ripe bananas 1 ripe banana Juice of 1/2 a lemon 2 Golden Delicious, organic apples 4 Medjool dates, remove pits 2 Tbsp raw Hemp Hearts 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice 1/4 tsp Allspice Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender. Garnish smoothies with dried mulberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Enjoy! +JMJ+ Today I am grateful for the kindness shown to me yesterday. 

As I mentioned the other day, I have been juicing a ton of carrots lately. To be exact, I have been juicing 5 pounds of carrots each morning!  I drink it throughout the morning and I also add some to recipes.  A few days ago I used a little bit of my carrot juice in the smoothie and smoothie bowl recipe that I made for the children and me; It was what I call "Pumpkin Pie Smoothie and Pumpkin Pie In a Bowl." Pumpkin Pie Smoothie/Pumpkin Pie In a Bowl by Elizabeth @rawlivingandlearning.blogspot.com 12 oz of fresh pumkin or canned 7 frozen, ripe bananas 5 Medjool dates, remove pits 2 T raw, hemp hearts 1/2 cup fresh carrot juice or water Squeeze of fresh lemon juice 1 Tablespoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice 1 teaspoon of cinnamon Blend all of the ingredients until creamy smooth. I blended mine on "smoothie mode" in my Blendtec Blender. Garnish the smoothies with a sprinkle of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Enjoy! For the Pumpki...

Are Microgreens Healthier? May 2, 2013 by Michael Greger M.D. in News   USDA researchers recently published a  study  assessing the nutrition content of 25 commercially available microgreens, seedlings of vegetables and herbs that have gained popularity in upscale markets and restaurants. Just a few inches tall, they boast intense flavors and vivid colors, but what about their nutritional content? No one knew until now. We’ve known that baby spinach leaves, for example, have  higher  levels of phytonutrients than mature spinach leaves, but what about  really  baby spinach–just a week or two old? Microgreens won hands down (leaves down?), possessing significantly higher nutrient densities than mature leaves. For example, red cabbage microgreens have a 6-fold higher vitamin C concentration than mature red cabbage and 69 times the vitamin K. Microgreens are definitively more nutrient dense, but are often eaten in small quantities. Even the healt...

I have been juicing a lot of carrots lately and am left with a lot of carrot pulp! I've been trying to think of recipes that utilize the pulp instead of having to just compost it all. The other day I decided to make Raw Carrot Corn Chips in the dehydrator. They turned out fantastic! Thin, crispy, and approved by all of the family members that tasted them. I am a happy camper! Raw Carrot Corn Chips by Elizabeth @rawlivingandlearning.BlogSpot.com 4 Cups of organic corn 4 Cups of carrot pulp 1/3 cup of flax seeds, ground into flax meal 2 Mini yellow bell peppers 1/3 of a sweet onion 3/4 cup of water Pinch of chili powder Pinch of cumin In a food processor, process all of the ingredients into a thick batter; Should be the consistency of thin oatmeal. Spread out onto Teflex sheets on your dehydrator trays; Should be spread quite thin. Dehydrate on 118 degrees for 12 hours and then flip them over and dehydrate 5-8 more hours or until dry, thin, and crispy. Break i...

I love playing around in the kitchen and creating new raw recipes. Usually I make them up as I go along, tossing together ingredients, tasting, adding, changing, and discovering new tastes and textures. That is what I love about the raw vegan lifestyle, things never get boring. Last night I was in the mood for Zoodles and wanted a creamy sauce that was very low in fat. I only used 1/4 of a small Haas avocado to give this sauce a really creamy texture. By adding in some leftover pieces of zucchini from the Zoodles you can use less avocado and still obtain a thick, creamy consistency. Here is the recipe:   Creamy Tomato Sauce by Elizabeth @rawlivingandlearning.blogspot.com 1 small Heirloom tomato 1/4 of a small Haas avocado 5 sundried tomatoes 1 small clove of garlic palm full of scallions juice of half a lemon 1/2 cup of green zucchini 1/4 of a small orange bell pepper fresh cracked black pepper Water as needed for blending Garnish: Portobello mu...