it's so easy being (slightly) green... cookies

i'm always looking for easy to eat (and pack up) toddler snacks! tonight, while debating going to the store to get some snacks for the continuously-eating-when-not-running-around toddlers i'm watching in the morning but knowing going to the store really just means i want an excuse to buy ice cream, i remembered some 3 ingredient cookies i made (though with dried cranberry) with one of my kindergarten classes that the kids loved (though some moms were disappointed with! i.e. no chocolate. ha).
i figured i could do something similar to try out on the girls tomorrow.
well, they came out of the oven and since my daughter was snacking on shredded coconut already (hurrah for extra vacuuming tonight), we did a quick taste test. she is onto her third cookie as i type this.

here is approximately what i did/what you're welcome to do!

preheat oven to 350.

mash one banana (the riper, the better tasting and easier this is!)
add a sprinkle of cinnamon and spirulina
add oats (gf ones if you need to be careful) and shredded coconut until you have a firm, moist mixture of something!

i used basically an ice cream scoop to divide the mixture but then ended up splitting the little mounds and flattening them to make them an easier size for trying and less of a loss if dropped while walking to the park ;) i baked them for about 10 minutes - when the coconut started to brown.

looking forward to testing these on my daughter's friend tomorrow and see if she asks for more too!

day 27 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

today's morning smoothie was romaine lettuce with celery, cucumber and apple. i didn't think i would have time to have a smoothie before leaving in the morning so i was excited! and paul didn't have to make a smoothie for himself as i left a glass of it for him too ^_^

at lunch, i had another green smoothie!!! i was in seattle with sarah and we went to chaco canyon where i had the ginger sesame bowl which was delicious and oh-so-perfect for how hungry i was by then! i was really impressed with how easy it was to order despite my allergies. (note: friday i had a re-test of allergies and i have a much shorter list now - HURRAH!!! - but i have to avoid gluten/cashews/peanuts/green peppers/honeydew always along with my "wouldn't-eat-anyways" dairy products, coffee and meat) i got the "really green smoothie" to go, which was kale with apple juice and banana. yum!

later that afternoon, i got to check out jodee's desserts which was awesome. i could eat some raw cookies, macaroons and raw taco chips. all super good. didn't like the raw chocolate so much (felt it should have a stronger taste - more bitter, more sweet - anything!). everything else had cashews in it though there were smoothie options. pretty near by, also in the greenlake area, is the chocolate shoebox where i got some costume-looking green flats for $24. and a bunch of fun (and unhealthy!) snacks, like cocomels and caramel popcorn. yum!

day 5 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

this morning when i blended my romaine lettuce, red chard leaves, frozen banana and mango, i used 1.5 cups of filtered water instead of the 1 cup i did yesterday. paul did not like how his frozen smoothie yesterday thawed out into mealy chunks. and today i gave it to him right when i made it rather than putting it in the freezer for him until he got up ^_^ and it worked well. half-asleep, drinking his smoothie! hehe
we'll see if it works again tomorrow.

i'm upset tonight because i went out for tea to sweet obsession and i ordered a chai latte with soy milk (as i wanted something a bit more than plain tea - everyone else was having desserts which i of course would not be eating) and it seemed to be so pure white but i didn't think anything of it until my face and ears were feeling super hot. but the worst was seeing the bill and the lack of charge for the different "milk". and then the waitress confirmed she forgot about the soy. so now i have this crazy stomach ache and i find it hard to stay upright. i'm drinking kombucha and hoping to wake up tomorrow with it out of my system. it's hard psychologically because i am very careful to not consume ANY animal products but it is also hard because dairy is included in my elimination diet on the "definitely avoid completely" list and i can't help but worry that i have messed up my 6 weeks of commitment to this. and 2 nights ago i had a couple bites of hummus that ended up having sun-dried tomato in it (and tomato is on my "avoid" list!) and my hands immediately dried up and have been cracking ever since. it's also freezing out but i can't help but think it's related.

anyways... come on, probiotics! balance me out!

day 3 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

so my good news this morning is that this eczema i have had on the inside of my right elbow since january has almost disappeared! it is barely a bit of a dry ring - it used to be red and sometimes itchy and very confusing. my naturopath said that i have had something i am just trying to get out of my system. perhaps i am jumping the gun a bit but i think my green smoothie habit is working its magic already!

this morning, i blended a whole bunch of kale, one asian pear and one bosc pear, some frozen banana and raspberries and mango (the kale bitterness was a bit strong for me this morning so i ended up adding more fruit than just the pear and raspberries i had planned!)

i know victoria boutenko would be doing the whole bunch of kale herself and i think i will get to that. for now, the bunch turned into something enough for glasses for paul and i and an "emergency smoothie" for later ^_^ i started with 2 cups of filtered water in the vitamix so perhaps i will start with less next time.

day 2 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

so today i did a pear/frozen banana/collard greens/romaine lettuce/dandelion greens for paul to have when he got up and blended the rest with cilantro for me. YUM! (and he loved his too! these green drinks are good!!!)

i don't know if it's just my enthusiasm but i feel brighter and that my eyes are seeing better already. (that's a benefit of body-accessible greens, right?)

i was working on a set all day, armed only with fruit and water, and thankfully i was pretty close to buddha-full which i haven't been to in WAY TOO LONG. it's such a lovely place! i picked up some organic lives lemon macaroons (in mysterious + new boxed packaging - looks nice but why is a box necessary?) and sesame gaufrettes. i also got a "be green" (kale, lettuce, apple juice, lemon and banana) smoothie. YAY!

i felt a bit like an alien when i returned to work with my "seaweed bark" (er, raw gaufrette) and "that looks healthy!" green drink.

the highlight of today was when i ended up finishing reading "green for life". i was bursting with so much excitement over it and was going on about it to anyone looking somewhat willing to listen. the 2nd AD got super into the green smoothie concept as well. i'm sure she is starting tomorrow! we are both so excited to see what happens at the end of 30 days. i already know i'm going to continue this ^_^

some fun foods... despite an 'elimination' diet plan...

just over 3 weeks in to this elimination diet plan and i'm doing well! eating lots of salads but i guess i always did! i don't feel like i'm doing anything different except having to ask about ingredients when i go out for dinner. (like the other night at panz veggie - the chef was super accommodating and friendly, though probably thought i was crazy coming into a vegan chinese, aka gluten-crazy, restaurant for dinner) i'm also enjoying smoothies as much as usual but maybe appreciating them even more for how lucky i am to get to eat so many wonderful things!

 it's been awhile since i have had food at organic lives so it was fun to have this pad thai a couple weeks back. i forgot that it is served with jungle peanuts so my friend had those (wasn't sure if they counted as peanuts i can't have right now) and the kelp and coconut meat noodles were served on what looked like spinach (i forgot to ask) so i didn't eat that. but it was super awesome to be able to eat relatively easily here! and look at the amazing chopsticks! they must be from thailand ^_^

and just an obligatory raw cracker bread sandwich photo...

(weird maybe, but i LOVE putting lettuce, avocado, fresh basil and sauerkraut together... the combo kind of reminds me of pickles!)

and i've done some awesome smoothie combos lately. this one is frozen banana and blueberries, pear, ginger, camu camu, ground vanilla and 2 sachets of spatone liquid iron:

and an even prettier picture (doesn't mint garnish make this look pro?) is my frozen banana and mango smoothie with ginger and camu camu.

this next one is blatantly inspired by my high school friend menaka's facebook status. she is yogi-ing it up and making smoothies and raw goodies in bali and i hope someday to get out there to see her and see ubud for myself! anyways, this smoothie is frozen banana and mango, some supergreens (spirulina, chlorella, barley grass, wheatgrass, AFA, and brainon), lucuma, ginger, coconut meat and some spatone (liquid iron) and filtered water.

and finally... who would have thought you could have a dessert on a diet plan like this? though not raw by any means, this is definitely vegan. it has chocolate but i'm allowed that "rarely" (it had been over 2 weeks, maybe even 3 since i had chocolate - i think i did well, yes?) and if i remember correctly, this is quinoa and arrow root and fava bean flours, maybe some potato starch, almond milk... i really should have taken a photo of the ingredients. but there was this, chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, a lemon cookie and chocolate chip cookie, and a banana loaf that were gluten-free, corn-free, buckwheat-free, possibly even soy-free and sugar-free at edible flours! i couldn't believe how many options they had that i could have!

i really can't get over how mellow and relaxed i have felt since adopting this diet. i am excited to see my naturopath at the end of next week to see if she has noticed any of the fire of my pitta decreasing. i totally feel like it has!

lazy cookie experiments.

i'm not sure what my deal is, but whenever i make almond milk and have all the almond flour leftover, i either figure i won't use it for awhile and put it in the freezer or i try to make up a recipe for cookies that never works! the other day was no exception.

 what i should do next time is at least try something that has been done before so i get a better idea of what makes a good cookie texture. i'm thinking this cacao walnut cookie recipe might be a good one for next time (substituting the agave, of course!).

for these cookies, i used almond flour, banana, coconut oil, maple syrup, cinnamon and cacao nibs on top. maybe there was something else too. they smelled AMAZING in the dehydrator.

out of the dehydrator though, i figure these would need raw ice kream on top or something! they are kinda chewy but basically cause me to gasp for air, like eating too much almond butter or something. i think i need to add dates or something sticky and sweet to balance out the dry flour.

next time i will spend the extra 30 seconds and look up some sort of guideline to follow!

have, ok, oh, avocado...

remember in the summer when avocados were just not working? what sucks is they are never in season in vancouver... i would love to find a way to grow them. but ANYWAYS... i have been able to buy ripe ones again and not deal with stringiness and brown offness or way under-ripe hardness... and i love using them for everything!
...including smoothies lately!
i've been mixing spatone liquid iron in with fruit for a smoothie every morning (to continue to boost my iron which was found to be dangerously low in december but within range currently! ^_^) and one morning i didn't have anything to blend really but apples. but i had frozen blueberries and an avocado... so a creamy blueberry smoothie was what i did up. YES!!!

 and the other day, i had one frozen banana and an avocado and a pear. i added some vanilla and ginger. paul tried some and wasn't blown away by it but i enjoyed it.

i still haven't made a chocolate avocado mousse! i was going to try the other day but i waited too long to use the avocado i had left. so sad!!!
which reminds me... my mom was recently in uganda and she says the avocados are the size of grapefruits - they are massive! and when you go to the market, they ask you when you are planning to use your fruit and then give you something that will be ripe by then or that is ready to use for that day. i love it! i feel like i'm pretty good about planning out when i will use things and i tend to buy produce at least a couple times a week (especially right now with wednesday and saturday farmers markets, though the main street one ends this wednesday! sob!), but it's a great concept. i think the north american way of shopping/meal preparing is more of a stock up on "staples" (non-perishable, processed, total-disconnect-from-nature food) and fresh produce is an afterthought that goes bad in the fridge.
we'll get there.

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 18

breakfast... raw bagel (it wasn't in pieces!), *roasted* seaweed, chili salted sprouted almonds, olive oil and apple cider vinegar, salad and apples!

 lunch... perilla and green leaf lettuce leaves, ice berg lettuce, raw 'italian' crackers, sundried tomatoes, dulse, oil and vinegar...

 dinner... banana (later mashed up with the cacao nibs! YES!), and same salad as above...

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 16

before breakfast, i couldn't help myself but eat ALL of the treats mipa gave me yesterday. ok, darren had ONE but still. these were like a less sweet, softer chewy lara bar: persimmon taste instead of date and almonds and 2 other kinds of nuts. how did i forget already? i'm so grateful for these. i have to detox from sugar right now. yesterday was insane. and i want to feel normal again! thank you so much, mipa for these little orbs of delight!

the last of my almond milk today :( but what a way to go! i soaked the chia cereal in it, sliced up 2 bananas and sprinkled cacao nibs on top. this is HEAVEN. totally doing this when i get home too. well, if i can get away from my blender in the morning. i can't WAIT to make smoothies again!

there were cherry tomatoes this morning so i added them with some sundried tomatoes to the *roasted* seaweed atop of the iceberg lettuce salad.

 lunch... not raw but wow... options! baked squash? just had some at loving hut last night. i LOVE it so much!!! and then a spicy leaf and onion thing that was vegan. yippee! and perhaps the end of my brown rice?

 dinner was sad... even for the meat-eaters. i put some dulse and sun-dried toms and apple cider vinegar on top of the salad. and then ate a (non-raw!) clif bar. and then tried some freeze dried rambutan (very strange and doesn't taste natural at all except the smell is the same) and some chickpea miso soup.

day 2 of 2 in seoul...

breakfast in the cafeteria... bananas! hurrah! went oh so well with the last of my cranberry ginger chia cereal mixed with the plain chia cereal and almond milk! plus obligatory side salad.

 me and darren wandered around all over the place today but didn't eat anything substantial until dinner. seriously, we ate cookies from sticky fingers and yah, were running on sugar and adrenaline (it was the coldest day ever in seoul) until 6:30pm at loving hut achasan where we met up with 8 others! it was so awesome. we were there for 2 hours!!! i didn't have many raw things here either but all vegan and awesome. it was great to be eating with meat-eaters who couldn't believe it was all vegan!

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 13

breakfast! the raw hemp granola and almond milk and salad and persimmons on the side! yay!

some green stuff on the side was exciting at lunch. also the banana because, oh yah, mashed it up again with cacao nibs. LOVE THIS. added hemp seed to my salad. had to eat a vega vibrance bar after this though. and some teriyaki sprouted almonds!

 dinner... my head chef friend made some of the organic brown rice i brought! hurrah! it was nice to have something warm, i have to admit. it tasted like oatmeal. but i was hungry and it worked MUCH better than the white rice they serve. i have been confusing the chef by not taking white rice (which is served at every meal)... it is vegan but to me, it is so pointless (and maybe even painful!) to eat it!
ooh anyways, i had salad too (duh) and splashed some apple cider vinegar on it with crumbs of raw bagels. drinking some chickpea miso as i write this... 3 days until seoul and 9 days until i leave for home!

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 11

breakfast... i had saved a banana from yesterday and couldn't resist mashing it up with cacao nibs like last night's lovely treat! there were oranges and well, salad! and today i thought i should open up the organic almond milk i brought and the goji hemp buckwheaties that i had bought back home at buddha-full. i found it a little bland until i got to the exciting golden berries but really, it was a nice comfort food in the morning. i was hungry by noon though which was a bummer and had to grab a larabar. i wish larabars were raw and organic but i love how simple the ingredients of them are! so really i should be making them myself!

 lunch - an orange i saved, some steamed greens of some sort with garlic salt and then i poured some dulse crumbs and spanish almond croutons from back home at organic lives. i am already regretting i only brought one bag of them with me this trip. i just have a few crumbs left for a iceberg lettuce salad in the very near future.

 dinner... it was a sad night tonight for me as everyone was buzzing about this squash dish that had cheese mixed all through it. i was happy there was cold (yet previously steamed) broccoli and i almost finished off my croutons (alongside dulse again) on the salad. i am so graetful for my bag of spirulina superchips which i managed to eat all of while typing on this here computer. i was so excited to see them at drive organics before i left as i have always ordered the bars from vegan essentials for these korea trips when i have time to wait for them to cross the border. well, a bag costs $10 in vancouver but online, it's $5.49 u.s. bleh. oh well, it was worth it! of course i didn't know i'd end up in seattle the day before i left for korea where i could get 2 bars for $4 at whole foods! ANYWAYS.. this is not a price comparison blog, i swear.

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 10

breakfast... chia cereal (which i added apple slices too - i guess i forgot to include them in this photo!) and the usual salad and *roasted* seaweed...

 lunch salad... sundried tomatoes atop of the rest of a bag of rhythm superfoods zesty nacho kale chips and some olive oil to hold it all together. YES!

 dinner... not so exciting salad as there's just sundried tomato on top. BUT! there were bananas! and i had brought cacao nibs with me! i mashed up some bananas and oh goodness, was that the best. happy sigh!

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 8

breakfast... this *roasted* seaweed is becoming a habit! sliced bananas on my plain chia/hemp/buckwheat cereal is lovely! and an orange! YAY!

 banana i saved from breakfast and oh goodness am i grateful for the sprouted almond croutons i brought (from organic lives)... this lunch would have been soooo sad without them!

 and wow, dinner would have been so sad as well! i'm going to make some chickpea miso soup for myself now... 

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 5

okay so getting off the raw train temporarily... there was tofu in the cafeteria again! and the roasted seaweed seemed like too great of an addition. i can't help but believe that me choosing any vegan options available in the cafeteria creates more of a demand for them! raw bagel with coconut oil though is crucial for my better breakfast!

 look! my orange still has a leaf! YES! beauty.

 lunch... i don't know how i got so lucky but the greens did not contain any "little fish" OR "little little fish". AMAZING. i broke up some of my raw nori from home for the salad and eek! a banana for dessert! LOVES IT.

 and okay, dinner? more vegan options? the broccoli was steamed and then chilled but whatever! it's broccoli!!! and then a warm no animal product potato strips thing was great for a switch. and later cucumber strips with sesame seeds were brought out. YES! i have never seen so many vegan options in this cafeteria in one day before. one of the chefs came up to me and said hello and my name so i can't help but feel like being so inquisitive about the food plays a role in what they produce for us! 

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 5

okay so getting off the raw train temporarily... there was tofu in the cafeteria again! and the roasted seaweed seemed like too great of an addition. raw bagel with coconut oil though is crucial for my better breakfast!

 look! my orange still has a leaf! YES! beauty.

 lunch... i don't know how i got so lucky but the greens did not contain any "little fish" OR "little little fish". AMAZING. i broke up some of my raw nori from home for the salad and eek! a banana for dessert! LOVES IT.

 and okay, dinner? more vegan options? the broccoli was steamed and then chilled but whatever! it's broccoli!!! and then a warm no animal product potato strips thing was great for a switch. and later cucumber strips with sesame seeds were brought out. YES! i have never seen so many vegan options in this cafeteria in one day before. one of the chefs came up to me and said hello and my name so i can't help but feel like being so inquisitive about the food plays a role in what they produce for us! 

cascada farallas... day 10... early morning... last bites of bliss...

it was super sweet... they prepared some papaya and pineapple for me to eat in the morning. i still remember me saying the night before, "i cannot eat the cereal in the morning. i will not eat the cereal in the morning". um, so yah, i was not looking forward to the 3.5 hours on the road to the airport and no yummy foods. oh yah, when we got to the airport, it was so hard to find ANYTHING fresh. i saw one apple at one of the food court places but by the time i got to the front of the line, it was gone! it was so sad. i had dehydrated bananas and pineapple with me but there's only so much of that i can eat. ANYWAYS... i am drooling now thinking of eating this papaya and pineapple again. i never liked papaya, in canada or mexico or hawaii or wherever, until i came to costa rica...

korean middle school cafeteria day 19

breakfast... the plums were especially good...













lunch... hooray for bananas! and my green smoothie crackers. YAY!!!













and dinner... the last crumbs of my crackers....













and then these cukes were brought out. i'm sure there are non-raw things like corn syrup or sugar (i can feel it now - i have a sugar headache, i'm sure of it!) and a vinegar but! garlic and cucumbers were excitement and i even had to sneak some back to my room ^_^