Juice Feast

Basically, these recipes were developed as I was cleaning out my fridge. They're variations on drinks I make all the time. They're freaking delicious. You should make your own!

Pink Juice
3 Grapefruit
1 large bunch grapes
handful kumquats
3 tangerines
1 lime
1 mango

Green Juice
2 apples
2 cucumber
3 celery stalks
1 lime
2 inch ginger
2 bunches kale stems

Green
1 cucumber
8 small apples
3 stalks celery
1 lime
1 bunch kale

Red
4 small beets
2lbs carrots
4 apples
6 oranges

Yellow
3 grapefruit
2 mango
8 oranges

Orange
1lb carrots
3 oranges

Kitchen Sink Salad

I totally almost drove to Chipotle for a salad today. As I sat around and considered this option, I realized there was more than enough good stuff to make lunch right here at home. When you've got greens, plus a reasonably well stocked pantry and fridge you've alwaaays got the goods for a healthy salad. Some items I always have to choose from are dried fruit, nuts, seeds & random produce.

Today's Lunch
Spring Mix
Tomato
Onion
Carrot
Bell Pepper
Cucumber
Apple
frozen Peas
frozen Corn
Sunflower Seeds
Raisins
Dulse

Keep Juicing, Keep Loving

 Daikon Radish, Mint, Cucumber, Lime, Parsley, Celery. Apple, Cilantro,Spinach, Wheatgrass

 Apple, Yellow Beet, Orange, Ginger, Carrot

This post is to give an example of juices you'll make when you have the primary ingredients stocked in your fridge. Other produce that you happen to have on hand keeps things exciting and adds depth & nutrition to your drinks.

Here is a list of items I always keep on hand
apples
cucumbers
celery
carrots
ginger
citrus
greens
beets

More Green Smoothies make you feel so good

Mango, Blueberry, Goji, Kale, Peach, Spinach, Orange, Coconut water

Spinach, Honeydew, Blueberry, Goji, Kiwi, Kale, Coconut water

Let's Drink!

I've been off & on a juice fast for the last 2 weeks. I love juice fasting, it aint easy, but when it works it feels sooo gooood. So.. "off & on" a fast obviously means I'm struggling. I'm blaming my busy life and workouts. Hey.. I'm training for a triathlon! The date is set for Dec 1st in Key West, Fl. So this is no traditional juice fast. Ive been supplementing with Vega my protein powder of choice, and one of the loves of my life. I love you Vega. But the juice plus the powder wasn't cutting it. So, I have added in green smoothies and for today... I'm happy.

Amazingly Delicious Green Smoothie
9oz coconut water
1/2 a lime, juiced
pinch sea salt
1 mango
and a handful of each of the following:
Kale
Spinach
fresh blueberries
frozen goji berries

Green Juice du Jour
1 apple
1 lime
3/4 c honeydew
sprig mint
3stalks celery
1 cucumber
2 handfuls spinach
stems from 1 bunch kale

Hiking the Ozark Trail VEGAN STYLE

It's my 26th Birthday and Amanda, Layla & I are hitting the trail! Specifically, we are heading to Tom Sauk on the Ozark Trail in southern Mo. We hiked 18 miles and camped out 1 night. Tom Sauk is the highest point in our great state and it's a gorgeous place to hike any time of year. Usually you can look forward to lots of water at Mina Sauk falls, less than a mile from our campsite, but this year we found only a small stream and a few large puddles. Thankfully it was enough to refill our canteens!

Our Vegan/mostly Raw hiking foods included celery, cucumbers, bananas, trail mix, sesame nut honey bars, chunks of energy (kind of like trail mix pulverized & smashed into little cubes. love em.) carrot cake cookies, Vega protein powder (I never travel without it.. or live without it for that matter) and Raw Revolution spirulina dream bars.
Yum. We ate well. It was actually the Perfect amount of food. When your body is working that hard hiking.. you actually don't get that hungry. Its hard for the body to focus on digestion, carrying a heavy pack and hiking up & down hills all day.

Cooking locally-made Tempeh for breakfast before the hike. We planned a big breakfast for the long trail ahead of us. These gorgeous locally-made tempeh steaks marinated overnight in
2parts olive oil
1 part shoyu/tamari
1 part balsamic vinegar
blend of favorite dry herbs

We made some simple "reuben style" breakfast sandwiches on Udi's whole grain Gluten Free bread with saurkraut and hummus. yessssss

raw Italian Neatballs

Italian Neatballs
3/4 c sun dried toms
1 c orange juice
1/4 c nutritional yeast
2T Italian seasoning
1/4 red onion
3 garlic cloves
1/4 red bell pepper
1 T Irish Moss
1 C hazelnut meal
1 c sunflower seeds, soaked
1 c walnuts, soaked

Marinara Sauce
2 med tomatoes
handful sundried toms
1/8 c red onion
2-3 garlic cloves
5 basil leaves
1 t oregano, dry
sea salt

Blend the ingredients for the Neatballs in a food processor until well combined. It should be pretty smooth, but still chunky. find a happy medium. Shape em into little balls & dehydrate at 109 for about a day, dehydration time depends on the humidity in your area.

Throw all the ingredients for the sauce into a blender, add a little water if you need to thin it out.

Halfway through the dehydration roll the Neatballs in the marinara sauce, then continue to dehydrate.

To serve these cute little guys I got out my Spiralizer & made some zucchini noodles. I tossed them in the rest of the sauce, and garnished with some diced kalamata olives. These pasta bowls were a hit with my omnivorous friends!

Nacho Kale Chips

These went too quickly to get a finished photo!! aahh!! Ill have to be more careful next time.

1 c sunflower seeds
1/4 c pine nuts
water, about 1/2-3/4 cups
1/4 c nutritional yeast
carrot, 2in chunk
red bell pepper, a 1/3
1 t mustard
tumeric, a pinch
onion, 1/8 c
garlic, 2 cloves
1 T miso
1 T applecider vinegar

Throw all of the above ingredients into a high powered blender.
Strip 2 bunches of Kale from their stems, keeping the leaves in large pieces.
Rub the leaves liberally with the Nacho dressing, then place in the dehydrator at 109 for at least 1 day.
Flip half way through.
Youll need to keep them in a sealed container once theyre dry or else theyll rehydrate & get soft.

Spicy Spring Slaw

In this forum.. I'm forced to be the critic of my own food. So let me tell you how happy I am with this salad. The name "Spicy Spring Slaw" doesn't really give it justice. "Crisp, Cool, Creamy, Crunchy, Sweet, Spicy, Salty, Pretty, Seasonal, Healthy Spring Slaw" would be more accurate. I'm sure Ill eat a version of this everyday for at least the next 2 weeks.

There are lots of substitutions that can be made too!  Try:

Avocado instead of banana

ramen noodles

cucumber

bell pepper

sunflower seeds

cashews

pear

more fresh herbs

coconut

fennel

jiacama

lime zest

orange wedges

quinoa

So, use what you've got. Make a spring slaw! For someone like me.. who can easily become housebound watching netflix, reading, cooking, or lounging, this is a perfect example of an energizing spring dish to get me moving and feeling good.

Usually, I cut the radishes and carrots into flower shapes! Which really adds to the experience of enjoying this salad. Ill have a post soon about how to do that. Always a crowd pleaser.. even when you're the only one eating :)

SLAW
Nappa cabbage 1/2 head, cut into strips
1 apple, julienned
2 scallions, diced
daikon radish, 4-5 inches, cut into rounds
1 watermelon radish, cut into rounds
red radish, 3 small, cut into rounds
1 carrot, peeled into strips
sugar snap peas, handful, diced small
cilantro,1 handful minced
1/3 c broccoli with stems, minced
1 banana, sliced into rounds
sesame seeds, to garnish
kelp noodles optional
1/2 c sea vegetable, rehydrated optional

Prep each ingredient accordingly and toss together in a large bowl. You can keep this slaw for a couple days, just leave it undressed in a large ziplock or large food storage container.


DRESSING
1/4 ume plum vinegar, or use a rice wine vinegar
2 T shoyu
2 T white miso
2T siracha, or sambal olek
1 1/2 T sweetener (agave, honey, raw sugar, palm sugar etc. )
3 T fresh ginger
1 T sesame oil
3/4 c Tea oil, or other mild flavored oil

Blend all the ingredients together until smooth.

Avocolada Chia Pudding

pineapple, about 2 1/2-3 cups
coconut water, 2 cups
2 bananas, keep separate
avocado, save the pit
2T coconut butter
pinch of salt
juice of 1 lime
3T chia seeds

 Place all the ingredients, except the chia and 1 banana, into the blender and puree. Then, stir in the chia seeds, the avocado pit and the other banana sliced. The pit will help keep the avocado fresh for a few days. Place in the fridge and enjoy a few hours later.

Kimchi Round 2

Stay tuned for the progress of the Kimchi! This is only day 1. The jar will sit on my counter and ferment for the next 3 days or so, then I'll stick it in the fridge. Check out my last batch of Kimchi here. I made the last batch (my first at-home batch!) last week.. and its gone already. Obviously, its time to make more. This will surely be a new staple in my home.

1 head Nappa Cabbage
1 red bell pepper
2 carrots
1 small-med Daikon radish
4 knobs of Tumeric
2 c sugar snap peas
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 bunch scallions
3 T chili powder, grown & dried by one of my best friends, Billie Hainds!!
4 cloves garlic
2 in ginger
1 T miso
2quarts water + 4T seasalt

raw Blueberry Dream Chia Pudding

1 pkg fresh bloobs
1 banana
3 oranges, juiced
2 T chia seeds
vanilla

Toss the bloobs, banana and oj in the blender and blend on low. You dont want a perfect puree (or do you?) so leave it a little chunky. Stir in the vanilla and chia seeds. Refrigerate and enjoy a few hours later. I sprinkle a little Bee Pollen on mine.

raw Sunflower Nuggets w Asian Sticky Sauce

Well, this is one of the best meals I've eaten in a looongg time.  To the left is a photo of the nuggets with Kelp noodles and marinated veggies. YUM. I cant wait to have it again for lunch tomorrow!!
Seriously, Ive fed these nuggets to several omnivores over the last few days.. and their responses were unanimous. They all wanted more. Even my most adamantly carnivorous foodie friend raved. I'll be working on this recipe and some similar ideas in the future. ugh, I love to eat good food.
Okay, but real quick let me tell you about the Kelp noodles. Drove all over town lookin for em.Our local vegan & raw cafe, Beets, sells them for a whopping $6.99 per package. Granted, there are several servings per package and they last for a while in the fridge.. but I wasn't excited about spending $7 per package. Natural Grocer was out of em. So I found em at Wheatsville this afternoon (went there this morning but forgot my wallet! yep.) for $3.75. Excellent. I picked up three packages. They are only 6 calories per serving, they're raw, and they're made entirely out of seaweed. Right up my alley. They better have kelp noodles in Columbia, MO because I wont be able to live without em.

 








Sunflower Nuggets
1 1/2 c sunflower seeds, sprouted
1 1/2 c walnuts, sprouted
3/4 c sun dried tomatoes, soaked in 1 c orange juice
1 large shallot
3 cloves garlic
1 T Irish Moss powder
1 c almond flour
1 T tamari
1 T red miso
1 T sage
1 t mustard powder
1/3 t tumeric
1/2 T cumin

Soak sunflower seeds and walnuts for 2-4 hours. Soak sun dried tomatoes in orange juice for 2 hours.
Pulse the tomatoes and their soaking liquid in the food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Its okay if theres some chunks of seeds/nuts, but you want to blend it up pretty well. Form into patties and dehydrate for 8 hours. Dip em in the Sticky Sauce, then dehydrate another 8 hours. Heck yeah.

Sticky Sauce
3/4 coconut aminos, aged coconut sap (like soy sauce only BETTER)
1/2 c agave nectar
1/4 c coconut milk
2 cloves garlic
1 in ginger
1 T sesame oil
2 T coconut oil
2 t red pepper flakes
2T sesame seeds

Blend well. Next time Im going to add a little less agave and a little more red pepper flakes. Other than that its totally solid. I got a lot of compliments on this sauce. Ill probably be making it pretty often as it tastes soooo good on veggies.

To marinate the vegetables; I dredged them in the sticky sauce. Broccoli, red bell pepper, scallion and mushrooms. Then I dehydrated them for 2 hours to soften. Delish and nutrish. 

Sunflower nugget batter going into the dehydrator

Growing Microgreens at Home

I am so excited this is happening!! Stay tuned to see the progression as these greens grow. They were added to the soil on Thursday. I should have edible microgreens in a week. I chose to start with Sunflower and Buckwheat seeds. They're inexpensive and nutritional powerhouses. Once I have microgreens, Ill eat them as snacks, on sandwiches, salads, in smoothies and juices and in some energizing raw soups.

To get started you'll need 
3 aluminum pie pans, with a few holes poked in the bottom for drainage
organic potting soil
1/4 c buckwheat, soaked over night & sprouted for 1-2 days
1/4 c sunflower seeds, soaked overnight & sprouted 1-2 days
spray bottle, to mist with water

Sunflower Seeds- buy raw, unsalted, hulled seeds from the bulk department at your local health food store. You'll have to pick through these because there are lots of broken seeds. Broken seeds won't sprout, so you'll need to sort through and pick out all the intact seeds, then sprout those. To sprout, soak the seeds overnight. Rinse them well in the morning and sprout for 1-2 days in your sprouting device. Once a tail forms on most of the seeds, lay them on top of an inch of soil, in the aluminum pie pan, and spread them out so that they aren't piled on top of each other. Mist them well with water.

Buckwheat- buy hulled, un-toasted buckwheat from the bulk department. The soaking water from these seeds gets super thick as they produce a lot of mucous-y fluid when they release their enzyme inhibitors.So just make sure you rinse them reaalllllyyy well. Soak them over night, then sprout for 1-2 days, and set on top of an inch of organic potting soil in an aluminum pie pan. Spread them out and mist them very well with water. You'll notice pretty quickly that the buckwheat sprouts grow little tiny hairs all over them.. it looks like mold, but stay calm.. this is normal :)

Once your sprouts are on the soil, you'll need to stack the pans and keep them in a cool dark place. You stack them so that the sprouts are making contact with the soil. So, I placed an additional empty pie pan on top, with a light weight in it. They'll stay like this for about 3 days until they start to shoot up, then they get sunlight.
STAY TUNED!

Sunflower sprouts in soil Day 1

 

Sunflower sprouts in soil Day 4

 Sunflower Microgreens Day 5

 Sunflower Microgreens Day 6

 Sunflower Microgreens Day 7

Buckwheat sprouts in soil Day 1

Buckwheat sprouts in soil day 4

 Buckwheat Microgreens Day 5

 Buckwheat Microgreens Day 6

raw Strawberry Banana Chia Pudding w Coconut Cashew Creme

A treat any time of day, garnished with Bee Pollen

Good Goddess, this was a stroke of kitchen genius. Thats what happens when you spend over 35hours a week in your own kitchen.. genius. It went something like this...
Uh oh these strawberries are gonna go bad if I don't use em soon. I'm not a huge fan of fruit smoothies.. so that's out. I dont want to just eat em on their own... thats too easy.  I want to make some strawberry fruit roll-ups in my dehydrator but cant find my "fruit roll-up trays" aaaanywheeere. Hey.. its been a while since I made a chia pudding. Theres bananas in the freezer. I bet a strawberry-banana chia pudding would rock. YES IT DOES. yep.

WHY CHIA SEEDS? Theyre a source of complete protein, iron, calcium, B vitamins and polyunsaturated fats. They're dry little seeds until you add some liquid then they plump up and soften like tapioca, only theyre more gel-ly. A good ratio to work with is 9parts liquid- 1 part chia seed. 

Strawberry Banana Chia Pudding
1/2 c fresh apple juice
10 strawberries
1 1/2 frozen banana
2-3 T chia seeds
vanilla, a dash

Blend all of the ingredients, besides the seeds. I left my mix a little chunky for texture. Add the seeds after blending then let it sit over night. Once morning comes... dig in.  

Coconut Cashew Creme
1 c cashews, soaked 2-3 hours
3/4 c cream from can of coconut milk
vanilla, 1/2 bean seeded
maple syrup to taste

Blend all the ingredients well, until super smooth. It may be a little thin, but it will set in the fridge and get super thick, rich and creamy. The cream from the top of a can of coconut milk... isnt exactly raw, but I had it on hand and it was perfect. Alternatively you could scoop out the flesh of a young coconut and use that.

Rejuvelac - Rye

Soaking Rye Sprouts Day 1

Close up Day 1

 Soaking Rye Sprouts Day 2

Soaking Rye Sprouts Day 3

First of all... What is Rejuvelac? A fermented probiotic drink made from sprouted grains.

It tastes fresh, crisp and tangy. I made mine from Rye berries, but you can also make this drink from wheat, kamut and quinoa. 

 Sprouting grains is super easy. It is a little intimidating at first, but once you get into it, there are no problems. 

The basic rules to sprouting are as follows

1.Soak the grain/seeds overnight

2.Drain and rinse well

3. Let the grains/seeds sit in a sprouter or tilted (well draining, so they don't mold) mason jar until they sprout.

4. Rinse them 2-3 times a day, to prevent them from drying out, until they sprout. 

5. Once they sprout you can store them in the fridge and they'll last for at least 1 week. 

Some nuts, beans, seeds, grains have longer/shorter soaking/sprouting times than others. So, if your sprouting something you've never tried before, do a couple minutes of research beforehand.

Making Rye Rejuvelac

Start by following the basic rules to sprouting, posted above, and once the sprouts are about as long as the grain, you are ready to soak them in water. 

Soak the sprouts in a mason jar filled with clean water for up to 3 days. You can drain this initial batch off, store it int he fridge, and fill the jar w sprouts back up for another batch. This 1 batch of sprouts will make 3 batches of rejuvelac, although each new batch will probably be a little less strong than the one before. 

You let the jar sit, with a mesh top, on your counter in a cool spot for three days. Over the 3 days, you'll notice that the water will get cloudy, a light foam will form at the top, and when you nudge the jar lots of tiny bubbles will shoot up. This is great! The drink is fermenting and lots of beneficial enzymes are building in there.

raw Superfood Salad w Mustard Tahini Dressing

 

I've been eating this salad everyday this week.. ya know its just one of those things. I've got all the ingredients in my fridge and I'm just hooked.

Spinach

Romaine

Fennugreek Sprouts

Watermelon Radish

Tomato

Avocado

Sunflower Seeds

 Bee Pollen

Dulse

Dressing

1 part tahini

1 part mustard

agave

lemon

soysauce

water to thin it out

Kimchi

I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I made a version of kimchi once at school and it turned out beautifully.  Now, after much research, I'm ready to make my first home batch. 

A Korean staple, Kimchi is a fermented cabbage dish. Its loaded with enzymes and living bacteria that make your insides very happy (and healthy.) Plus its freakin delicious. This is one of those foods that people get seriously hooked on. You'll never forget it and always be wanting more :) Yes.

Traditional Kimchi is serious business, so I'll be the 1st to say that this is NOT an authentic Korean recipe. I'm fine with that. From what I understand nearly anything can be pickled or fermented so I'm gonna have some fun. Here we go... first homemade kimchi!!

I added Watermelon Radishes... one of the many loves of my life

Kimchi mix before soaking in the brine

Day 1 The Ingredients have just been rubbed with my chili 

paste & pressed down into the glass jar

 Day 3 Kimchi tastes fermented,  spicy and delicious.. ready to store in the fridge!

Shelly's First Kimchi
1 head napa cabbage, leaved cut in half down the vein (reserve the outermost leaves)
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 carrot, sliced thin
1 bunch scallion, sliced thin longwise
2 watermelon radishes, sliced thin
1/2 bunch cilantro, rough chopped

4T salt + 1 quart water (the brine)
2 T ginger, minced
2 T garlic, minced
1/2 T chili powder
1 T miso paste


you'll also need:
1 large mixing bowl
plates/heavy things to weigh down/submerge the mix
1 large glass jar/couple of mason jars/pickling crock

Wash all the produce thoroughly and chop. Toss everything together in a large bowl, besides the garlic, ginger, chili and miso. Mix the water with the salt and cover the vegetables with the brine. Then place large plates as weights on top of the mix to submerge it for a few hours (at least 2hours.) Then drain the mix.

Meanwhile, mince the garlic and ginger then mash it with a mortar & pestle to create a paste. Add the miso and chili and continue to mash into a paste. Its okay if it is chunky.

Rub all the veg with the paste. Make sure to incorporate it evenly. Now, you will add the mix to a large glass jar (or mason jars or pickling crock) and press down firmly for several minutes until the brine rises to the top. Place the outermost leaves of the napa on top of the mix as a natural cover. Put a lid on the jar. And wait :)

The next day you will press down firmly again on the cabbage to make sure the brine is covering all the veg. You can even taste it at this point! It should be delicious, but not quite fermented yet. That'll take a few more days. Once its fermented you can keep it in the fridge.. and eat as much as you want. Its great for you!

An alternative to pressing down on the kimchi everyday is to place weights on top of the mix to make sure it stays submerged. Id rather rub it down every day.. put some good loving energy into my veg.. and check out the flavor as it progresses. I'll keep you posted!

And now for some nutritional information that I copied & pasted from this website www.kuksuldo.com/kimchi

Well-fermented kimchi has anti-biotic functions as lactic acid bacteria produced in the process of fermentation that suppresses growth of harmful bacteria. This bacteria not only gives a sour rich flavor to matured kimchi but also prevents excessive fermentation by restraining growth of other bacteria in the intestines. Not only that, substances in kimchi prevent hyperacidity resulting from excessive intake of meat and other acidic foods. Most ingredients of kimchi are rich in water and low in other nutrients. However, lactic acid in kimchi restrains the growth of harmful bacteria in intestines and help relieve intestinal disorders. In addition, the lactic acid is efficacious for preventing adult diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and even gastrointestinal cancers. Not only that, the juice from vegetables and salt in kimchi help intestines remain clean. Some substances in kimchi help promote the secretion of pepsin (protein-digestive enzyme) and maintain the presence of a certain number of bacteria.

 

Kimchi has played a role as an important source of nutrients in fermented vegetables during the long winter months.  It has different kinds of nutrients based on materials and the level of fermentation. Usually, the materials used in making kimchi have few calories and low levels of sugar, but contain high amounts of fibers, diverse vitamins (especially vitamins A and C), and minerals (such as calcium and iron). The nutrients produced during fermentation (lactic acid bacteria and acetic acid) help protect against cancer and germs. The fiber in cabbage is not a nutrient, but it aids digestion, allows smooth movement of food through the intestines, and helps prevent constipation and intestine cancer. Red chili peppers and garlic help to lower blood cholesterol and aid in blood clotting. The nutrients and activities of the various micro-organisms produced during fermentation are also very beneficial to the human body Lactic Acid Bacteria The well fermented kimchi has more lactic acid bacteria than yogurt. This bacteria is known to be especially good for the intestines and has anti-germ functions. Acetic Acid Acetic acid is produced differently according to the materials used, fermentation temperature and period, and level of salt. The flavor depends on the level of acetic acid. Overall, kimchi that is fermented with less salt at a low temperature has a better taste. Amino Acids The special flavor of kimchi depends not only on acetic acid, but also carbon gas, condiments, and amino acids. Amino acids are produced by breaking down protein in pickled fish paste and oysters. Researchers have found that kimchi contains 17 different kinds of amino acids Vitamins Kimchi has high levels Vitamin B, C, and Beta Carotene. The levels of Vitamin B1 and B2, and B12 double after a 3 week-fermentation period.