Monday, April 30th, 2012

Green Smoothie Time (Raw Vegan Recipe and Video!)

Made a quick smoothie with sunflower sprouts from the farmers market and other goodies. Enjoy the show :)

Raw Vegan Yogurt – Super EASY! (Video, Recipe)

by Kristen in raw food, raw recipe, video

Now that I can find ORGANIC young thai coconut meat and water in the freezer department of Whole Foods, I’m a yogurt makin’ fool. I can’t imagine my refrigerator without it. Sooooo good. How can I describe it? Hmmm… ummmm… perfect creamy sublime deliciousness. How does that sound? It’s lightly sweet from the coconut, thick, decadent, very nourishing. Total comfort food. Do I have your interest yet?

Ingredients for raw vegan yogurt minus probiotics that I add (vanilla drops optional)

My Skin Care Routine (Video) & Food Journals

by Kristen in food journal, irish moss, video

I get asked a lot about my skin care regime. While it changes as I try new products, there are a few things that stay the same (eating clean and using clean products). I recently uploaded a video showing you my skin care routine as of late. Check it out below!

Some beauty goodies in my bathroom.

Honorable mentions:

Clean Food - What I eat makes a difference in how my skin behaves, and I firmly believe in keeping skin firm (ehem… minimal aging) with lots of hydrating, phytonutrient / antioxidant rich, and pure organic foods. We are what we eat.
Enema - Although I’m new to these (read how I do them here), I’ve heard from many people who swear that enemas helped their skin conditions. Let the fun begin! Sparkle everywhere!
Cleansers – I’m a fan of many different ones, but the main ones I seem to keep coming back to are Dr. Alkaitis and 100% Pure. The MUST HAVE for extra great results is the Clarisonic Mia.
Toner – Good ol’ rose water. I’m stoked to find that I can buy it organic now!
Moisturizer – Again, lots of delicious choices to hydrate your largest organ. Lately, I’m singing the praises of Pristine Beauty’s Hooray for Brallywood Butta and I’ve also been using these divine organic raw oils.
Treatments – Irish moss gel mask, fruit peel mask, and fresh cut aloe. I dabble in some treatment masks from various companies from time to time, but I love the simplicity of homemade goodies. They’re so fresh and potent!

I also dry skin brush on my body a couple of times a week.

60-Second Raw Nut Milk (VIDEO, Raw Vegan Recipe) & Food Journal

by Kristen in food journal, video

The days of animal based milks are so passé, right? At least in my opinion they are. I mean, did you hear? The number of vegans has doubled since 2009 (that’s a huge jump!) and that’s just vegans. Stats also show a decrease in animal consumption, increase in demand for vegetarian / vegan meals by omnivores overall, and plant based milks are doing great (the dairy industry is shakin’ in their boots). Check out more in this great article here.

When it comes to my milk consumption, although I only occasionally buy plant based milk at the store, the overwhelming majority of the time I make my own.. and it’s RAW! Super FRESH! And…. awesome, of course. Once you start drinking raw vegan nut milks, you will want them in your refrigerator all the time. Why? Because they taste delicious, there’s lots of variety in the nuts or seeds you can use to make them, and they can be used in so many ways…

Earthbound Brazil Nut Milk

Drinking it plain – as in a tall glass o’ raw vegan nut milk (add a handful of ice for extra refreshment… mmmm so good).
Use in place of water for creamy flavorful raw soups.
Super used in fruit or green smoothies. Bonus: it mellows out greens which means you can use less fruit, if desired.
Make your next protein shake with raw milk and get an extra boost of performance enhancing nutrients and protein.
Great in raw desserts like raw chocolate puddings, raw cheesecake, and mousse
Use on raw granola or any cereal of choice, whether raw or not.
Add to coffee and tea.

The down side to keeping a ready-to-use stash of raw nut milk is that it generally means a routine of soaking, blending, and the dreaded straining in order to make it. Not anymore though! Here is a great way to make raw nut milks that is easy and fast. No straining! So… guess what that means? No excuses!

Dynamic Orange Tomato Dressing (VIDEO, Raw Vegan Recipe) and Food Journal

by Kristen in food journal, organic, raw food, recipe, salad dressing, tomato, vegan, video

I’ve really gotten into the video mood, can you tell? Are you enjoying them? Are they useful? I hope so!

In this video I decide to totally wing it and make a dressing I’ve never made, while doing it on camera. My plan was to post the video no matter what because I figured 1) we’d all learn something anyway (I learn a lot from failed recipes) and 2) it’d be kind of funny if the dressing sucked seeing as I was doing it on camera. I still don’t have the ingredients written down so I can’t add them here to the post yet, but I remember… water, oranges, grape tomatoes, garlic, salt, raw almond butter, basil??? I think those are the ingredients. When I find time, I’ll come back and add the ingredient list.

Spoiler alert...Turns out, it was so good! Easy to throw together as you’ll see… and mega fresh. I loved it on fresh lettuce and I also gobbled it up on cauliflower. If a dressing makes you enjoy raw cauliflower, then you know it’s darn good.

Enjoy the show! (By the way, as you know by now I’m still in a video making mode – I suspect I will be for a long time – so check out my popular Cinnamon Brownies post I wrote a while back because I put up a video showing you how easy they are to make here!)

For more great raw vegan recipes, check out my books.

Food Journal 2/28/12 Mostly Raw

Water …. Big bowl of Breakfast Kelp Noodles (my latest recipe)

Water …. Kale salad …. Sandwich from True Food (part raw: avocado, tomato, lettuce and part cooked: bread, hummus, tempeh) …. Raw choc mint pie …. Supplements

Super Spicy n Sweet Green Yogurt Bliss (coconut water, raw vegan yogurt, banana, 1/2 mango, 1/2 habanero, vanilla powder, spinach)

Quart Green juice

St. Patrick’s Day (or Morning Mint) Green Smoothie (Raw Vegan Recipe, VIDEO, and Food Journal)

by Kristen in food journal, Green smoothie, nut butters, raw vegan recipe, video

A quick and DELICIOUS refreshing green smoothie that is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day… or for any morning with its minty freshness. Check it out (recipe details below)! :)

Morning Mint Green Smoothie (Yield 3 cups)

1.5 cups water
1 cup ice
10 organic mint leaves
1 hefty handful organic spinach
2 fairly hefty dollops organic raw cashew butter
1 T or more raw coconut nectar (or raw agave or 2 pitted dates)

Blend and enjoy!

Food Journal 3/14/12

Pint green juice from our precious Norwalk Juicer. YES! I’m working on my Norwalk videos next week :) YAY!
Water
Tea – Nettles n Raspberry Leaf
Sprout Smoothie
Large salad with veggies, raw dressing and some tofu (all organic, of course)
Chipotle football size vegan burrito with some raw fixings in it (pico, guacamole, romaine)
2 cups Spring Power Applesauce
3 cups fresh grapefruit juice …. Quart Green juice
Lightly cooked asparagus with raw dipping sauce …. Sprouted English muffin with but butter on both sides plus one side with jalapeño. The other side strawberry lavender preserves.

My Raw Food Kitchen (VIDEO) and Food Journal

by Kristen in food journal, video

I recently uploaded this video to Youtube where I bring you into my home to see my kitchen (and beyond). You’ll see that I use all of the space I can to make living a raw food life easier. I recently put a bunch of nails in the wall so I can hang my Norwalk Juicing screens for easy access (by the way… Norwalk posts and videos coming SOON!)

Here are some other pictures of my raw food living area over the years…

Tuscan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto (VIDEO, Raw Vegan Recipe) and Food Journal

by Kristen in food journal, raw food, recipe, sun-dried tomatoes, video

I’ve eaten quite a bit of this delicious pesto over the past many years. It’s absolutely scrumptiously awesome. In fact, it’s on my list of 7 Must-Make Recipes. Serve it with kelp noodles, veggie pasta, veggie crudite, as a dressing (toss it really well on the salad – maybe water it down a smidge), stuffed into bell peppers, and just outta of the food processor with a fork.

Enjoy the show!

Food Journal 2/27/12 Mostly Raw

Giant Salad

Quart Spicy Veggie Juice

Apple …. Raw Vegan Core Defender Meal bar …. Raw coconut water …. Supplements

Water with pure vanilla extract drops

Salad w avo, kraut, veggies …. Mother Earth Chocolate (ummm… Lots)

Pint Spicy Veg Juice

Green smoothie (water, sunflower sprouts, apples) …. Small serving organic tofu …. Sprouted English Muffin w raw organic, stone ground, homemade almond butter

Protein shake (double scoop)

1/2 grapefruit …. 1 raw granola bar

How to Make Irish Moss Gel (VIDEO)

by Kristen in irish moss, raw food, video, vita mix blender

I really wish I didn’t wait so long to learn how to make Irish Moss Gel. It’s an amazing food that is fun for raw foods and great for beauty. I use Irish Moss Gel in all kinds of raw foods: smoothies, desserts, yogurt, soups, nut milks, and on my face for a beauty mask. In the video below I’ll show you how to make your own. (Buy your irish moss here.) And, following the video below, I share step-by-step instructions as well. Enjoy!

*Note… there is an irish moss on the market that I bought where I’ve heard it only needs to be soaked for about an hour in hot water. It also appears to be a bit less dirty. I haven’t tried it yet.

Step-by-Step instructions with photos…

Jamaican Me Hot & Crazy Dressing – (VIDEO, Raw Vegan Recipe) – Plus Food Journal

by Kristen in food journal, raw food, recipe, salad, salad dressing, video

Here’s a great recipe for the brave hearted. It’s got some mega kickin’ heat and it’s super duper delicious! (If you must, you can tone down the heat by omitting the habanero or using only a bit of it, same goes for the cayenne pepper). This recipe is great for romaine salads, veggie salads, zucchini or kelp pasta, and I recently used it over cabbage for an awesome slaw. I’ll bet it’d be fun dehydrated on kale for spicy kale chips.

You’ll see that I use cashews in the recipe instead of olive oil which my original recipe calls for… not only was I out of olive oil, but thought it’s a great way to share how you can swap them in some recipes. This recipe, and many other super raw salad and dressings, can be found in my book, Easy Raw Vegan Salads & Dressings. Enjoy :) (Updated food journal post below video)

Food Journal 2/26/12 (Mostly Raw)

Spicy Veggie Juice: romaine, parsnip, brussel sprouts, dill, basil, celery, carrots, beet, spicy purple radish sprouts, zucchini, cucumbers, red bell pepper, kale, dandelion root, and habanero pepper! Whew! This bowl made about a gallon of juice with our Norwalk Juicer.

Pint green juice …. 3 cups green smoothie (water, apple, sunflower sprouts) …. Tea

Kale salad …. Sandwich …. Tea

2 brazil nuts …. Raw choc mint pie

Nettles blend tea (this stuff is super great for helping allergies… interesting story... my allergies have been non existent this season so far, but Greg’s and mom’s have been pretty bad. I just counted my lucky stars. However, I had a sandwich as you see above and it had two slices of bread, hummus, and tempeh on it. Although the rest of my diet is still basically raw, that was the first meal I had where something was cooked in it. Guess what? Within an hour my allergies kicked in and I was sneezing. I wonder if the stellar raw diet was keep them at bay? Anyway, nettles tea is great for helping them.)

Kelp noodles with Tuscan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto …. Mother Earth Chocolate

4 tangerines n 2 oranges …. Protein shake (2 scoops Sun Warrior)

Pint spicy veggie juice