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Kristen Helmstetter

(Brisa Starr)

kale

Recipe: Roasted Kale with Ghee

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Roasted Kale with Ghee
Roasted Kale with Ghee

If I eat kale these days, I prefer it cooked because it seems it’s healthier this way for some people, as the current research I’ve done indicates.

Enter: Roasted Kale with Ghee. (I’ve updated this post with an extra step to help ensure extra kale deliciousness: 8/22/14)

Roasted Kale with Ghee and a little kiddo's hand grabbing for some.
Roasted Kale with Ghee and a little kiddo’s hand grabbing for some.

This is a great side dish for lunch because it can be done in less than 15 minutes. I make a recipe of Roasted Kale with Ghee and my 4-year old and I share it along with some homemade bone broth (learn easy ways to make your own bone broth here) and a can of sardines. Yeah, we’re hardcore with eating sardines straight from the can, but if that’s not you, then please hop over to my post on how I came to love sardines and how you can, too. That said, I think my favorite way to enjoy this dish is with some pasture-raised eggs, soft cooked, and placed right on top. That’s what I’m talking about.

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How To Make AWESOME Raw Vegan Kale Chips

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If you look through all of the recipes in all of my books, you’ll notice that not one is for kale chips. Honestly, I have no excuse other than… well… no, I have no excuse. I guess I just didn’t jump on the kale chip bandwagon. I’ve bought some over the years online and at Whole Foods Market, but none of them excited me. They were either too chewy/sweet or crumbled up so much I had to eat them with a spoon or – eeewww! – there was a dehydrated bug in one bag. Eeek!

But. I recently tried some kale chips from another company (blogged about it here), and I fell in love. Blue Mountain Organics, you have forever converted me to a kale-chip-lovin’-chick! Even though I directed you to the other blog post of mine where I’m just short of doing cartwheels because I loved them so much, I’ll say a few words here. THEY ARE AWESOME! Specifically, I’m referring to the Cheezy-flavored kale chips they sell. However, I decided to try their Chocolate Kale Chips the other day, and I’ll be honest, I did not have high expectations – only because I wondered how kale and chocolate would be super good – they’re probably decent, I thought, but I didn’t expect much more. Wrong. They rocked. It was love at first bite.

All of this excitement made me take a stab at making my own organic raw vegan kale chips and save a little money. After all, I have a super awesome cheese sauce (you all know the one I’m talking about right?). Well, if you’re new to my blog, it’s my Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce (recipe and video demo for the sauce here). It kicks ass! I figured it would be the perfect sauce for kale chips. I sent Greg to Whole Foods to buy some kale while I stayed home and made the sauce.

Here they are:

They are awesome. Seriously – you’ve gotta make these. We all went nutso for them!

Here is how you can make your own Cheezy Hemp Nacho Kale Chips…

Basically, you make the Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce I linked to above. Then, take one bunch of kale and wash it. Tear it into pieces (you can use curly kale or dinosaur kale – they both work great – and I usually leave the stem in but you can take it out). Put the torn kale in a large bowl and pour the Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce on top. Stir it all up with a big spoon, or your hands, until the kale is as covered with sauce as you can get it. Place the saucy kale on a dehydrator tray lined with a Paraflexx sheet (or parchment paper if you’re not using an Excalibur dehydrator). Dehydrate for an hour at 130-140 degrees F. Reduce the temperature to 105-110 degrees F and dehydrate another 7-9 hours. Transfer the kale chips to a new dehydrator tray without a Paraflexx sheet and finish dehydrating until you reach your desired texture of kale chips (maybe another 7-10 hours).

They’re so delicious! I couldn’t stop there though. I started thinking about all the different cool sauces I could use to make kale chips, and the next one I tried was my Velvet Wine Sauce (see picture below; the recipe for the sauce is from my newest book Kristen Suzanne’s EASY Raw Vegan Transition Recipes – I also shared this recipe in a recent limited edition email newsletter). Basically, follow the same directions as you do with the Cheezy Hemp Nacho Kale Chips, but use the Velvet Wine Sauce instead. These were so friggin’ delicious that I sent Greg to Whole Foods for more kale. I had to make another batch.

This batch has the Velvet Wine Sauce
and it’s just about to go into the dehydrator.

As you can see, we’ve been enjoying a lot of kale chips in this house the past few weeks. They’re so satisfying, flavorful, and nutritious.

If you don’t have a dehydrator, or you simply don’t like making your own stuff, then I highly recommend heading over to Blue Mountain Organics and loading up on their Cheezy Kale Chips and Chocolate Kale Chips.

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Pineapple Ginger Green Smoothie (Raw Vegan Recipe)

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Here is what I started my day with today: Pineapple Ginger Green Smoothie – yum! The pineapple in this smoothie loaded my body with vitamins C and B1, as well as tons of manganese (manganese is an important cofactor for energy production). And! The vitamin C in it helped my body assimilate the iron in the kale. That’s important. Gosh… then, there’s all the awesome nutrition in ginger and kale. Wait! Then there is the dulse that adds even more potent nutrition (things like zinc, iodine, calcium, potassium, and more). Wowee – this is one spectacular smoothie. 

Pineapple Ginger Green Smoothie
By Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com
Yield 1 quart

1 cup filtered water
1 cup ice
1 small knob ginger
2 (heaping) cups fresh pineapple, chopped
2 leaves of curly kale (stems and leaves)
1/8 teaspoon dulse flakes
small drizzle raw agave nectar

Give it a whirl in your blender and enjoy the delicious nutrition!

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Raw Food Intake

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Hi everyone!!! I hope you’re having a terrific day! Here is my food for the day. As usual, everything is organic. If I get hungry beyond what I’ve written, then, I’ll probably add an apple and/or protein shake.

2 bananas
~ One of the easiest breakfasts… ever!

Miso Soup with Chickpea miso by South River Miso
~ I love this stuff. It makes a delicious and warming breakfast.

1 quart Plant Blood
~ Refreshing and green… cucumber, zucchini, celery, lemon, ginger (It’s so bright and gorgeous! I feel full of life with every sip!)

Prunes
~ Found the most amazing fresh, huge, soft, chewy prunes at Whole Foods (they’re not usually this great when I buy them from there, but this batch… OHH LA LA!)

Raw, unpasteurized Sauerkraut
~ I’m on a sauerkraut kick lately. It’s so nourishing on the body and I love the zest of it. I’ve been doing some extra reading on the food and I’m committed to trying to get a little of this in my diet on a daily basis if possible. I ordered on of those fancy german crocks and will be making it myself soon. Right now I’m eating the kraut from Rejuvenative (and it’s good), but I prefer the kraut from Gold Mine.

1 large avocado, diced
~ Yum… full of vitamins and healthy fats. Love avocado!

Giant kale salad with flax crackers
~ with red bell pepper, carrots, raisins, and hemp seeds

Holiday Chia Pudding
~ I’m hooked on this stuff

On another note, I can’t wait for American Idol tonight!!! And, on yet another note… I’m having another awesome giveaway this week, so be sure and check back!!!

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The Raw Food Diet – Is There A Right Way?!

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I recently saw someone writing into one of the Facebook groups questioning what is the right way with the Raw vegan diet. She was confused because she said there was conflicting information out there and just didn’t know what to believe or which way to go.

My response to this is:
YAY! Rejoice! Hallelujah! This is the beauty of the Raw vegan diet. There are so many options and one size does not have to fit all. It can change by the person. In my humble opinion, this is exciting because it means variety. I love the idea that during one season I can follow some low fat Raw vegan principles and in another season I can nourish my glorious body with avocados, nuts, seeds, and divine Raw vegan desserts. In my life, I have spent time as 100% Raw vegan, and other times (like now) where I’m HRAV (High Raw, All Vegan). I’ve had expanses of time where certain nuts didn’t sit well with me. And, I’ve had other times where I thrived with them in my diet. Sometimes my level of Raw changes as I travel and sometimes I vary it with the changing moon.

I love this flexibility! I love this versatility! I love the options. You can be a sproutarian! You can love the fruitarian way of life! You can hug a life with green smoothies and juices and all things liquid! You can dive into decadence and nourish your body with loads of essential fatty acids and healthy fats from whole nuts, avocado, coconut, etc. You can tango with a natural hygiene approach (much like fruitarian) and eschew things like oils, garlic, and fermented foods. And, of course, if you’re not currently following a Raw vegan diet, you can choose to follow one of the aforementioned plans for a week, here and there, just to add more nourishment to the lifestyle you live now.

Congratulate yourself for taking your health into your own hands and trying this wonderful diet and lifestyle, no matter which path you pursue on the journey with Raw food. Be confident you’re feeding your body wonderful nutrient dense Raw vegan foods whether it’s avocado, hemp seeds, pineapple, kale salad, Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce (chuckling here, those of you who regularly follow my blog know of my addiction to this last month), a plate of gourmet Raw food, or a serving of Holiday Chia Pudding (munch munch… eating this as I write this post). Be excited and happy to know that there are many choices for you. There is no need to stress about it or feel pressed to subscribe to one plan.

You can change it by the month, or the week, if your heart and body desires. It’s all up to you… and you alone. Try on one of the plans for size and see how it fits. Or, heck, don’t subscribe to any of them and just mix it up meal by meal. :)

The bottom line is that you LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BODY! Pay attention to the inner god or goddess inside of you. Follow your intuition. Be patient. Feel excited. Recognize that we are all different… different ages, from different toxic (or non toxic) backgrounds, live in different parts of the world, experience different environmental toxins, have different levels of stress, pursue different levels of physical exercise, etc. What we all have in common is that we can all use some organic, Raw vegan whole foods in our lives no matter where we are on the diet spectrum.

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Go Vegan! & Daily Raw Food Intake

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From Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Life blog: Eat Like You Give A Damn (that’s a picture of my t-shirt with those words – my BFF bought it for my birthday *grin*)…

“At the wee age of 10 years old I was diagnosed with Osteogenic Sarcoma or — in other words — BONE CANCER (gasp!). I endured almost 3 long years of chemo and lost my lower right leg. I’m also a veggie-lovin’ vegan who grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and never even heard the word “vegetarian” until, uh, college? Seriously. There was rarely ever a vegetable cooked in my house that didn’t have a ham hock (aka: pig’s knee) in it! Every meal incorporated meat or dairy (usually both) until my first semester of college where not only did I hear the word “vegetarian” but I became one instantly after reading about the plight of farm animals. It was then that I made some life-changing connections between the meat on my plate and the miserable life of the individual it came from.”
Read more of this great story here.

HBO SPECIAL: Death On A Factory Farm
I’m eager to see this, and while I’m sure it’ll be hard to watch, I feel a responsibility to do so.

My Raw Food Intake Today
I feel extra awesome today, no doubt from all of the kick-ass healthy Raw vegan foods that are nourishing my body! Oh, and by the way, when I post the food intake, my husband is eating the same. Sometimes he gets extra snacks, or a big protein smoothie or two, or larger portions than me… just depends. Either way, I thought you’d like to know how my husband eats, too, for the most part. And, he loves it!

Vibrant Plant Blood (a.k.a. green juice, although this was anything but green)
~ This was so delicious, refreshing, and just what I needed to cleanse and start my day off right. Vibrant Plant Blood included (all organic): 1 large beet, 1 lemon (peeled), 1 head of broccoli (stalk and florets), 1 inch ginger, 4 med-large carrots

Banana Sprouted Flax & Rice Protein Smoothie
~ This combo keeps me fueled, filled, and satiated for a long time. It’s simple and tasty. I get my sprouted flax seed powder here and the sprouted brown rice protein powder here. The recipe was 2 cups cold water, 2 bananas, 1T flax powder, 1 scoop rice protein powder.

Large Kale Salad
~ Ooooh! This was good and fun. I’m keeping the recipe a secret, but only for a short time. I’ll post it later – giving it its own special post!

Carrot Sticks with Cheezy “Brazil Nut” Nacho Sauce
~ Well, I ran out of hemp seeds – bummer! So, I improvised and made the recipe with Brazil nuts (full of selenium). It was very good, but not as addictive as when I make it with hemp seeds. The cool thing is my carrots were bought at the Farmer’s Market this weekend, so they’re organic, locally grown, and Super Qi food. I love that!

Vega Bar (Berry flavored)
~ These are pretty tasty and filled with nutrition. I like having raw and vegan bars on hand for easy snacking or when I’m running out the door.

Kale Salad (large serving) and Spinach Thyme Soup
~ The soup recipe was featured in VegNews magazine, as well as in their most recent email newsletter.

Pomegranate Cheesecake
~ Total sweet heaven. I don’t see how anyone could ever miss cooked desserts when you have something this extraordinary and decadent to enjoy.

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