I know it has been ages since I’ve posted, but I took some time off to determine if I wanted to continue writing my blog or not.  I felt like my posting started getting monotonous, boring and laborious – not at all fun anymore.  So, I just stopped completely and during the time off I realized that I really missed it, I felt there was a lot I could’ve shared over the past couple of months, but I didn’t. So, since it’s a new year, I’ve decided to continue with my posts, but I have not committed myself to posting everyday.  While, I would love to do this and hope that I will be able to make time, I will commit to at least posting weekly.

With that being said here’s what I’ve been up to in the kitchen lately….

For Christmas the hubby bought me an Excalibur 3526T dehydrator –  I can’t tell you how long I have been drooling over this thing and I was so surprised to find it under my tree this year!  So, I definitely had to put it to good use while I had some time off for the holidays.  I have been researching more and more about eating raw and have been trying to incorporate more raw meals into my diet.  Although you don’t need a dehydrator to eat raw, it sure does allow you to be more creative and adapt traditional cooked foods into raw ones.  

At the first sight of this gift, I instantly knew what I would be making to test out this bad boy.

I have been seeing macaroons all over the blogsphere and in raw food establishments and couldn’t wait to try my hand at my very own.

VANILLA-ALMOND MACAROONS

CHOCOLATE-GINGER MACAROONS

These macaroons were amazing.  The first batch I made, the macaroons were rather large and took a long time to dehydrate and the second batch, the chocolate ones, were about half the size and took a lot less time to finish.  Both were so delicious – I took the first batch to my parents and they were very impressed.

CUMIN FLATBREAD

I loved this recipe, which is from Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney – I have made this twice and the hubby even loved this “bread” we’ve made lots of yummy veggie sandwiches around here!

BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

This recipe was awesome as well – again, from the Everyday Raw book.  My spiralizer makes very small noodles, but I would’ve liked to have had larger noodles to cut up so that they would’ve been more like macaroni noodles like in Mac-n-Cheese.  And I didn’t have walnuts to put on top, just pecans.  I think I will try this again in the near future and make the squash a little larger and use the walnuts.  The Cashew cheese sauce tasted amazing!

EGGPLANT BACON

I think I needed more eggplant than I had on hand, it turned out pretty salty, but had a nice texture and is great on our veggie sandwiches.  This recipe was from Ani’s Raw Food Essentials by Ani Phyo.

Not only do I have an awesome dehydrator where I can make delicious and nutritious food, I was also given a VitaMix by my boss – Amazing I know!!  I use this thing everyday and it is amazing.  This piece of equipment has made a huge impact on eating healthy in our family.  I have finally convinced the hubby to drink green smoothies in the morning.  I worry about him getting enough veggies during the day, so this way, we both know we’re starting out on the right foot.

VitaMix Box

Look at this beauty

Recipe Books + DVD

RAW BOOKS

Here are a few raw books I’ve been using, I’ve actually had these for a while before I ever got a Vitamix or the dehydrator.  I have been waiting and waiting on the additional tools for my kitchen to be able to make a proper raw meal.  I am loving it!

• Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney
• Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo
• Ani’s Raw Food Essentials by Ani Phyo

Have an awesome week guys!

Peace out…

Vegan Carrot Ginger Chia Spelt Muffins (adapted from Oh She Glows)

Carrot Ginger Chia Spelt Muffins

Dry:

• 2 cups spelt flour
• 3 T  sucanat
• 1/4 t sea salt
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1.5 T chopped up dark chocolate – Lindt 70% dark
• 3 T candied ginger cut into small pieces

Wet:

• 2 T chia seeds
• 1/2 c – coconut milk
• 2 T water
• 3 carrots, grated
• 1.5 t vanilla paste
• 1/4 c maple syrup
• 1 mashed banana
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions: Preheat oven to 375F. Spray Muffin pan with cooking spray. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl and add wet to dry, mixing until combined. I used an ice cream scoop and scooped the batter into a 12-cup muffin pan. Bake for 25 mins or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

Freshly Baked

Yum!

And I had to test these out – so yummy!

Carrot Ginger Chia Spelt Muffins

And here’s a recap of yesterday’s eats…

Breakfast: 1 string cheese + 1 ripe banana

string cheese

Banana

Snack: 2 prosciutto wrapped dates stuffed with soft goat cheese

Lunch: Dal + Kale Salad + 2 TJ’s mini blueberry dunkers

Kale salad + dal

TJ's blueberry almond mini dunker

Dinner: Tuna Salad on 1 piece of toast + sliced cucumbers

1/2 tuna sandwich

Alright y’all!  Have a great Wednesday afternoon…I’ll be back later.

Here were the main eats over the last few days….I’m just trying to play catch-up today.

FRIDAY

Breakfast: Oats + banana slices + chia seeds…uh, I think I should’ve mixed the chia seeds into the pot before putting it into the serving dish,  they were kind of all over the place and I kept getting mouthfuls of the seeds…I can definitely tell these are high in omega’s – it kind of tasted fishy to me.  I think next time I try them out, I’ll put them in something…like muffins.

Oats

Lunch: Millet Salad from my savory millet experiment

Millet Salad

TJ’s mini dunkers – Blueberry Almond – these are so yummy!

mini dunkers

Dinner: Chicken Salad Sandwich on 1 piece of bread + tortilla chips

Chicken Salad

• Boiled chicken
• Dill Relish
• Minced onion
• Celery
• Walnuts
• Light Mayo
• Salt and pepper

Chicken Salad Sandwich

SATURDAY

Breakfast - fixed by my wonderful hubby, eventhough it was HIS bday! – Egg sandwich with cheese, avocado, and tomato + skillet potatoes and sliced bananas

Egg Sandwich, potatoes and banana slices

I love skillet potatoes!  These rival my moms!

Egg goodness

This was eaten on our balcony at our little bistro table for a party of two! Bentley was having is fun outside as well – silly kitty, you are too curious for your own good.

Checking it out

Dinner - Taqueria del Sol

1 Memphis Taco – Chopped smoked pork with a spicy jalapeños cole slaw and tequila BBQ sauce in a flour tortilla + 1 Fish Taco – Tilapia dipped in an egg wash rolled in corn masa and bread crumbs and deep-fried. Served with poblano tartar sauce and pickled jalapeños in a flour tortilla and some chips and guacamole and a yummy margarita

I also had a piece of the key lime pie for dessert and a glass of Chardonnay Wine

MONDAY

Dinner: Massaged Kale Salad

• Kale
• salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• green onions
• toasted walnuts
• goat cheese

Massaged Kale Salad

Dal

• 1.75 cups red lentils
• 6 cups of water (or broth)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• salt
• Mustard Seeds
• Cumin Seeds
• Cinnamon
• Garlic Powder
• Ginger Powder
• Olive oil

I heated the olive oil over medium heat and added the cumin seeds and mustard seeds until they began to pop.  Then I added the onion and sautéed until it was soft.  Then I added the spices, lentils and water.  I brought this to a boil and then lowered to a simmer and cooked for about 35 mins.

Dal - cooked to perfection

I just can’t get over how amazing this Dal tasted – I could eat it everyday and it seems like we have this past week.  So yum!!

And I’ll leave you with this song that I found a while back and have been loving again lately Friendly Fires – Paris (Aeroplan Remix ft Au Revoir Simone)

Night y’all….

Protein seemed to be the theme for yesterday and man was it good!

Breakfast: Green Smoothie

Green Smoothie

• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 2 cups of spinach
• 1 T Nutribiotic Brown Rice Protein Powder
• crushed ice
• 1 T flax meal

Snack: PB&J Larabar

PB&J Larabar

Lunch: Red Lentil Dal – Another recipe based off of one in my Cooking Light Magazines (October 2007 Issue) + a chargrilled chicken sandwich 

Soup and a Sandwich

Let’s explore the Dal a little more….

Red Lentil Dal

• 1  tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 1  medium onion, diced
• 1  teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander 
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1/4  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8  teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
• 1  tsp ground ginger
• 1  garlic clove, minced
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 4  cups water
• 1  cup  dried small red lentils
• 3 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
• 1  tablespoon  fresh lime juice

I kind of did my own thing here and didn’t really go by the recipe.  I sautéed the onions first and once they were soft, I added in the garlic and tomatoes and then all of the spices. After this, I added in the lentils and water and brought it up to a boil, then reduced to a simmer and cooked on the stove for about 30 mins.  You can serve over rice, but I just ate like a soup.

I can’t wait to make more of this!!

Dinner: I couldn’t decide what to make, so I settled on protein pancakes

Protein Pancakes + Nectarine Preserves

• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 mashed ripe banana
• 1 T Nutribiotic Brown Rice Protein Powder
• 1 T flax meal

I topped with this with some homemade Nectarine preserves!

Here’s the song of the day.  This song always brightens up my mood – hope you enjoy – Have a Nice Day by Stereophonics – LOVE this band!!

See y’all later…

Here are some of today’s eats.

Breakfast: Breakfast was eaten on the run or really on my drive into work.  I ate the last of the sourdough bread this morning – boo/yay?!  So yummy and I felt like a kid eating my AB and J sandwich.  It was delicious though!! (not raw)

AB & J sammie

I love eating all types of food, which many of you know…I like eating vegetarian at times, I like eating vegan at times and more recently, I like eating raw at times.  I’m not sure what it is, but whenever I consume raw food – although it’s mainly salads for me, I just feel healthier all around.  I feel like my eating patterns can be sporadic and all or nothing – one minute this way and then the next minute a mixture of another.  I think it’s tough sometimes because people want to put you in a class and you can only be that  or eat that certain way.  I sometimes feel pressured to state myself as one or the other – carnivore or vegan.  But more and more these days, I don’t classify myself.  I do prefer eating less meat and rely on a vegetarian diet and some days relying on fish for protein – mainly salmon.  Sometimes, I want dairy and sometimes I prefer to be dairy free.  Actually, I usually do prefer to be dairy free with the exception of eating goat cheese lately. But I see this as a “gateway” food that leads me to other dairy products… Anyway, I guess what I’m really trying to say is that I am really liking the freedom to experiment and find my own path to a healthy lifestyle whether or not that includes one or more styles of eating….there is a ton of amazing food I can’t wait to try!!!  Enough rambling, let’s move on shall we?

Snack: Gingersnap Larabar – In recent years, I’ve really come to love the taste and zing that ginger has in food.  It’s very distinct but in a good way and one that enhances food. (raw)

Ginger Snap

Lunch: Today, I was very excited about my lunch…I finally got around to trying my hand at a using collard green leaves as wraps. Nice healthy raw meal – definitely was craving this today!  This was inspired by the ones Gena made over on her blog Choosing Raw

I found these small collard green leaves at the Dekalb Farmers Market yesterday and couldn’t wait to use them.  First, I washed and then cut out the stems because they are kind of tough

washed & de-stemmed

Then I spread a thin layer of raw vegan cashew cheese that I made yesterday.

RAW CASHEW CHEESE

• 1 cup of raw cashews – soaked for 2 hours or more
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 small clove of garlic, minced
• 3/4 T nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper

I drained the cashews that were soaking and placed them into the bullet (I don’t have a Vitamix and didn’t want out the food processor – this is the next best thing to me).  Then I added the remaining ingredients and pulsed until the desired consistency was achieved.  I also might have added a little more than 1/4 cup water to thin out the mixture a bit – just go by your preference.

Spread with raw vegan cashew cheese

Then I added the fillings – avocado, cucumber and tomatoes

Adding veggies to my wrap

Then I carefully folded and wrapped everything up in a nice little package.

All rolled up

I made 3 of these bad boys

Ready to travel

These were so yummy!  I don’t know what I waited so long to give them a try, but I definitely will have them again – probably next week.  And as you can tell, I need mad help in rolling these up and keeping them rolled up.

I also had a banana with this. (raw)

Banana

My photos are looking a little blurry…I must have not been that awake this morning…sorry y’all.

After work, I headed home and got ready for a date night with the hubby…here’s a hint:

How cute is this place – full report coming soon!

Night y’all!