"le réfrigérateur toute" smoothie

today's smoothie is not mostly greens, but is mostly green.
it is creamy, ever-so-slightly-sweet and filling!

this smoothie is 1/3 a bunch of parsley, a few sprigs of mint, a couple celery stalks, one carrot, one avocado, one pear, one avocado, two dates (i was worried it would taste like salad), and one cup of filtered water. i have enough for 2 smoothie glasses and well, since paul isn't here and it's basically lunch time, they're mine!

p.s. i went to leanne and liam's super busy potluck last night! at any given point, with all the comers and goers, there'd be at LEAST 30 people there! so, lots of vegan treats to try! i at first was avoiding my allergy list foods (gluten, wheat, cashews, peanuts, etc.) which is super tricky at a potluck (with dishes that don't have listed ingredients and way too many people around to try track down who made what) but i soon figured i might as well see what happens. if i ballooned out into a 8 month's pregnant lady like the last time i had green pepper, i would just go home! anyways... i felt fine! and relieved. my naturopath encouraged me during my last appointment, saying i should not worry about having some of these things during my upcoming quebec trip as for one, eating vegan in QC will be hard enough, but also if i am relaxed about it and relaxed in general, food sensitivities shouldn't flare up too harshly. i think after my next liver cleanse, i want to get my allergies tested again. i'm confident that my "avoids" list is going to keep getting smaller!

oh, but back to L+L's... they have these cool plants that don't have roots or soil or a pot? and they are green! what are these things? are they these tillandsia plants?

i can vitamix again!!!

i have been watching my fedex tracking and knew that my vitamix arrived in ontario for repair last friday. well, i was so overjoyed to get a canada post parcel notice today after work... and super surprised when it was my vitamix! one week after it arriving for repair, it is back with me!
what service!!! (thank you, vitamix!!!)
and the best part is that IT WORKS!
i can't wait to have daily green smoothies again! forever! i'm going to take such good care of my newly restored vitamix!

this one was parsley, frozen banana, some spatone liquid iron, some camu camu, apple juice and water.

i'm excited to do a 2 day green smoothie challenge i just read about in rawbc's emailout. it is monday and tuesday, july 23 + 24th, and you only drink green smoothies those days. sounds like heaven! if you participate, you are encouraged to let the green smoothie people know at info@rawbc.org with your name and city/town. they suggest 60% (organic, of course) fruit, 40% dark leafy greens and 2 cups of water in your blender. and the challenge is 2 days/month. sounds like a great idea to me!

black bean brownies

sounds gross but these are awesome! not raw or particularly healthy, but... top allergens-free and bean-heavy! hehe.
i tried these for the first time at a potluck where my new friend jen claimed they were super easy and she had just veganized a simple recipe from her mom or something. and she sent me what she did. and now, i am going to post what i did last night!
i have now made these twice and they have been super simple and super delicious both times ^_^ trying them again this morning makes me really aware of how chewy these brownies are! it's crazy! the ground chia is incredible!

brownies and coconut milk ice cream! hurrah!

ingredients:
1 - 15 oz can black beans (rinsed! of course!)
4 "egg whites" (i use 2 bowls, each with 2 tablespoons ground chia, or flax, with 6 tablespoons of water - to clarify: you'll 4 tablespoons ground chia or flax and 12 tablespoons of water in total)
12 tbsp cocoa (i use raw cacao which is funny as i bake these!)
2 tbsp earth balance (last night i used coconut oil which was great)
1 cup "sugar" (last night i used sucanut - not sure yet what to do about this high amount of sugar which i'm sure isn't so necessary - i will keep experimenting!)
3 tbsp gluten-free flour (i have used rice flour and last night i used namaste's perfect flour blend)

directions:
1. heat oven to 350 degrees, use a 9x13 pan. (i greased my pan with coconut oil just in case, though i don't know if it's necessary. also, i find 9x13 a bit big as i like a thicker, fudgier brownie so last night i used an 8x8 glass dish)
2. blend beans and 2 "egg whites" in blender. (since my blender is getting fixed right now, i blended half of the beans/"eggs" in my mini food processor and then added the rest. it all fit and it all blended just fine. hurrah!)
3. combine the bean mix with the sugar and flour and remaining "egg" mix.
4. mix cocoa and "butter" (melted) in a bowl and then add to main mix and mix thoroughly.
5. pour into pan.
6. bake 30-35 minutes or so! i took mine out last night at about 35 minutes and a toothpick still was showing a chocolate stain. but i love my thick, slightly gooey brownies! when i made them in the larger pan, they seemed they would be a bit dry but the next day, they had softened and moistened up. and all reports back have been very happy ^_^

i feel like this is the perfect recipe for staff treat days and kid events as they look "normal" and i think they taste normal (you would never guess that these are made of beans!) and i think most people can eat them! (ie no dairy/nuts/gluten/oats/eggs, etc.)

enjoy!

a sad vitamix story... hopefully soon with a happy ending!

on april 18th, i was so excited as i got my delivery of vitamix replacement parts. i put everything together. my vitamix still did not work.
i finally called them on the 21st to ask and i was told i would be sent the stuff to be able to send my whole vitamix base to them to look at and make sure to fix. i am still waiting!
i hope i can talk to someone about it tomorrow. i hate that my broken vitamix isn't even on its way to being fixed right now! and i'm sure that waiting part is going to take awhile!!!
sigh!
*may 17th update: called and apparently they didn't have my apartment suite number! so i never got the FedEx slip. they emailed me the slip instead so my vitamix is finally on its way for servicing. fingers crossed i get it back in june!*
well, at least we have a magic bullet here. it's a bit more work but i can still get some yummy smoothies happening in it.

this smoothie is DELICIOUS. it's frozen banana, almond milk, some supergreens powder, fresh mint and lucuma powder. it tastes like how ice cream should taste! ^_^

p.s. in the last couple days, i have had 2 friends excitedly tell me they have bought their first vitamix! i hope i can visit them soon to get my extra smooth smoothie fix! ^_^ hehe

free aspen clean product swap today!

today from 1-3 at any whole foods, you can bring your chemical cleaner in exchange for one free aspenclean product. i finally got rid of my windex! it was my last chemical in my apartment! i didn't know what to do with it. aspenclean will dispose of it as safely as possible.

also at whole foods today, you can get a free produce bag from belief beyond bags when you buy organic gala apples.
also! the clerk ringing me through told me that they are doing chemical personal care product (free) swaps for their housebrand, 365. i don't think i have any conventional toiletries anymore, but it's worth a check!
happy earth day eve!

these are a few of my favourite drinks...

tonight i went to see neil hamburger at the waldorf and was so happy to see vanessa in the back room making her holistic elixirs! she is full of so many wonderful ideas and is always so great to see!
well, i am not one who really has a taste for alcohol so she mixed me up basically all of her fun liquids into one for me to try! i know there was kombucha and black cherry and aloe in there for sure. super refreshing! ^_^

and something that catherine introduced me to once when i was at her place for tea awhile ago...
goji berry tea!

don't know how i didn't think of it before but it makes so much sense. when i first tried dried goji berries, i thought they had a "tea"-like taste. and soaking them in hot water plumps and softens the berries up and the mellow "tea" taste (ever so slightly flavoured hot water) is so comforting!
paul made fun of me for saying that eating the goji berries after drinking the tea is "the best part" because it is "so much fun". sigh!

zimt easter treats!

i feel super lucky today to have gotten to sample some zimt easter treats!

i couldn't believe these were raw organic chocolates! they tasted like conventional chocolate but without the weird "filler" taste. am i the only one that feels that some vegan chocolate tastes bland or like there is some waxy thickener in it? (but then conventional dairy chocolate is WAY worse. stomach ache AND mysterious additives? ECH!) oh and i HATE it when sugar is the first ingredient in chocolate! anyways... super exciting to know that these chocolates contain all satisfaction and no filler. ha.

 ha. i really should have taken some photos sans packaging huh. but on the left there are some unpackaged chocolate coconut crisp bars! yum! i totally know the right people ^_^ these bars are smokey tasting but i totally enjoy it. i enjoy chocolate with a "bite" and "smokey" works for me too. i don't know much about chocolate but apparently the smokey tasting beans are from bali. i'm not sure where the chocolate that made the easter shapes came from. but i guess if coffee (and well anything else, really!) can taste different depending on where it's from and how it was grown, harvested, etc., why would chocolate be any different?