1 bean salad.

i hated 3 bean salad growing up, but the other day, i had a craving for it. sort of. no kidney bean desires, but white (cannellini) beans and crunchy vegs of some sort were totally on my radar.

i ended up with a  tangy, creamy, crunchy and soft mix of all things wonderful:

salad:
*cannellini beans, 1 can
*chopped carrot, 1
*quartered sliced cucumber, 1/2
*sliced red cabbage, a couple slices off a whole one
*cubed avocado, 1
*sliced fennel stalk, 1
*minced white onion, 1 sliver off a whole one

dressing:
*a spoon of sprouted chickpea miso
*a little squirt of dijon
*a splash of ACV
*a splash of omega 369 oil blend

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 ^_^

thank you, thursday night! (and kassie!)

not sure how i got so lucky, but on thursday night, i was invited over to kassie's where me and CL got to enjoy a raw meal she made!

it's super exciting to have a new "raw" friend with so much to discuss AND she lives super close! YAY!

also, we have the same 'cook'book (ani's raw food essentials) so i basically got to sample a whole bunch of recipes in one night! thanks, kassie!

 this is the "chinese chickenless salad" (page 161). love it! i got to take some home with me ^_^ and it was just as great the next day for lunch!

 ooh and then pizza! YAH! using the oregano pizza crust (page 214 - celery and flax? loved the texture) and cherry tomato marinara (page 240) and fresh basil leaves (my favourite!) and tomato slices and i think it was the basic cheeze (page 103) recipe on top - made of cashews maybe? i don't know if i have ever made my own raw pizza and i have to get on this! so fun!

 and we all were so full but look at these! desserts from organic lives! how could one resist? the strawberry cheezecake, chocolate ganache (aka the ridiculous) and the coconut cream pie (aka the OMG).

thanks again for a wonderful night! 

(i hope to make a cheezecake tomorrow that i can share with her! ^_^)

raw banana pancakes!

the other night, i made some brazil nut-banana pancake batter to dehydrate to be ready for morning breakfast. (p73 ani's raw food essentials). i put them in around 12:30am and had got up at 6:30 and flipped them and removed the teflex and we probably sat down to have them around 11?

blended blueberries and raspberries with a date and some filtered water to make a syrup and served up with coconut oil, nectarines and plums!

verdict? maple syrup would be fun for next time. i was stubborn because i made the fruit syrup. and 7 hours dehydrating would probably be enough. after what, 10 hours, they were kind of leathery. it'd be fun to have a softer, more doughy pancake. 

next time!

still fun to do a brunch-type thing.

p.s. organic lives added a ravioli to their menu today and i can't wait to try it! (i was debating bringing it home today but i think i want to wait for a time i can sit in there for dinner or something)

catching up...

i've been terrible at updating lately but of course still taking photos of foods i think are fun.
one night in the last few weeks (gah!), i made some sort of ice cream. i'm guessing it was a chocolate mint type thing. but maybe it was just mint leaves on the side of something with cacao nibs. i'm guessing frozen bananas were involved, a splash of almond milk (which i FINALLY started making my own of! hurrah for vitamix!) and who knows. was that it? was there some lucuma maybe? why is it so white? oh man, i'm thinking now that this might just be some of that coconut milk ice cream which is not raw in the least. it might be the chocolate chip mint one and i added nibs to it to make it more legit. ha. the martini glasses help too, right?

ok so ANYWAYS, feb. 13th me and paul hosted some friends for raw dinner. YAY!!! first up (after a veggie juice!) was the caeasar salad i believe i've posted before. i like to practice first so it's not so nervewracking having people over. though i love doing a recipe/idea for the first time for potlucks. maybe it's because there are other dishes/people involved so it's not all relying on me!

then... the raw lasagna! YAH! that day i was like CRAP i don't have anything white or cheese like for a ricotta type layer!!! so i went to gorilla food for some of their alfredo sauce to put as a layer along with marinated mushroom, pine nut pesto, sundried tomato sauce with slices of roma and then ani phyo's marinara sauce for top and bottom layers!

i LOVE all the layers! i felt i put a bit too much thyme (time? ha, not really) into the marinara sauce but at least it wasn't bland?

 for dessert... the brazil nut/almond 'shortbread' from organic lives. these are soooo awesome. i have been begging for them to keep this cookie going. i think hearts are TOTALLY relevant past valentines' day but i don't care the shape of them! if that's why they're done, they should just make 'em in another shape! i just want them again! they are the best! i don't know how you would pick a baked sugar cookie when you could have these!!!

 ooh and then another day recently, i finally made use of the burgers (from nature provides) i bought at karmavore. warmed em up in the dehydrator and packed some romaine leaves (the bun!) with beets and peppers and onions. hurrah! i went to buddha-full the other day and noticed their amazing kale chips are from nature provides. i didn't previously make the connection that the fabulous pizza (i had bought the crust from karmavore also) and raw burger was nature provides also! and so then i'm told that they are building a spot for nature provides in the restaurant to make everything there in house! eek! i love buddha-full. they are going to start having theme nights, i think the last friday of the months so there is a raw meal of a certain style of food like italian or what not. organic lives did an indian one in january which i sadly missed. they debuted a raw samosa which will hopefully be appearing on the menu any day now. i think they are doing a mexican night next! anyways... excited to see what will be served up in buddha-full in the coming months!

 and then there is rooted cafe in eternal abundance on the drive. i was there on friday for dinner and started with the raw chocolate heart! YES! not too sweet... just right!

 and gah, the raw kale caeasar... i could eat a million of these forever. i can't imagine getting sick of this!

 raw tomato red pepper soup with flax cracker. excellent! and inspiring me to get on trying the soups in the vitamix again...

 and well, i had to have a second dessert! after dinner! hehe. the cheesecake! YES!!!

i want to get out to the drive more often. i love what the rooted cafe is doing!!! the food and the people there are so amazing!!!

hooray for coming home!

i had such an amazing time with amazing people in korea but i have to admit, i'm pretty excited about getting to make my own food again and get to eat my favourite kinds of things!

first stop yesterday when i got home was some food to go from gorilla food:
i got a choco gorilla shake (almonds, cacao, banana, hempseeds, date, coconut oil) to try keep me awake while i waited for the food. i know being awake 26+ hours played a big role but waiting 40 minutes seemed excessive for my salad) and 2 treats to go (the cinnamon almond goji crunch cookie and a piece of the fudge).

 i got the great gorilla salad which really felt good because i have been craving dark greens and avocados and almonds and hemp seeds.... it was worth the wait! but the best part was getting to hang out with lovely people later when i ate it!

okay and then today... my parents were out and my favourite person's birthday was 2 days ago so we had a lovely early dinner together at organic lives, another place i've been excited to go back to since korea.
i ate some of my parents' sushi and mexispirals and split this tostada salad to start. SOOOOO GOOD.

 and then i got the mushroom pasta (zucchini noodles are always a win but the sauce is too much raw mushroom taste - it needs more kick! i mixed the side salad with its citrus dressing in to help). the masala burger on yam bread was pretty good - some sauce would do it quite well. the dehydrated 'bun' and dehydrated 'burger' is too much dehydrated stuff, you know?
so... the tostada salad was definitely my favourite. but it was exciting to try some new things there! and it gets my brain buzzing with inspiration for making things at home!
there wasn't a black vitamix in stock so i guess i'll have to wait on getting that. sadness!

 when i got home, i regretted not getting some dessert to take home so i whipped up some macaroons with some coconut oil, coconut flakes, medjool dates and cacao powder and put them in the dehydrator for maybe an hour to warm them up a bit. they were a hit!

breakfast at organic lives!

there is now an AMAZING granola at organic lives AND this absolutely delicious (and desserty) peach crepe!

i got two to go last night so my friend heading to the airport early early this morning could eat something yummy and i could celebrate friday? (and perhaps a new job!)

anyways... wow. coconut wrap with a coconut creme and i would love to have a day where i could just sit at the beach in the sun again with a million of these beside me to eat! hehe. oh and a coconut with a straw in it. is that too much to ask?

korean middle school cafeteria day 1

breakfast! i was very excited to try this raw granola by didi's. i brought soy milk which isn't exactly something i normally have (soy? boo!) but i only have that one drink box and another coming up for this small pack of granola! anyways... it was super rad to have a nice salad and grapes along with this meal!












then... lunch! i brought dehydrated veg crackers from organic lives and balanced some salad on top with apple cider vinegar and olive oil (that i also brought from home). works for me!













and dinner... in effort to switch things up, i added some tamari to my oil/vinegar dressing and some sprouted almond croutons from, you guessed it, organic lives.

sherry strong! vancouver!

today at organic lives, sherry strong of australia gave an intro talk to everyone at the restaurant about her food philosophy and what her upcoming classes at the restaurant will be about.

i really enjoyed and related to what she had to say. she is so awesome! i wish i was going to be in town while she is teaching.

here are her 3 nutrition tips, at least how i understood them:

1. love - eat with love in mind. love for your body (ie don't treat it like some toxic waste dump) and love for the food and where it came from! i find a lot of raw/vegan food packages mention "love" as an ingredient and however cheesy it can be, it seems to mean something! preparing food for someone with love is definitely felt by the person eating it! and why not put all your love into what you eat? LOVE IT. this reminds me of how a teacher at my school commented to me at lunch time, "your body is your temple, isn't it?". well, shouldn't it be? i love feeling amazing so i can't help but want to keep eating and drinking things that taste and feel amazing!

2. follow nature - think of what you are eating and how you would prepare it and eat it as if you actually did find it in nature. the easiest foods to eat, you can eat the most of! the ones that take some preparation or digging into or whatever, are meant perhaps to be eaten at a lesser volume. think of how food is produced. if you can't think of a way that the food came to your plate or how you would do it yourself, don't eat it! what i loved about this too, is she explained why we need to soak nuts to be able to reap the enzyme benefits of them: generally, we are buying nuts that have already been de-shelled. if we were gathering nuts from nature, we'd be cracking these shells open and the nut would be in that perfect, raw state that is of benefit to us. so soaking the raw nuts we buy from the store brings them back to that state. does that make sense?

3. move your body! don't be a lug. enjoy the sun. bike and walk and run and dance and jump. make sure your limbs are used while you can use them!