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I am excited to announce that I’m an ongoing contributor at the swanky new eco-fabulous website, One Green Planet. Have you been there yet? Wait! Before you do, you better go grab a green smoothie or a tall glass of cold raw almond milk, because there is so much good info you might be there a while.
In my first post for them, I wrote about 3 great ways that busy people can incorporate raw food into their lives without having to think twice about it. Check it out here…
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I’ve been having a Question & Answer session going on over on my Facebook fan page… Check it out and become a fan.
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Remember when I blogged about my “true” carnivore omnivore family visiting over the holidays and trying some of my Raw Vegan Recipes in this post here? Well, guess what? My sister-in-law went home and actually made two of my recipes! How cool is that?
It was so neat. Upon request, I sent her home with some of my raw vegan recipe books. She called me a couple of times from the store to ask about substitutions when she couldn’t find certain ingredients (easy to do with raw food!). For example, I told her to use cashews in place of macadamia nuts, almond extract in place of cherry extract, and extra dates if she couldn’t find dried cherries for the Rudolph Cherry Cobbler.
Then, she went home and made two recipes, Rudolph Cherry Cobbler and Twilight Pecan Shallot Pate. I’m so proud of her! Her mom and step-dad loved them, too. Her step-dad licked his cherry cobbler bowl clean. ;) Here are the pictures she sent me.
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| Rudolph Cherry Cobbler – YUM! From my EASY Raw Vegan Holidays book. |
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| In the process of making Twilight Pecan Shallot Pate from my EASY Raw Vegan Entrees book. |
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Over the holidays I was blessed to have my brother and his family (wife and two sons) visit us from Michigan. My brother and I are very close and I miss him terribly! It’s been a couple of years since we’ve seen each other so these holidays were extra special for me. They were able to meet Kamea.
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| My brother, his wife, and their two sons holding Kamea and my mom’s dog, Miso. |
Now, my brother and his family are true mid-western omnivores. I’ll just leave it at that. So, when I was making food for my mom, Greg, and myself, I figured they wouldn’t be interested and I didn’t want to push it on them. It’s not my place to do that, but if they have questions then I’m here for them. When it came time for a few of our meals… my brother went ahead and prepared food for them and I prepared food for us. I always made a little extra though, because I had a feeling he’d be intrigued to at least try a bite – haha – read on…
So, here’s what happened. One night I made my Cheezy Corkscrew Macaroni (Kid Approved!), and I made a double batch because I knew the vegans in the house would want leftovers. This is a great Raw Vegan Transition recipe that incorporates both a delicious, healthy Raw sauce served over cooked noodles. (I have to say here though, that I made enough for my omnivore step-dad because he loves this recipe and requests it every time I visit.) My brother asked if he could try a bite to see what his sister was up to – lol. I said, “Sure, try a bite, but only take a taste. I don’t want you to put a serving in a bowl and if you end up not liking it, it’s wasted. If you end up wanting more then it’s there for the taking.” Well… he LOVED IT! He couldn’t believe how much he loved it. Then, my sister-in-law and my nephews tried it and they all loved it. It was a vegan dinner all around that night. Score!
On another night, I made Rudolph Cherry Cobbler for dessert. Again, I said, “You guys have your cookies and ice cream, we’re going to have raw vegan cherry cobbler. If you want to try it, only take a small amount. If you end up liking it, you can help yourselves to more.” My brother dipped a clean spoon into the baking dish full of cherry cobbler and tried it. He went bananas for it and tried taking the whole serving dish with him as he tried to leave the kitchen! He and his whole family ended up eating Rudolph Cherry Cobbler – Raw Vegan dessert all around. Yay! No animals harmed and everyone enjoying a healthy dessert. It was so cool.
It was like that all week with different vegan and raw recipes I made…
By not pressuring my family, along with acting like, “Hey, you can try it, but only a little…” and the fact that the recipes are super delicious – it’s a great way to get friends and family intrigued to try raw and vegan food – and HOOKED! And, you know what? If they didn’t like it, I would have said, “Good, more for us!” :)
So… how were your holidays? How did you handle your food choices? Did you get any crap problems for eating raw or vegan? Or was your family supportive?
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Congratulations, Izzzy! You are the winner of my 28th Awesome Giveaway. Email me your address and I’ll get my latest book, Kristen Suzanne’s EASY Raw Vegan Transition Recipes, sent to you next week. If you live outside of the United States, I will email you the ebook. Cheers!
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I am listening to one of my favorite holiday songs, My Favorite Things (sung by Lorrie Morgan) and I started thinking about some of my favorite blogs. Truth be told, I have a ton of faves, but to keep this post short and simple, I’ll highlight a handful.
In no particular order…
Choosing Raw – Gena knows her stuff. She puts a lot of time and energy in her blog and it shows. She’s also an amazing raw food coach. I know when I’m reading her blog I’ll either learn something new, be inspired, or both!
Girl On Raw – Robyn is a great friend of mine (she even took a special flight to visit little old me in Arizona when she was in the states attending 105 Degrees Academy). Her blog and newsletter are fun, sassy, light, and lovely. Just like her!
Love Veggies and Yoga – Averie has a special place in my heart. She’s been there for me to answer my thousands of breastfeeding questions (she’s a lactation consultant). I love her blog because she openly shares her daily life with us. She’s inspiring and super sweet!
Rage Against The Minivan – Kristen Howerton is a smart, super funny, and courageous woman. More often than not, she has me in stitches laughing as she tells the tales of her daily life with four kids (2 of which were adopted) and her husband.
Mere Mortal – This is my doula’s blog (well, former doula, I guess she’s not my doula now that Kamea has been born?). I can’t say enough about how much I love the words she writes. Her honesty is moving. Her passion is gorgeous. She’s… simply… awesome.
Sunny Larson Tells All – Last but not least, my mom’s blog. She’s one fiesty woman who doesn’t mince words. She’s full of stories and always cracking me up.
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Congratulations to Cocoloco! You won a copy of my book, Kristen Suzanne’s EASY Raw Vegan Holidays. Whoo hoo! Oh, and Cocoloco, it was one of your multiple entries that was randomly selected. If you live in the United States, you have your choice of either the print copy or the ebook. Email me with your choice.
Thank you for your participation everyone!
After reading all of these entries, I couldn’t help but start listening to my favorites. My top of all time is Carol of the Bells. After that, I’m crazy about Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, Silent Night, and My Favorite Things (is My Favorite Things even a holiday song?!)
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Yay! It arrived! Mmmmm it all looks sooooo fresh and delicious. This is going to be one Rawkin’ Raw Weekend at our house. Check it out!
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| 3 big boxes full of goodness! I can’t wait to open them up! |
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| Mmmmm orange and red organic bell peppers and brussel sprouts, too! Can’t get those at my Whole Foods right now. |
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| TONS of fresh greens. It’s going to be GREEN MADNESS here! |
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| Ahhhh – FRUIT! Clearly, I couldn’t wait to dive into this box for breakfast. |
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| Organic strawberry and banana smoothies with Ejuva’s Moflora probiotic powder blended in. My husband and I were in heaven. So fresh and delicious! THIS IS HEALTH!!!! |
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We’re finally heading home from our nice long stay at mom’s house the past couple of weeks. After we get home and unpacked, I’m going to give Kamea a bath and then we’re all going to head to Whole Foods this evening. It will be Kamea’s first trip to Whole Foods. Whoohoo! (lol)
I normally send Greg to do the shopping (since Kamea was born) and he’s done an awesome job – Yay Greg! But, this trip is a BIG shopping trip. Greg normally does little shopping trips. So, I’ve decided that we’ll all go this time. It should be fun!
I'm Kristen, and welcome to my blog. I'm a wife, mom, author, and I love to eat so food is usually the topic of my blog posts. I'm a former (almost decade long) vegan turned back omnivore who enjoys reading, rebounding, coffee, and dark chocolate. More...
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