Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Indian Mango Soup (Raw Vegan Recipe)

by Kristen in cardamom, easy raw vegan recipe, ginger, himalayan crystal salt, indian mango soup, Kristen Suzanne, mango, organic, Spinach, vita mix blender

This soup is divine! We love it so much that I’m making a second batch to have with our dinner tonight. It’s super creamy, lightly sweet, and packed full of nutrition (tons –> vitamin C, iron, fiber, folate, vitamin B6, copper, vitamin K, potassium, and much more). It’s a definite keeper! You gotta make this one. And… don’t you just love recipes that only take you a few minutes to make?

Indian Mango Soup
Recipe by Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com
Yield 3 1/2 cups

1 1/4 cups filtered water
2 cups fresh mango, chopped
2 cups spinach, gently packed
1/2 avocado (pitted, peeled)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
pinch Himalayan crystal salt

Blend everything until divinely creamy. Enjoy!!!

Raw & Vegan Food Intake – Pregnancy Food Journal

by Kristen in cherry chocolate bomb shake, garden of life, himalayan crystal salt, sun warrior rice protein

A day of glorious, delicious food in my pregnant life :)

2 cups filtered water upon waking
3 cups fresh organic green juice (celery, cucumber, tomato, carrot, kale, cilantro)
Protein shake (1 scoop Sun Warrior Brown Rice Protein, 1 scoop Garden of Life RAW Protein)
2 slices sprouted bread (toasted) topped with mashed avocado
Gigantic Salad (romaine, hemp seeds, red bell pepper, tomato, cucumber) with a dressing of coconut vinegar, raw olive oil, Himalayan crystal salt and pepper
2 oranges
Cherry Chocolate Bomb Shake
Cooked organic quinoa topped with Kaia Foods sprouted sunflower seeds

My Toothache While Pregnant

by Kristen in food grade hydrogen peroxide, himalayan crystal salt, pregnant, toothache

Ouch! During Valentine’s Day weekend, I came down with a toothache. It’s been intermittent pain so I do have plenty of relief through the days, but for about 2-3 times a day, 1-2 hours each of those times, it hurts to bite down on the left side of my mouth. I was not excited about this because going to the dentist as a pregnant woman is right up there with going to an emergency room. They’re just not places that I want to be.

When the pain first started, I figured I’d kind of ignore it as long as I could. It wasn’t debilitating, just annoying and a little painful when I bite. However, in passing, I let my midwife know and she was actually concerned. She said it could mean infection, and that could be harmful for the baby. Sh*t. Well, since it was the weekend when it started, I couldn’t see my dentist. So to help ease the pain, she taught me a little acupressure trick for pressing on a certain spot on my jaw. It worked to temporarily relieve the pain. :) I explained my concerns of going to the dentist while pregnant, and she relaxed my fears of potentially having to get an x-ray as she described to me the kind of equipment I’d want to make sure my dentist was using (digital) and to have him double up the cover-thing on me. Furthermore, according to a doctor I know, these x-rays (and being properly covered up), is less radiation than taking an airplane flight. As for my concern of having novacaine, I was told that there is a formulation for pregnant women that doesn’t have epiniphrine in it. Frankly, that doesn’t make me feel much better… I don’t want any drugs if I can help it. Hhmmm… I wonder if I can Hypnobirth my way through any potential dental work – nervously lol.

When Monday rolled around, I dragged myself to the dentist to get more information. Turns out that I have already had a root canal in that tooth and his initial diagnosis was that it was an abscessed tooth. Double Sh*t! He needed an x-ray to verify it, but I was still leery about getting one. My research about x-rays also said that it’s better to wait until later in the pregnancy for them if possible, third trimester being the safest. After a lengthy discussion he said that since the pain only just started a few days prior, and that because it wasn’t hurting that much… I could wait a bit and see if it gets worse, or if in the small case that it’s not an abscess, perhaps it’ll go away on its own. (There was talk about whether I was grinding my teeth which could cause the pain. Very unlikely that I’m a teeth grinder though.) The consensus was that if it was indeed abscessed, it could be dangerous based on the level of the infection, but that I could take some time to think about how I want to proceed and see if it gets better or worse over the following week or two.

So, I went home and started a few natural remedies. For the next few days I swished 3 times a day with warmed Himalayan crystal salt water in my mouth.

Then, I swished with 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide (I buy the strong concentration – about 35% – and then dilute it in a 1:11 ratio of 1 part peroxide to 11 parts water). I did this about 3 times a day, too.

I also did two other things: took extra probiotics and extra wheat grass tablets.

Good news so far! On Tuesday I only had mild discomfort in the morning when waking, which went away after a couple of hours. On Wednesday the only teeny tiny amount of sensation I felt was for about 30 minutes after I woke up from my mid-day nap. And, today, I’m pain free still. Even though I’m sure I don’t grind my teeth, I am consistently sleeping on my left side, which is recommended for pregnant women. I wonder if this is increasing the pressure on that side of my jaw which is where the tooth problem is.

Update: I’ve been asked a number of times about the toothpaste that I use. Traditionally, I don’t stick with any one, but there are a few things that I rotate.

1) Miessence

This was sent to me to sample a couple of weeks back and I LOVE it. I have both the lemon and the mint flavors and, right now, it’s my favorite toothpaste. It’s very simple in flavor and experience, and you can sense the baking soda in it which some people might not like as much, but there is just something about it that I LOOOOVE! It’s not cheap, but I plan on buying more when I run out. You can check out the details here

2)JASON

There are a few flavors (citrus, mint, and I think anise?) that Jason puts out which are: Fluoride Free, with baking soda, and known as their premium toothpaste. The one I use is Spearmint with Baking Soda Premium Toothpaste (that’s the actual title) and I buy it at Whole Foods. It seems quite inoffensive regarding ingredients. I was using this more often before I received the Miessence samples, but plan on using the Miessence more now. The weird thing is that even on Jason’s website, I don’t see this particular variety listed.

3) Baking Soda
Sometimes I brush with plain ol’ baking soda.

4) 3% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide
Sometimes I gently brush with just this by itself. I think I read somewhere years ago that if you have mercury amalgams you shouldn’t use this… so you might want to check that out if you’re interested in using this for your teeth.

5) Baking Soda with 3% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide Paste
Sometimes I make a little paste out of these two and use it to brush my teeth.

Garden Guacamole (Raw, Vegan, Organic) – Lower In Fat

by Kristen in avocado, garden guacamole, himalayan crystal salt, lower fat, weight loss

As many of you know, I’ve been making food in the apartment we’re staying at in New York. It’s a great way to keep my food totally Raw, totally organic, and it helps save some money. Plus, I love preparing food, so all around, I’m a happy girl. Isn’t this picture totally Om-nom-nom?

I wrote last week about a salad I made with avocado, bell peppers, celery, etc. Well, I had to make it again, it was SO awesome, fresh, delicious, and had so many amazing textures. This time, I made a bigger batch (of course!), and I wrote down the amounts so that I could share it with you.

One of the awesome things about this recipe is that I consider it a “lighter” guacamole, meaning that it’s lower in fat than traditional guacamole. Obviously, most guacamole is made up mostly of avocado. And, if you’re like me, it’s hard to stop eating guacamole once you start. Therefore, it’s not long before I’ve consumed a lot of fat. Well, I lightened the fat load per serving of this recipe by filling it up with fat-free non-sweet fruits and vegetables. A lot of people easily lose weight on a Raw vegan diet even if they consume plenty of fresh organic Raw vegan fats. However, there are some people who hit a plateau and they wonder what to do next. For this, I usually recommend cutting back on some of the fats you’re eating. It doesn’t have to be all the time or every day, but you might try experimenting with some dishes that have a lower amount of fat and see how it goes. You’ll probably drop those last stubborn pounds if you do. And, Garden Guacamole is a great recipe to get you started.

I enjoyed my portion of this scooped onto organic red leaf lettuce that I used as a wrap, like a burrito. My husband wanted his on Ezekial toast. We were both licking our fingers and loving every succulently fresh bite.

Garden Guacamole

Recipe by Kristen Suzanne (KristensRaw.com)

Yield approximately 4 – 5 cups

For this recipe, I used medium size non-sweet fruits, but you could use large! And, you could substitute the tomato with cucumber or add diced zucchini… there are all kinds of options. Shredded carrots would be delish, too. Just try and keep it colorful. That’s half the fun of it!

3 avocados, pitted, peeled and diced

juice from 2 limes

1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt

1 medium heirloom tomato, diced*

1 medium red bell pepper, destemmed, seeded, and diced

1 medium orange bell pepper, destemmed, seeded, and diced

3 large stalks celery, diced

1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

Place the diced avocado into a large bowl with the lime juice and salt. Smish is up (I like using a potato masher to do the job). Then, add the rest of the ingredients and toss well to mix. At this point, taste it and see if you’d like to add more salt.

*If heirloom tomatoes aren’t in season, then use regular tomatoes.

A Week of Kristen

by Kristen in banana, chia seeds, easy raw vegan food, green star juicer, himalayan crystal salt, hummus, lasagna, lemon basil cashew cream, raw agave nectar, raw ice cream, raw lifestyle, raw pasta, stevia

For the past week, I’ve been living up the Raw lifestyle big time (like usual I guess, haha, but more intense. I took out a bunch of my recipe books and I’m having a blast in the kitchen. Details below…

Here is a picture of my refrigerator loaded to the gills after we went to Whole Foods Market and the farmers’ market (where I’m a part of an awesome certified organic CSA). Most of the goodies are from the farmers’ market, but a few things I had to score from WFM such as kale, mustard greens, blueberries, raspberries, celery, cilantro, and parsley.

Here is my light reading of the week… a couple of great magazines. VegNews and Purely Delicious. I’m also reading a book by Deepak Chopra, M.D. My goal is to spend time away from the computer for a few days because my right eye has been twitching for a week. It feels the most irritated when I’m working on my computer or using my iPhone, which I do ALL the time. Those two things must be the culprits because 1) I get PLENTY of sleep and 2) My body is full of any and all vitamins that if there was a deficiency it would cause that. Some could offer the suggestion that it’s stress, but my life is pretty calm for the most part in spite of my fertility adventures (will update you on that this week). And, again, once I start working on my iMac or look at the iPhone, my eye feels strained.

We’ve been having 1-2 large green smoothies every day (I took a break from juicing this week – I like to change it up from time to time). Green smoothies (green shakes, green monsters – whatever you want to call them) are a staple in my life. They’re super easy to make and HELLO! they’re loaded with nutrition, fiber, and goodness. I topped this one with home grown sprouts for fun (see my video on how to grow your own sprouts here).

Saturday night we had a birthday party to attend and I figured the restaurant probably wouldn’t have anything really healthy, so we filled up on this dish before we left the house. I made Raw zucchini/vegetable pasta medley with Lemon Basil Cashew Cream. It was refreshing and deliciously unique. (You’ll notice the “clump” of sauce in the center. I hadn’t stirred it into the dish when I took the picture. With raw pasta dishes it’s OK – even preferable – to have thick sauces because the water from the veggies helps to dilute it after it’s stirred together).

I had chia seeds in my breakfasts a couple of days last week. More specifically, Sunny Morning Chia Porridge (no oats in this porridge though!). The mixture consisted of chia seeds, shredded unsweetened coconut, orange juice, cashews, stevia, almond extract, agave nectar, and cinnamon. It was just lightly sweet, making it ideal for my breakfast. And, full of energy of course!

For dessert all week, I’ve been making different variations of raw banana ice cream. My husband LOVES this stuff. Seriously. Every time I give him a dish of it, he swears… yes, literally swear words – like “Sh*t this rocks!” (he says other things, but I’ll keep this post “PG” rated), because he loves the stuff and is amazed at the texture and flavors. I like to make it in my food processor because it helps make it fluffy by incorporating more air (as opposed to making it in a blender or Green Star).

Banana Ice Cream Crumble: I made a crumble of walnuts, raisins, shredded unsweetened coconut, and a pinch of Himalayan crystal salt. I put some crumble in the bottom of two bowls. Then, I pureed frozen bananas. I put the banana ice cream in the bowls and then topped them with more crumble. Yum! The various textures were awesome – smooth raw vegan ice cream, crunchy nuts, and chewy raisins. Today I froze 3 bunches of bananas for more Raw Banana Ice Cream.

I also made a batch of my delicious soup, Kristen Suzanne’s Harvest Soup (Holiday Style with pumpkin spice added) – it’s fabulous, easy, and FULL of nutrients. Today’s batch was a tiny bit different than my original recipe. I didn’t have dates on hand so I used maple syrup. I could have used raw agave nectar, but opted for the maple syrup to support the holiday flavor theme of the soup.

Later this week I’m going to make my lasagna and hummus recipes (these recipes are always huge hits with family and friends). I’m also going to make some dishes of uber simplicity such as chopped (or spiralized) zucchini/cucumber topped with a drizzle of olive oil (or diced avocado), Himalayan crystal salt, pepper, and a squeeze of citrus. And, some huge salads are in order.

Raw Vegan Rocks!

**Update (it’s 4:39am, 9/1/09)

Well, I ended up having quite the chocolate craving tonight with nothing in the house stashed away for a rainy day. But, I didn’t wear a frown for long. I grabbed my Chocolate Recipe book and turned to the Chocolate Crunch Hazelnut Macaroons (recipe here) and in less than 15 minutes I was a smiling girl. Chocolate covered fingers and all.

Shortly after that… I was craving GREEN JUICE! So, I busted out my GreenStar (my favorite way to juice these days) and made about 10 cups of juice (I gave my husband 2 cups, I drank a quart, then we went on a 2 mile walk at 3:30 am and I’m now home updating this post while drinking the remaining quart of green juice). What was in it? So many good things. I’m calling it Army Green Juice (because the color was truly army green and gorgeous!). The recipe: 2 red bell peppers, 1/2 lemon, 1 orange peeled, 1 large cucumber, 1 medium cucumber, 1/3 bunch Italian parsley, 2 large heads of Romaine lettuce (my first time juicing Romaine, Mr. Monarch and Ms. Stokes-Monarch inspired me), 8 medium carrots, and 4 leaves of mustard greens. YUM!!! I’m full of RAW VITALITY!!!