Smoothie Sunday~ Pluot Juicy Pear

We are running a tad lower on produce than usual. I did have a couple perfectly ripe, gorgeous, fuchsia and sweet Pluots and a perfectly ripe Bartlett Pear!

So, into the blender they went! It's puky brown, once the spinach was added.. but at one point it was as bright as beet juice!

Pluot Juicy Pear
2 small Pluots with skin-no pit
1 large ripe Pear
2 C Spinach
1/4 C Frozen Raspberries
Coconut Water added until easily blended... started with 1/4 C

Blend it all together, enjoy a fruity green Sunday afternoon smoothie! Makes enough to share!

*I also added in 1 Tbs Chia & 1 tsp bee pollen .. add whatever superfoods you like!

DIY Mondays~Make Your Own Almond Butter!

Making your own almond, peanut, cashew or pumpkin, sunflower, coconut butter is SO easy, you'll wonder why you ever bought the jar stuff!

Back in the day, I was really anti-appliance. I still have some amount of guilt when I use my blender or food processor 4-5 times a day. It's for my health though! Right? Ah. This debate is for a different day. I'm conflicted.

So, we had an old recycled, re-used way to many times espresso machine for a few years. And no other appliances. No Juicer, blender or food processor; all of which we now have, now minus the espresso machine. We use a glass french press for coffee now, but have 2 largish appliances. I'm glad we still don't have a mixer, toaster oven, toaster, coffee machine etc. etc. But sometimes, when all three of our appliances are on the counter, I feel gluttonous and ridiculous. Healthy eating can be as simple as and apple and nut/seed butter! Oh yeah, the recipe!

Aren't You Cool Butter
It's this easy:
Plug in your food processor.
Pour in some nuts (or seeds).
Process, scraping fairly often (this will be ultra loud at first).
And you have your own, homemade, rebel butter.

Fun Add Ins: Honey, Cinnamon, Maple, Cocoa powder, dried fruit..salt as needed..

Here is a photo log of Almond-Pumpkin Butter so you can see what you are looking for:

After 1-2 Minutes

Close Up-see lil chunks

After another 1-2 minutes

Starting to release oils after another 2 minutes

Another 3 minutes

Another 3 minutes..

From here, it's preference. The butter becomes fairly warm from friction and will just get smoother as the oils warm up.
From this point you can add a handful of whatever nut you are using and pulse it in for 'chunky.'
Or, add in whatever flavor/spices/salt you want.

From here I added in a small handful of pumpkin seeds and a touch of salt.

Using raw nuts and seeds may be more beneficial to your health versus roasted. Read here and here.

Although, I believe raw peanuts may be a no-no.

So easy! Oh yeah, and healthy, protein packed too.

What is your favorite rebel homemade food?

Do you have any crazy delicious combination ideas?

Cinnamon Toast Crunch & Cinnamon Raisin Bran~ Gluten Free

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Did you ever eat those sugary Kellogs Cereals? Maybe you still do? I know growing up we were only allowed to eat Rice Krispies, Shredded Wheat, Corn Flakes, Cheerios and Raisin Bran. If we got lucky charms it was a HUGE treat. And I was caught picking out all of the marshmallows a few times! When I look back the more 'wholesome' choices (or lesser of evils) my mom made us eat, I'm grateful.

However, when living a 'clean' life, eating clean foods,  processed cereals with added sugar, chemical 'crispers', anti-caking agents and milled to death grains do not fit in. You don't have to go raw to have healthier options (think oatmeal/homemade granola/bran and quinoa flakes). But I do have a few raw (well, truly raw if you leave out the maple syrup/extract-but who's keeping score? Still leaps and bounds from frosted flakes). recipes to share. You can bake them though! Trust me, you or whoever you share this with will not know it's homemade or raw. It's that good. Gluten free and EASY, easy, easy.

First off, if you've only had buckwheat in pancakes, or have never had it at all, you have got to explore this amazing 'grain!' It's actually a fruit seed.

It's higher in fiber (per gram) than oatmeal, high in manganese, high in plant lignans and super versatile. The amazing list of benefits here. I think it's the next 'superfood.' I find myself using it more than any other sprouted grain in my arsenal. You will too!

I soak my buckwheat overnight. Then rinse well 3-4 times. and rinse often. Buckwheat is slimy when you soak it.. so you want to rinse well so it will dehydrate fully and get ultra crisp. Here is more info on sprouting/using raw buckwheat. You can let it sprouts until the little tails are just peeking out. After they get longer than that, I find the taste notably 'green,' and not as palatable. 

Going truly clean to some people means no sugar entirely. This can make you feel deprived and less likely to WANT to eat clean, possibly relapsing to processed sugars. It takes practice and over time as your body detoxes of sugar, it does become easier, craving less often. Especially when you ween off with natural sugars. At least, in my personal experience. Maple Syrup is a processed sweetener. I use it for flavor and because I read this. If you want to go ultra clean, sub apple juice as a sweetener or date syrup in any of these recipes, or omit sugar entirely.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch
3 C Sprouted Buckwheat
1/2 C Maple Syrup (or whatever you choose)
2 tsp Vanilla (or 1 vanilla bean scraped)
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon (or to taste.. easy to over do)

Process all ingredients in food processor until pasty. (alternatively, you can just stir it all together.. no need to break up the groats really). It won't take long and will be rather wet.

Spread this mixture out onto dehydrator trays (or baking tray). If you spread it thin, you can break it up into flakes later. I like to check after 1-2 hours (at 112) and break it up/pinch it into little clumps. Then dehydrate at 104F overnight. I've never baked this.. but I don't see why not. Try 350F for 5 minutes and keep checking. Maybe scoring/clumping up as you go.

No, it's not going to taste just like cinnamon toast crunch, which I believe is sweetened, flavored corn, but it is delicious!

Macaroon Crunch

Macaroon Crunch
1 batch Cinnamon Toast Crunch ingredients
Add:
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 C Shredded Coconut
1/4-1/2 C slivered/chopped almonds

Follow the same instructions.



The following recipe is one of the first cereals I attempted to recreate (although never a huge fan of the real thing) when I first started raw foods. I posted it on Vegweb.com. It's pretty dang good! In my original recipe I added wheat germ and ground flax. I no longer do that.

Cacao Puffs

Cocoa Puffs
3 C Sprouted Buckwheat
3 Tbs Sweetener (optional)
1 1/2 Tbs Cacao (plain cocoa works)
Pinch of Salt

Follow the same instructions! Can be made in clumps or 'flakes.' Process until super smooth for flakes.

This next recipe is not your childhood raisin bran, although I do have a recipe for that to post. It is delicious and a bit spicy from all the cinnamon. VERY crunchy! I make mine on thick side. They double as amazing breakfast crackers for nut butter or fresh fruit. You can spread this thin, make granola clumps, or bake it. Try adding chopped apples, raisins, nutmeg, allspice and cutting back on the cinnamon for an apple cake variation.

Adjust the raisins/cinnamon to your preference.

Cinnamon Raisin Bran

Cinnamon Raisin Bran
2 C Almond Pulp (or ground fine dry almonds)
1/2 C Sweetener
1/2-1 tsp Vanilla
1-2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 C Raisins

Process all ingredients except raisins.  Pulse in raisins so you get largish chunks. Spread thick onto dehydrator sheet.. D at 104F for 1-2 hours. Score with a pizza cutter. Or make clumps. Then D overnight at 115F. Follow the remaining instructions as above.

For a more traditional bran taste, cut back on the cinnamon, add 1/4 C moistened bran and pinch of salt.

Top these cereals, or an invention of your own with fresh fruit, chia seed etc. and your favorite milk!

Enjoy!!!

Ice Cream in Your Blender

Dairy Free!

You'll never look at ice cream the same way again if you try one of these recipes! Healthy, dairy free, and no ice cream maker required! The flavor possibilities are endless! You'll be an ice cream connoisseur before you know it!

Funny enough, I made the following recipes over winter of all seasons. I made notes and took photos. There isn't a whole lot to do here in the winter! So, we eat. The planes don't come over much (little daylight) so groceries are even more limited and we get creative.  I posted these on Vegweb.com  in January.

My hubs loves dairy ice cream. Except for the occasional sprinkle of feta/greek yogurt, I can't indulge in dairy anymore (bloat/digestive issues). One night I was watching him thoroughly enjoy his pint of Greek Gods and it looked so good that I became determined to recreate something for myself, so I tried to make my own Luna And Larry's Coconut Ice Cream (sold here in town for almost $8.00 a pint)! All you need is a bowl, spoon and your freezer!

Vanilla Coconut

I'm not sure where I got the idea for the banana ice cream. Maybe I Googled homemade ice cream? I can't remember. All I know is I was so impressed and immediately concocted a zillion flavors. Now we don't even buy the $5.00 pints that my hubs was eating (toooo much of I dare say). They are so good, they converted an ice cream fiend. All you need is a freezer, and a blender or food processor.

A couple notes on the coconut ice cream. It is best in my opinion to use fresh, whole coconuts. Which can be a challenge. In a pinch, or just to try it out, you can use a can of good quality coconut milk however, please keep this in mind about canned goods, especially coconut milk. Gosh, I use to use canned coconut milk ALL the time. :( I still do sometimes. But I don't feel as good about it.

How to make your own fresh coconut milk here.

An alternative to BOTH, making milk with dried coconut flakes is here. I find bobs red mill large flakes are best.

Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream
1-2 C Coconut Milk (choose your method above)
1-2 Tbs Yacon, Maple Syrup, Honey, Agave (I was using this at the time.. check here)
1 Vanilla Bean or 1-2 Tsp Vanilla Extract (bean makes the pretty speckles)

Chocolate Sauce:
2 Tbs Cacao
2 Tbs Liquid Sweetener
(1 Tsp Coconut oil-optional)

1. Coconuts: Open 1 to 2 coconuts (depending on size) and pour coconut milk into a blender. Remove the meat and add to blender; blend until super smooth. Strain if needed (I do). If your milk is purplish, throw it away! It's bad! If you are desperate to try this and do not have coconuts, see info above recipe.

2. Transfer 2 cups of blended coconut into the bowl of a food processor. (I use a food processor for the rest because it's easier to scrape etc.)

3. Add agave syrup and vanilla bean (I also throw in the husk after it's been scraped); process until smooth. Taste along the way, this will only take a minute or two to blend.

4. Pour in large glass bowl (anything may do) and place in freezer. Stir well every 30 minutes or so, making certain to scrape the sides and don't leave the spoon in! That is it!

5. Chocolate Sauce: In a bowl, combine cacao and sweetener; mix well (it takes a minute or two to get them to blend). Drizzle away!

Variations:

Blueberry Colada

Blueberry Colada
Add 1/2 extra cup of Coconut milk and 1/2 Cup of frozen blueberries, process until smooth (unless you want chunks) and mix in 1 Tbs or so of Shredded coconut.

I made this next one up especially for my mom who loves coconut/almond/chocolate combos. If you are like minded here is an Almond Joy smoothie recipe also.

Almond Joy
1-2 C Coconut milk
2-4 Tbs Maple Syrup
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
1/2 C Almonds
1/2 C Chocolate/Carob Chips
1/4 C Shredded Coconut
Pinch of salt

Process Coconut Milk, Maple (the maple is important for this recipe!) and vanilla. Pulse in remaining ingredients. Freeze, stirring every 30 minutes or so. Once fully hardened, let sit out 10 minutes or so for easier serving.

You can take it from here. Obvious delicious add ins would be berries, chocolate, pineapple, pecans, cinnamon etc. etc.

Now, 1 ingredient soft serve ice cream!

Basic Banana Ice Cream
1 chopped, then frozen banana

Place in blender/food processor. Process until smooth. Enjoy!

Choco Banana (sauce recipe above)

Choco-Banana
1 banana, peeled, sliced into rounds, then frozen
2 tablespoons yacon or agave or maple to taste
2 heaping teaspoons cacao or cocoa powder

1. In a blender or food processor, place frozen banana slices, yacon syrup, cacao (or you could skip this and add one half vanilla bean, scraped, then include husk); process until smooth, scraping the sides a few times while blending.

2. You can eat it at this point, but if it started to melt during processing- pour into a large container, place in freezer, and stir every 30 minutes or so until totally frozen and ice cream like. (It will freeze pretty hard, so you'll want to leave it out 5 minutes before eating.
Top with your favorite goodies! Enjoy!

 This wasn't a favorite of mine. But I used an ultra ripe banana. And I'm not an ultra ripe banana kind of girl. I'm like 'em on the green side.

Variations I've tried (per 1 banana):
Strawberry-Add in 3 Frozen strawberries (chopped if you can) per 1 Banana Pulsing in last one for chunks.

Cinnamon-Add in 1/2-1 Tsp Cinnamon and 1/4-1/2 Tsp Vanilla

Masala Chai- My sister in law and I worked to get this one right.. but I can't find the notes.. here is my guess from memory: Add in
1/2 tsp+ Cardamom
1/4-1/2 tsp Ground ginger and Cinnamon
1/8 Tsp Cloves
Pinch of white pepper
1 Tsp of some kind of sweetener, Add vanilla if you want Vanilla-Chai

Ginger Lucuma Add in 1 Tbs Chopped Candied Ginger and 1/2 Tsp powdered Lucuma (I like 1/2 Tsp honey in this)

Almond Butter-Banana

Almond Butter-Banana 
Add in 1 Tbs Almond Butter per 1 Banana

Enjoy your healthy creation!! Share with a friend.. a little.

Summer Solstice Hummingbird & Rhubarb Spritzer

Tonight a (juvenile-see his coloring is not complete) male Rufous Hummingbird was trapped in my sunroom! I thought it was a Ruby Throated at first, I'll have to double check their range. The gorget was SO bright, it glowed! I didn't get a great picture of that (3rd photo).

The hummingbirds are all over, but I've never had one get inside. The other day I saw what at first looked like huge hummingbirds, and they hovered. I got so close to one (hovering right in front of me, SO cool) and saw that they were actually sparrows. Absolutely gorgeous.

I took these pictures very quickly as my husband walked him to his freedom. Didn't want to stress the little guy out anymore, but what luck to get a photo and see one up close (and still)!

Then, for a summer solstice party we are about to head out to; I made a Rhubarb Spritzer to bring.

Happy Summer Solstice!

Rhubarb Spritzer:
A bunch of chopped rhubarb (guessing 6-8 cups)
Honey(agave, simple syrup etc) as needed (or whatever you want)
1 C Frozen Strawberries
Q-Tonic Water or Club Soda

I tried Juicing Rhubarb the other day, it was fine in my Champion juicer for 2 stalks. After 4-5 the fibers clog it up. So, I switched to the blender. I filled the blender with chopped Rhubarb, used the juice (from the previous attempt-you can use water) to help move things along. Once blended well, I strained the pulp from the juice with a nut milk bag, but a colander will work fine.

Complete this same juice and strain method with the cup of strawberries ( I used frozen).

Place Juice back into blender, add Strawberry Juice and Honey to taste (I did 1/2 C).

This is also good with pineapple or apple juice as a sweetener. Or add some lemon/lime!

Blend. Then chill before serving.

I poured mine into a sun tea jar, it filled it about half.. then topped it off with Tonic Water. I love how this green foam floats on top of the pink liquid. So pretty.

Smoothie Sundays-Blueberry Spinach & Chocolate Cherry!

I actually had this for dinner Saturday night. Still feeling a little icky, wanted to go with something liquid. Didn't feel like making miso.

This is pretty basic and delicious!

Blueberry Spinach Smoooothie
2 Cups Spinach
1 Cup Frozen Blueberries
1/4-1/2 Cold Apple
1/2 C Almond Milk (more as needed)
2 Tbs Chia Seed
2 Ice Cubes

I put the ingredients in the blender in that order. Blend away and enjoy!



 Post 9 mile run today, I made a smoothie that I can't believe I haven't though of before! Chocolate Cherry! I know, it seems obvious... buuuutt...

Chocolate Cheeeeery:
1 Cup Frozen Cherries
3/4 C, Almond milk (may need more)
1 Tbs Raw Cocao (although plain cocoa will work!)
1 Tsp Flax Meal
1 Tbs Chia
2 Ice Cubes

Blend away. Holy Schmoly, this was amazing! I made two in a row!

PLEASE, comment with your favorite smoothie recipe!

Key Lime Pie For Your Soul!

Got the summer citrus dessert cravings yet? Maybe you just want a vacation in your mouth. This is a super simple, hard to botch freezer dessert. I've already eaten two of these. So, I had to get photos before my hubs ate the other half of the batch. I usually don't tell people (at potlucks etc.) what is in my pie or puddings, because some people haven't eaten the main ingredient before. It's the amazing, beautiful, ugly, don't judge a book by it's cover avocado!

OK, you MIGHT have heard Avocados are the shiz nit. Here is some general info, just in case.

I could do a month of posts on avocado recipes alone. It never fails me. It's good in just about everything, my favorite way is right off the pit. It makes a great snack, meal, supplement, thickener, savory, sweet friend to just about .. everything.

The avocado pudding/pie has certainly been done before. Although I find most recipes for raw desserts a little heavy on the nuts, too sweet and too complicated, although almost always beautiful.

This is EASY. (and way healthier than the SAD version!) And you can use this as a template for any 'pie' you want to invent. Changing up the filling when needed. I've made this pie with Cocao, banana, strawberries and plain vanilla bean (and coconut meat). The only thing is when you get into blueberries, mango etc.. you'll need to sub part or all of the avocado with nuts, more oil or psyllium, irish moss etc. It's a big experiment, that's for sure.. and there may be times you eat it out of a bowl, but that's okay! Remember that the coconut oil is important. When it freezes, it makes your filling a custard-cheesecake consistency. A blender is nice for this, but if you have the patience, you can hand whip the avocado. Halving this recipe doesn't work so well. It can be a pain to get the blender really going with a smaller amount than this. Besides, this is so good, you'll wish you made more!

Jo's Key Lime Pie (6 smallish servings)

Filling:
2 Avocados
2 Tbs Lime Juice
1/2 Cup Coconut Oil (did I say it was low fat? Whoops)
2 Tbs Raw Honey (any honey really, I don't favor date syrup with this, experiment)

Crust:
1/2 Cup Almond Pulp (I used leftovers from making milk- finely ground almonds/almond flour will work)
1/2 Cup Dates (not soaked)
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Cayenne (may think I'm crazy.. that's just how I like it..the spicy/sweet thing)

*Blend all filling ingredients together. Set aside.
*For the crust, process dates and almond pulp (and salt/cayenne) together until smooth(ish).
*Press the crust into greased or lined muffin tins (or custard dish, whatever you've got really).
*Spoon in filling. Freeze for 1-2 hours.. if it freezes hard, like ice cream, just leave out for 5 minutes before eating (of course you could have key lime pudding instead of freezing, but chill first for best taste.

If you love this and want to make it for a potluck, grab a spring form pan (smallish), double/triple the recipe and top with shredded coconut for looks, and taste- coconut loves lime- you know.. put da lime in da coconut?

Nutritional Info (according to Spark recipes)
233g Calories
14g Fat
525mg Potassium
276. g Carbs
8g Fiber
18.2 g Sugar
4.4g Protein
and bunches of vitamins and minerals

Allrecipes.com's top Key Lime Pie recipe (at 6 servings:
324 calories per serving
13.4 g of bad fat (versus healthy avocado/coconut oil-good fat)
37 g of sugar!

5-Minute Raw Slaw Sandwich

Yummerlicious

Need an idea for using up random veggies in your produce drawer? You could play around with this recipe. I was going to make a whole batch of basic red pepper hummus for lunch today, but in an attempt to use up some veggie odds and ends, I threw in the last piece of a cut zucchini and just pulsed in the food processor until I had a chunky, colorful spread! It can definitely be chopped chunkier with a knife instead. This recipe is for one sandwich serving (or multiple flax crackers).

Chunky Veggie Spread:
1/4 Red Pepper
1/4 Medium Zucchini
1/4 Garlic Clove
1/2 Tsp Tahini
Dash of Cumin
Pinch of Salt

Festive and delicious, red, green & white with a little kick for your taste buds! I topped mine with sprouted quinoa and baby beet greens (thinnings from my garden), mache lettuce cuttings and dill. Experiment! Great on raw, dehydrated bread, regular bread, pita, crackers etc. etc.

V-5 Veggie Fusion & other Detox Fun!

Calli Cinnamon Detox

Still detoxing. It's fun. Once you get past the first two days. I eat all day, so it's hard for me not to be able to snack. Once I'm past that, I can see how some people fast forever (like 92 days.. like Angela Stokes). Okay, maaybe not. The longest I've ever detoxed (or juice feasted/fasted) is 2 weeks, The last 4 days I remember I was sick of juice. Here, I don't think I could afford to keep enough produce around to go even that long, so I've been supplementing with other liquids, Calli Tea and homemade Kombucha. The Calli tea I have is Cinnamon and it is palatable, but definitely tastes like tonic. I like to add oranges to it (which IS a little pulpy/solids..but good enough for me). I've been really going through my ready Kombucha (and I have 15 Scobys!). I have a couple different blends and 'flavors' right now. My favorite is Raspberry Green Tea. Just green tea with dried raspberries. Although I do a secondary fermentation before bottling my kombucha, I think the raspberries give the culture a little boost of sugar to digest. They also make the tea a beautiful bright pink.

Raspberry Kombucha

 After grocery shopping, it's been really hard to resist snacking on all our yummy fruit! And, I thinned a bajillion beet green yesterday and I just want to eat them! I'm going to break my fast tonight or tomorrow morning so I can protein carb load.

Rainbow of Health!

Here is a recipe for my favorite way to drink a V-8 kind of juice (without the salt and that cold veggie soup thing):

V-5 Veggie Fusion
3 Tomatoes
2 Carrots
1 Celery Rib
1 Handful Parsley (no need to pick off leaves-whole thing)
1 Clove Garlic
1 1-inch piece Jalepeno (mine are frozen, works fine)
1 Handful Spinach or mixed greens

Juice (or blend on high speed, then strain with mesh/fine colander). I put this on ice usually because I forget to refrigerate the tomatoes beforehand. I like this drink cold. So one trick is to refrigerate all the ingredients beforehand. Trust me on the garlic and jalepeno. SO good! I always want to make more! I can't wait until our tomatoes are ready! Then I won't feel so gluttonous using 3 on one drink!

Ferry in WA 2010

 Our little town has been recently blessed with the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry service. Well, it is a blessing at times. On ferry days it's definitely a bit noisier than usual. We see cars and people we don't recognize and no one waves back at you. For a few months a year, the ferry will be coming twice a week! Leaving on Monday afternoon, coming back Wednesday afternoon. We shop all day on the Tuesday in between. The deal with the ferry is you can bring your vehicle, load it up in Juneau, then bring it back, with absolutely no charge on freight (as long as your car dimensions do not change, ie. lumber longer than your vehicle. On the small aircraft that service our town, you get 70lbs of freight, every lb thereafter is $0.40 per pound and you have to be able to fit it into plane (no furniture etc). Until this last year, the only way to get anything here was by plane or lightweight (a sloooow cargo service heavily used to get mail, Uhauls, etc. to Alaska).

Not all boxes are as they seem....

As nice and inexpensive (well-less expensive) as using the ferry is, I found myself wondering why in the world we put ourselves through this. It's madness, it's tiring, it drains your account. A 25lb bag of duck feed for example is $26. We pay .40 cents a lb just to get it here. When you are ordering 10 bags, plus dog food, it really adds up. And that is just for the animals. It's only $15 for a 50 lb bag of the same feed in the lower 48 (according to my research). Yes, back to wondering why we live like this... oh yeah, it's Alaska! Imagine what the first Alaskans had to do to survive! Groceries are a luxury! (and so is Alaskan Beer!-says the hubs).

Any Funny Caption Ideas?

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Smoothie

Homegrown Alaskan Rhubarb (2nd year)

While in the backcountry I developed an allergic reaction. The first night I woke with angiodemia (facial swelling) which I'm all too familiar with. I figured it was the dried fruit someone shared with me. There was mango in the package, that I avoided, but it was IN the package... soo. This continued every morning, in gradually lessening degree, even with the elimination of the dried fruit. By the end of the trip I was having a photovoltaic reaction on my hands and lips. It was pretty painful and I simply could not stay out of the sun. There was no escape.

 Not the best timing for a detox because I'm doing a large grocery/ supply shopping trip (in Alaska, that's a huge deal) in a few days and I'm going to feel like crap before I feel better. It is also going to interfere with my running. Detoxing is not fun. Afterward I feel like a new womyn though. It has to be done. I'll blog about it to show the incredible changes that occur. I'd like to do a week long cleanse. I'm going to start with 2 days. It's been a while since I cleansed and I'm feeling impatient. My mother in law brought me some Calli Tea. It sounds like a wonder tea and I've never tried it. I'll drink this, kombucha, and fresh juice. Until I return from my shopping trip, I'm going to prep for my detox with juice, smoothies and tea.

I'm a tall person.. Some of these pieces were more than ready to pick.

I harvested a bunch of Rhubarb today. Strawberries will be ready soon and I plan to make lots of goodies. Most recipes involving rhubarb are heavily sugared desserts. Fortunately I LOVE the tangy flavor of Rhubarb and don't feel the need to eat it sweetened. Well... I'm sure a Rhubarb dessert is in the works. I'm already working on changing up my salsa recipe; Rhubarb wine (I'm totally allergic to grape wine), Rhubarb Stew... trying to think of more savory ideas. I'd also like to try to invent a Rhubarb tea. Hmmm... I juiced some with apple this morning and WOW!

Wrestling the Rhubarb outside was a chore and I was pretty thirsty. So I made up a smoothie using some young Rhubarb and it was deeeelicious. Almost forgot to add that Rhubarb is pretty dern tootin' healthy too! It's actually a vegetable, quite high in Vitamin A, Vitamin K... is an Okay source of Vitamin C, pretty high in Potassium, low in calories, high in fiber. Oh yeah and deeeelicious! Nutritional Info here.

Go get cha some Rhubarb!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Smoothie

2 small stalks of Rhubarb chopped
2 Strawberries(frozen or fresh)
2 Tbs Date Syrup (soaked dates blended with soak water)
Dash or two of Cinnamon
Water as needed

The color was gorgeous and it tasted like pie! I'm sure that was the cinnamon... but maybe it was the tangy sweet thing going on too. Because (similar to celery) Rhubarb has such a high water and fiber content.. it's pretty filling too! I bet cayenne would be an awesome addition to this. But I add it to almost everything soo..
Oh! And just in case; if you are picking your own, please remember the leaves are toxic! They contain Oxalic acid (the same foe on Quinoa, Buckwheat..). Besides being poisonous, Oxalic acid can interfere with the body's calcium absorption. If you are interested in eating more raw fruits/veggies juices.. here is a list for you.

Tropical Popeye

One of my favorite spinach smoothies is pretty basic with a twist:
Popeye
2 C Spinach
1 Chilled Apple, chopped with skin
1/2-1 C Water or fresh apple juice
1 Tbs Honey
1 Handful Fresh Mint
(I always add in supplements, i.e. chia..)

This refreshing and delicious green smoothie is perfect post run or as a on the go meal. Apple and Spinach are pretty good friends. But Kale would be a tasty replacement. Pear definitely would be yummy in this too.

Today I needed and on the go, out the door, 5 minute meal and had some fresh pineapple to use up. Here is the Tropical Popeye:
2 C Spinach
1 Chilled Apple chopped with skin
1/2 C Fresh Pineapple
1/2-1 C Water or fresh apple juice
1 Tbs Honey
1 Handful Fresh Mint

Easy! And most certainly has been done before. The pineapple, mint and honey combo I wasn't so sure about, but the flavors complemented each other nicely. Tangy, sweet and minty.. perfect sunny day smoothie!

Make Your Own Energy Bars!

Coulda made 'em thicker? Hmmmm

Well, you can't have too much food in the middle of the wilderness right? I mean, as long as it's not near your camp. If a bear gets all the goodies I made this week, I'll be seriously bummed. I figured I needed some kind of pick me up/I'm tired/bored snack, possible stand in for breakfast (and I'm already sick of granola because I munched on it all week). I'm used to weighing everything for camping trips. Not having to carry any of this on my back will be awesome! So, maybe I've been getting a little too excited about that. So, maybe I've packed too many avocados, apples and oranges. Nah, I'll just gobble them up on day 1!

Never really got into nutri-grain, heavily grained or sweetened granola bars. But I do remember eating those nature's valley's granola bars as a kid (the peanut butter one!) annnnd I ate peanut butter Clif bars everyday in college. Wow, I was addicted. It was the only flavor I liked. The only flavor without that weird soy aftertaste. And without the crisp this and that. They were in my car, my backpack, sticky wrappers stuck in my books..

While I was traveling I got more into energy chunks (found in your local HFS bulk bins), Kind nut bars and Larabars ( of course, peanut butter cookie was on my list of favorites). They packed nicely into my suitcase/ pocket and I could eat them quickly. Oh yeah, and they were healthy and energizing. If I had two minutes to scarf down some calories, they were my lifesaver!

Small portion of my LARGE mess..

Fast forward to living in Alaska. Yes, we have access to those energy bars, luna, clif bars etc. However we don't buy them because A) even being on the more 'natural' side, they are still a processed food containing more ingredients than neccessary (some of which I can't pronounce or have to look up)... B) we've slowly stepped away from soy the last couple of years (even though we still enjoy tofu and homemade tempeh occasionally) C) they are pricey D) making our own is fun, healthy and it's satisfying every time we wean off a corporate teat. I probably have many more reasons. I'll stop there!

Just look at the back of the label of your favorite bar. Clif for example is pretty darn high in sugar. Yes, I have brown rice syrup in my cabinet, but how much would I myself put into a recipe? And, it's still sugar. And not the only one. Clif also contains barley malt extract AND Cane juice.. 3 types of sugar? At least the sugar in a Larabar for example is naturally occurring/unprocessed (dates, dried fruit). "Natural Flavors" (I'm sorry, WHAT? I hate seeing that on a label.. if it's 'natural' it doesn't need to be 'flavored.' Citric Acid, Absorbic acid, Synthetic fiber (inulin), all things I want to avoid. And I'd love to get into my new war on soy protein isolate.. that will be a whole other post. Protein is a hard subject with athletes. It's been a huge issue for me. I like Rebecca Wood 's(amazing womyn by the way!) take "All protein powders—whether they’re from rice, soy, hemp, egg or whey—are highly processed, shelf-stable ingredients.  Read “shelf-stable” as dead or lifeless. Furthermore, whey protein and whey protein isolate contain toxic MSG!"  It's a difficult thing to give up. There is a lot of information out there. A lot of research to be done. My jury is still out. Your take?

Ok, look at this:
Snickers Candy Bar has 266-280 calories (it depends according to google sources) and 28-30g of sugar.
Coca Cola 150 calories, 39 grams of sugar
Krispy Kreme Doughnut (I couldn't think of anything else!) 10g of sugar!!
Clif Bar (depending on variety) 260 calories, 20+ g of sugar
Is a Clif bar the healthier choice? Yes. I'd say so. Not to rag on Clif bars in particular, just for comparison's sake.

If you eat any of these energy bar products, I'm totally not ragging on you. This is just my personal reasoning for making my own at home!

Today I made a few different 'bars.' The first one is my hubs favorite. I used to make these: the darker ones, they were raisin/cocao and coffee.

Fun tidbit: Raw cacao is at the top of the ORAC list! Read here. Awesome post with all the amazing info on Cocao. Especially awesome for the ladies!!

Can't wait to eat all of these!

Huzbeast PB Energizer
1 C soaked/pitted dates
2 Tbs Cocao (
1/2 C Sprouted Oat Groats (or whole rolled oats)
1 tsp Maca powder (super energizing!)
4 Tbs Peanut Butter (fresh ground or natural.. remember that sugar thing?)
1 Tbs Chia gel (chia already soaked)
1 1/2 Tbs Flax meal paste (ground flax stirred with water)
1/2 tsp wheat germ
1 Tbs Cocao nibs or chocolate chips etc. (optional)

Ok, process it aaaallll together. Taste and adjust as needed. You may need a tad more peanut butter or flax or dates. You should be able to pinch a ball together and it doesn't crumble. Moist, but not sticky or dry.

Pour contents onto wax paper, (or pan) form a ball, then press firmly into a large square and stick in the freezer for 5 minutes or so. This cools the PB back down (it warms up in the processor, even if you don't notice) and helps firm things up. Now cut with a pizza cutter, wrap individually if you like.
EDIT: After a few people made these, they noticed how sticky they are. Mine were oily, but not sticky, so try one of these tips: squeeze your dates of water,  increase oats, try adding more flax meal (or dry meal instead of paste, and thanks to Cyndi on Dailymile.com for this tip: roll the end product in oats, then individually wrap. The oil softens the oats and then the bars are easier to handle! Thanks for al lof your feedback!

They are like peanut butter brownies. Energizing, healthy, protein rich brownies. Oh yeah, and you made 'em yourself! Too cool for school, right?

Just dates, cherries and pecans...

Next up.. 

Supa food for Supa Stars!

Superfood Snickerdoodles
Ok, there is nothing snickerdoodly about this, I was at a loss for fun labels.
I took my favorite basic 'larabar' recipe:

5  Dates (NOT soaked if you are trying to make 'larabars')
1/4 C Dried Cherries
1/4 C Pecans (all soaked unless otherwise noted)
and added:
1/4 C Dried Blueberries
1/2 C Pumpkin seeds
1/2 C Almonds
1 Tbs Chia Gel
1 tsp Flax meal paste (ground flax stirred with water)
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp Bee Pollen
1 tsp Maca powder

I just can't keep things simple. Sometimes, I do. The rest of the time I throw in all the good stuff I can find! Anyway, these are delicious.  Pulse in food processor (or spend two hours chopping by hand). The idea is to have a sticky dough, then dehydrate for 1-2 hours and as the water dehydrates, the flax cements the ingredients together and it's like a cookie. If you do not want to dehydrate, omit the flax and chia gel (dry would be okay) and do not soak the dates. You may need another date. Again, this is approximate, as I add in here and there as needed.

I'd love to hear your own recipes and ideas for energy bars and your take on healthy/natural protein sources. What do you use?

Eat Your Greens

Take THAT nasty Doritos!

So many recipes to post! This past weekend I spent a lot of time making snacks. Here is a spicy take on the classic Cheezy Kale Chip. Most recipes for Kale chips involve soaked, then pureed cashews. I've made that version, it wasn't anything to write home about. Being allergic to cashews, I'm no stranger to finding substitutes. However, why use expensive, heavy nuts when you don't have to? Before discovering the 'raw' version of these chips, I use to coat the kale in olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Simple.

My take on the cheezy kale chip is SPICY! I love spicy food, anything with a kick. I figured being cold, wet and tired camping would make these a really special treat.  Ok, if you run screaming from anything suggesting spice, like indian food, mexican sombreros, valentines/santa lingerie, this may not be for you. Just a salty chip kinda person? That's all you have to add: olive oil and salt. The less olive oil the better as it will not dehydrate fully and you may not get the crisp you are jonesing for.

What a Beauty

Kinectic Kale (har har)
2-3 heads Kale (curly, dinosaur, I use tuscan.. anything works)
1-2 Tbs Olive Oil
2-3 Tbs Nutritional Yeast (google it.. so cheeezy)
1/4 tsp Chipotle Powder (so important)
1/4 tsp Cumin
Pinch of Chili powder and cayenne and salt
Water or almond milk as needed to make a paste.. creamy salad dressing consistency) 

Stir it up (lil darlin'! Bob Marley fans?) ! Have chopped Kale in a large bowl. Keep in mind kale will shrink considerably in the dehydrator (yes! you can make these in the oven! See below). Spoon a little of the mixture at a time, stirring in-between. Taste one and alter the spices to your liking. I kind of just throw mine together in a bowl... so the estimates above are, yeah, estimates.

Coated and Ready to Go!

Spread onto mesh sheet, dehydrate for 2 hours or so at 104F. Check often. You want these babies as crispy as a potato chip!
If baking: Spread onto baking sheet, 10-15 minutes @ 350F

Crispy!

Enjoy! I made lots of different veggie chips; posts to come! 

Puddin' Love

Pudding for Breakfast?

Between runs and work I've been 'uncooking' up a storm! It's harder to eat just veggies/fruit here, as I've said before; so I rely on more dehydrated foods to fill up with goodies. Sundays in particular the kitchen gets trashed! Today I made raw granola, raw 'bread,' flax crackers and a double batch of almond milk.. oh yeah.. and CHIA PUDDING! Mmmmm. I made the pudding this morning as my pre-run fuel. I made a LOT of it! I'm about to finish it off. Yum. I was telling my Aunt about the many wonderful things you can make with Chia and they are all waiting for recipes. As a kid I used to LOVE Tapioca pudding (any pudding except chocolate really) out of the J.E.L.L.O. Box. Last year for a potluck we made REAL Tapioca pudding, it was indian style, and wow, it was amazing. Chia is similar to tapioca. The farther in advance you make it, the more puddin'gy it gets.

Yer Tis:
1 Cup Almond Milk (I make mine unsweetened)
2 Heaping Tbs Chia
1/8 tsp-1/4 tsp pure Vanilla Extract
1 Cup full of whatever goodies you want.. berries, buckwheat groats, granola, shredded coconut etc.)
Stevia or whatever to taste...

Ok, the first one I made is my usual vanilla pudding.

So stir Chia into the milk with a fork. Be sure to stir after 10 minutes or so to avoid clumps.. then just let it sit and do it's thing! Each Chia seed will gel up. Stir again, place in the fridge. Once chilled, add your favorite toppings and enjoy! I stirred in a tiny bit of dried Stevia.

If you have a thing for Banana's, add 1/8 cup more milk, and 1/2 a ripe banana, maybe an extra splash of vanilla and maple syrup and you've got naner pudding.

If you like Chocolate, reduce the vanilla a bit, add 1/2 tsp of Carob, Cocao or Cocoa powder.. sprinkle in chips and enjoy! May want to sweeten this one.

Variation: I stirred in some raspberry chunks really well and added more coconut. SO good and with lots of fruit you don't need any sweetener.

Looks like a Peppermint Frosty Martini doesn't it!?