FOOD!Mmmm, here are some yummy food pics from the past few days. Sorry I don't have time to post much else.
This was my breakfast on Saturday, pancake with jam and cream... delicious? Doesn't look raw vegan, does it? Click
here for my recipe (yup, I made this one up, although with a little inspiration found
here).
Here is dinner from saturday, which is Juliano's
Meatloaf (although I would prefer it to be called UnMeatloaf, or maybe just Walnut Almond Log - who wants to associate their dinner with dead animals?) It was tasty although not quite up to the level of Juliano's other recipes. Maybe because I didn't baste it in his
Barbeque Sauce after 2 hours of dehydrating, as suggested? Still good though.
I didn't eat the whole thing - here is what I had, with some
Stuffing (another Juliano, very tasty)> The leftovers joined me at uni on Monday for lunch.
This is soup I had for dinner last night (which I have every Wednesday). The recipe will be appearing on my other blog shortly...
It is totally delicious but more than that I think I just love the colour!! Isn't beetroot (beets, for the Americans) just amazing for giving a dish colour?
 | A Veg*n Meme
What wonderful foods did you bring home from the grocery store? |
| Midweek Munchies: What Freedom is contributing for the week
WOW Munchies were expensive last week. I totally over-spent on the budget mum gives me for food, but I'm trying to rationalise it because I bought a few things that will last for a while, like macadamias, ground flax and spelt. But still, very costly. Probably something to do with all the $$ signs (they're for organic!)Sorry it's taken me so long to post this, I'm so behind. I've got some yummy food pics but you'll have to wait!
$almonds$
$apples (fuji, sundowner, lady william, pink lady)$
avocado
$avocado$
$bananas$
basil
$buckwheat$
$carrots$
coconut
corn
$currants$
$dried figs$
dukkah spice blend
$garlic$
ground flax seeds
$kiwi fruit$
$macadamias$
$mushroom$
$onion$
oranges
$oranges$
$paw paw$
$pears$
$pecans$
$raisins$
$spelt grains$
spring onions
strawberries
$sultanas$
sun dried tomatoes
$sun-glazed figs$
$tomatoes$
I feel like I've missed something...not sure what. This is what happens when you buy so much!
Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments) |
Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog
Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies
A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.
PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!
Food glorious FoodSorry it's been a few days, I'm so slack :-)
I read somewhere the other day that in most people's view it would be impossible to be a raw vegan because no normal person has enough time to spen on preparing the food, and I found this hilarious so the first part of this post is devoted to blowing that myth out of the water. Personally, I think it's pretty obvious, I mean, think about it - I eat fruits, vegetables, nuts and sprouted seeds and grains. To make a salad I have to chop, maybe grab the food processor and whiz up a few things for a dressing. For a snack I grab a few pieces of fruit and bite them... what could be quicker? Think of someone eating a 'normal' diet - you can't eat meat without cooking it for at least 10 or 15 minutes. Even if you snack on garbage like chips or cake you've got to open the chip packet or bake the cake ahead of time. Even for vegans although tofu can be eaten raw, I don't think there's many of you out there who particularly like cubes of raw tofu - it has to be marinated at least, then probably fried/grilled/baked. Sprouting seeds and grains takes time in that they have to sit for a few days but it isn't exactly a labour-intensive process.
I know I'm being overly simple here because I don't live on just plain individual fruits and veggies, although I am eating more and more of them. I spend time every night preparing dinner but then I did that before I was raw - now I just don't have to turn the stove on. Of course if I want something a little more 'gourmet' it takes longer and I might have to make it ahead of time so it can dehydrate but again, preparing a fancy cooked dish doesn't happen in seconds either.
Just in case anyone is thinking that maybe I'm someone who is currently unemployed or spnds loads of time at home and therefore has a slightly warped idea of time in the 'real' world I'm going to point out that I am a full time university student studying Veterinary Science (and doing pretty darn well too) so I do NOT have hours and hours to spare each day. The fact is that I adore being in the kitchen and it is one of the most relaxing activities I can undertake.
I am now moving on to giving you an example of something I might take to uni to eat for lunch/snack.
In this picture we have:
-guacamole (In the biggest round container)
-celery, zucchini, sweet potato sticks and cauliflower florets for dipping (in the snap-lock bag)
-1 pink lady apple
-2 mandarins
-1 banana
-unhulled tahini (in one of the small round containers)
-raisins (in the other small round container)
The guac, dippy veggies and apple are lunch. The mandarins are snack and the rest is for my current favourite treat. Should I tell you how to make it? Okay, I will. First, peel your banana then slice it in half so you have two short pieces, then slice each of these in half
lenghtwise so you're left with four longish pieces that are flat on one side and round on the other. Spread 1/2 to 1 tsp tahini on the flat side of two of the pieces, place raisins in tahini then sandwich the other pieces of banana on top and eat like a sandwich, being careful of all the tahini oozing out! This is heaven. Perhaps I ought to take a picture to make more sense? :-) (By the way, it's also great minus the raisins).
Packed and ready to go.Okay, just quickly here are some other things I've been eating lately:
Tahini and Mushroom Sarnies (from Shazzie's 'Detox Delights'). Oh. My. Goodness. YUMMMM! I can't wait to have this again... so simple but soooo good. And yes, that is a baby picture of my in the background... I coulnd't be bothered cropping the pic.
This is a dip I made yesterday. I started off measuring the ingredients but then just kept adding them so I've really got no idea, but it tasted great. I softened two slices of eggplant in the dehydrator for about 1 1/2 hours then spread this between them and it was great. I love raw eggplant - I don't find it bitter at all.
Okay last of all, if you haven't checked out the latest recipe at my recipe blog I suggest you do it
now by clicking
here or
here. You won't regret it!
Have a rawsome day!
Raw Picnic #2Well, Sunday was my second raw picnic and I had a great time. Unfortunately, it was even more 'intimate' than the last one, with only three people (and Spirit my little ratty :-) in attendance. One was Rachan, who I met at the last picnic, and the other was Kathy, who is new to raw and still transitioning. Normally I'm pretty reserved/shy around new people but Kathy is great and we got on like a house on fire (sorry to use such an old-person sounding saying. What's happening to me?!) The three of us chatted merrily for about two hours while making total raw pigs of ourselves, then Rachan went home and Kathy and I kept talking for at least another hour. We were just totally on the same wavelength and I felt really comfortable with her - I can't wait till next month's picnic so we can catch up again (she lives miles from me, so getting together between times isn't really an option).
Anyway, onto what you really want to see... the FOOD! YUM! Rachan bought two salads, one with carrots and spring onions in a heavenly dressing that contained avocado and ginger, among other things, and the other one with chives, tomatoes and red onion in a similar dressing. Oh, and he also gave Kathy and I loads of delicious home grown mandarins, yumm! Kathy did very well, especially as a new raw foodie, bringing a great walnut/red capsicum (and lots of other things) dip, a big bottle of 'chocolate' almond milk (a bit rich for me, as I was never a chocolate lover, but still tasty) and also a bag of goji berries to share. (You can go
here to read about the amazing goji). She can't decide whether she likes the gojis and since she bought lots, I got some sent home with me, yay!
Finally, I bought a raw pumpkin pie, the recipe for which I found at Raw Pleasure (see sidebar for the link) and which was very well received. I also think it looks pretty impressive! To suggest just how piggish we all were, we at the whole pie between us, on top of everything else... I had very little breakfast and no dinner on Sunday! :-) The recipe for the pie is posted below, with my adaptations in brackets. I also only made half the recipe and it MORE than served three people!
Hope everyone is having a great day! Oh, and check out my recipe blog for the raw cookie recipe that I mentioned a while back - it's super yumm!
Pumpkin Pie
2 avocados, peeled and seeded
1/2 cup (120 ml) raw agave
(replace with more dates)4 dates soaked in 1 cup (240 ml) filtered water
2 teaspoons vanilla
(left out altogether)1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
(more, but not sure how much)1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup (240 ml) raw macadamia nuts
(half and half macadamias and cashews)
4 cups (960 ml) raw pumpkin, peeled
1 teaspoon ground psyllium husks
(Ground flax seeds)1 cup (240 ml) organic raisins
1/2 cup (120 ml) pumpkin seeds
1 Agave Nut and Date Pie Crust (recipe follows)
Advance Preparation:
Wash pumpkin seeds. Soak for 8 hours and drain. Dehydrate for 6 to 8 hours at 95°F (35 °C)
(Didn't bother with this).Soak macadamia nuts for 8 hours and drain.
Pie Preparation
Place avocado, agave, dates with soak water, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, macadamias, and water into blender and blend until smooth.
Add pumpkin and blend until very smooth.
Add psyllium and blend well. Let this mixture sit for 10 minutes and blend well again.
Fold in raisins.
Pour into piecrust and top with 1/2 cup (120 ml) pumpkin seeds. Serves 4.
Absolutely STUNNING pie Crust!
1 cup (240 ml) almonds (dry)
1 cup (240 ml) pecans (dry)
1 cup (240 ml) walnuts (dry)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup (240 ml) medjool dates, pitted
1 vanilla bean (chopped up small)
(left out)1/4 cup (60 ml) raw agave
(replace with more dates)Advance Preparation:
Soak almonds, pecans, and walnuts separately for 12 hours.
Drain, and dehydrate for 12 hours
Pie Crust
Place almonds in food processor with "S" blade and process until mixture resembles flour.
Add salt and vanilla to almonds and process well.
Add pecans, walnuts and dates to processor and process.
Add agave to the nut and date mixture and process just until mixed well.
Press mixture by hand into an 8 to 10-inch (20 to 25 cm) glass pie pan. Makes 1 pie crust.
Note: Crust may be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen.
Definately freeze - I froze mine overnight then filled in the morning, turned out great).
Yummy food Pictures!Okay, here's a very quick post to show you what I made today... lunch was the first recipe I tried from my new recipes book, Shazzie's
Detox Delights called
Warm Feeling Inside Salad. I was having real trouble deciding what I wanted for lunch today but I finally settled on this because it was wet and windy so the 'warm' part especially appealed to me. I changed it a bit - omitting the macadamias and using spinach instead of watercress, plus a few other things, but it was delicious. Definite success for my first recipe from the book.
For dinner I had
RAW Spring Rolls, yet another recipe from Juliano's book. These (well, this, as I made one big one) were altered a lot too but TOTALLY AMAZING (as usual - Juliano's recipes always rock!) Alongside is a bowl of
Sweet and Sour Sauce which I liked in small amounts on the Spring Roll but had a very strong flavour. Sorry this isn't a very good picture, the lighting in our house is not good for photography!
Last of all we have a non-food picture - this is my darling kitty cat Asante Sana (Sana for short) who got right in the way while I was trying to take a photo of my salad. She is such a sweetie pie! And she always tries to eat my food - the other day my nori roll was on the floor (on a plate :-) while I got the camera and she actually started taking a bite! How rude! But adorable - if I could afford it, I'd MUCH rather feed her living ocean food than salmon cat food. Yuck.
Have a great day everyone!
| | A Veg*n Meme
What wonderful foods did you bring home from the grocery store? |
| Midweek Munchies: What Freedom is contributing for the week
Hello! I had a lovely shopping day yesterday, until the point at which I was transporting about 4kg of food in my little mini-suitcase with wheels and one of the wheels fell off. This was not only extremely annoying at the time, but very unfortunate because this is also the bag that I use for taking my books, pens, lab coat etc to university each day. But all is good! The world smiles on me each day and I guess I'll just find one of my old bags to use. Now here are my contributions to End-of-Week Munchies... I have plans for lots of yummy recipes next week because I have a non-teaching break from uni so I have some extra time to create:
$apples (oh I bought so many... pink lady, lady william, red delicious, granny smith... how I love apples!)$
$avocado$
avocado
$bananas$
brazil nuts
$broccoli$
$capsicum$
capsicum
cashews
$chickpeas$
$corn$
dates
dried figs (loving these at the moment!)
field mushroom
$fennel$
$kale$
$mandarin$
$medjool dates$
mustard seeds
$oat groats$
$onion$
$oranges$
oranges
$parsley$
$pears$
$pecans$
$pumpkin$
$raisins$
$sweet paprika (fresh)$
$unhulled tahini (I think this was organic... not certain)$
Oh I forgot! Huge excitement... I'm going to my second raw picnic tomorrow! YAY! So here are the things I bought just for that. Wait till tomorrow and you can find out what I'm making...
almonds
avocado
dates
pumpkin
walnuts
Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments) |
Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog
Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies
A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.
PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!
AAAAHHHH!Okay this is a super quick (and unfortnuately food-porn free) post to say that something VERY exciting happened... my copy of
Shazzie's Detox Delights cam in the post! For the first time in my life I purchased a brand new recipe book and I am so excited! With postage from the UK it cost me $25 (Australian), which was just within the amount I could bring myself to spend. I actually paid for it by selling some of my old Bratz dolls to my parents to give to the daughter of their friends who is turning 7 soon (did that make sense?)
Anyway, I have to leave for uni soon so I can't tell you more now - here is a pic of one of the recipes in the book and you can go
here to read more about it.
Have a rawsome day!
Edit: Okay, can't get picture right now, will try again later if there's time!
My Month of RawWell, I promised I'd tell you how my first month of raw vegan living has been and so here we go.
I haven't noticed that many physical changes - my skin hasn't started clearing up yet as I had hoped it would, but then I'm a teenager and pimples (unfortunately) come with the territory. There is some more bounce in my hair, which is great because I LOVE my hair - it is far and away my favourite part of my body and I have not had it cut more than trims since I was 7. Also, my fingernails seem a little stronger and are now curved rather than lying flat. And, (you probably don't want to know this!) my bowel movements are now much more regular - I have learnt that going every two days or so is actually constipation and you should go 2 or 3 times a day, optimally. Finally, although I think I'm gaining weight (on to that in a minute) I no longer feel really bloated after every single meal like I used to. Oh and I actually feel hungry now, despite the fact that I'm eating more.
Now, onto the mental changes. I will start with my weight - you may be asking why this comes under mental not physical and the answer is that the reason I only weighed about 32kg (I believe that is around 76 pounds) is a purely mental one and it is my mental changes that have allowed me to start gaining weight. I feel so impossibly incredibly amazingly RAWSOME that I can't put it into words. I have been suffering depression since age 14 and anorexia since 15 and although there have been some periods that have been much worse than others (eg being suicidal, cutting myself) and I thought I was pretty much better before going raw, I know now that there is a whole other world out there! I still have a long way to go but I am so far down this happy path after only a month that I never plan on going back. YAy for life!
Now that the rather more seious things are aside, lets look at what I had for dinner last night (cos I know that's all you really come here for :-).
Another spectacular sucess from Juliano's book! This is a
Phenomenal Falafel Burrito 9altered somewhat) which consists of:
a red cabbage leaf (the burrito)
2
Falafel Patties (another recipe in the book, also altered)
chopped cucumber
chunks of tomato (supposed to be halved cherry tomatoes but I didn't have any)
a big smearing of hommus (there are two recipes in the book but I prefer my olive-oil free version which you can find at my other blog)
a chopped spring onion
I think that's it - Juliano suggests lots of other toppings but I was very happy with this how it was. I made one third of the falafel recipe and got three falafels so i now have one left over that can join me at uni for lunch one day this week, yay! As my mum said, the burrito was very 'cute' and it tasted great. I had no idea raw cabbage was so nice! Plus it was really easy to eat - I've never had a 'real' burrito pre-raw but I have had tacos and everything falls all over the place, whereas with this it was wrapped up nicely and made the trip from mouth to plate without spilling everywhere!
I have to go and study and clean out the cage of Spirit the beautiful rat (I might post a pic of her in the coming days!) so I will say goodbye, thanks for stopping over and I hope everyone has an outstanding day!
| | A Veg*n Meme
What wonderful foods did you bring home from the grocery store? |
| Midweek Munchies: What Freedom is contributing for the week
I have been 100% raw for one month today! YAY! I feel incredible... tomorrow when I have more time I will post some of the many changes I have noticed since making this amazing alteration to my lifestyle, but for now here is my beautiful shopping list. Not a single thing in a packet, and soooo much fruit. Yum!
$almonds$
$apples (lady william)$
$apples (pink lady)$
$apples (red delicious)$
$avocado$
$bananas$
brazil nuts
$capsicum$
$carrots$
cherimoya
coconut
$dried apricots$
dried figs
$lettuce$
$mandarins$
$medjool dates$
$onion$
$oranges$
raisins
red cabbage
$spirulina$
spring onions
$sweet corn$
$sweet potato$
$tomatoes$
$zucchini$
Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments) |
Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog
Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies
A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.
PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!
Another meal catch up, but much shorter!I have only about 25 minutes until I have to leave for university but I'm going to quickly show everyone two things I've eaten recently. On Tuesdays I finish uni at 10.30am (hardly seems worth spending over an hour travelling for a 50 minute lecture but I just can't bring myself to skip one) so I get to eat lunch at home. This means it can be a tad more elaborate. So anyway, yesterday I had a nori roll for lunch.
When I make sushi once a week for dinner I cut my nori into sushi-sized pieces with scissors, and use just short of two full nori sheets, so I have some left over. This makes for perfect lunch pieces! I stuffed avocado, carrot, finely chopped basil, spring onion and some other things I can't remember into the nori roll and then surrounded it with sprouted chickpeas (YUM), corn sliced from the cob and some more avocado chunks (really nice avocado!)
Second we have some dehydrator cookies that I created which are AMAZING!! Serioualy, these are out of this world. I will be posting the recipe on my recipe blog soon, so check it. For now you can enjoy the picture of them still on the dehydrator tray!
Have a great day everyone!
Lots and Lots of Food!Okay, I'm going to play catch up on some things I've eaten recently so settle in for some yummy viewing. First up, we have lunch from last sunday - a beautiful fruit salad, served in half a coconut shell! Isn't it the most beautiful presentation? And it tasted as good as it looked.
Then we have Sunday night's dinner, which is truly raw sushi - there's a bit of a story behind this. If you're a vegan and you love your sushi, prepare to be upset because I was when I learnt that virtually all of the nori that is commercially available is supplied by two major companies in Japan, both of which make no effort to only harvest seaweed when they're making their nori. In other words, lots of fish (not to mention thousands of other tiny sea creatures) are scooped up in nets and then ground up with the seaweed to make nori sheets! Isn't that horrible? But the wonderful people at
Raw Pleasure, my new favourite website, have just started stocking nori which is not only raw (normal nori is roasted) but is also guaranteed fish-free. Anyway, the nori is delicious and so was the sushi - I made two different fillings, both from Juliano (of course), one was
Avo Micro-Organism and the other was
Cream Sushi.
This is Kale Salad - if you remember back to when I went to my first raw picnic (read about it
here)
my naturopath Jen bought a kale salad from one of Alisa Cohen's books and I loved it so I decided to recreate it. I was very happy with the result but didn't measure anything so next time I make it I will, and I'll post it on my other blog.
Here you see my own raw hommus and if you like the look of it, check out the recipe here:
Freedom's Raw Hommus I had this for lunch today with carrot, celery and sweet potato sticks for dipping. My Dad tried some and said it was very nice, refusing to believe it was raw!
Finally is tonight's dinner (I only finished it about an hour ago!) which is a raw Mezze Plate inspired by a few recipes, one of which can be found at
What the hell does a Vegan eat anyway (to see it, scroll down till you get to July 19)> The recipes is called Chile Rellenos and I thought it was going to be delicious - the stuffing was, when I tasted it before putting it in my teeny tiny capsicums, and it smelt great all day, but then it just wasn't that great :-( Oh well, can't all be perfect. I also made a nut pate myself, I'll post that recipe on the other blog at some point, which was really yummy (dad agreed again :-) It was on dehydrated eggplant rounds, slices of cucumber and sweet potato.
Phew, I have to go study before bed! Hope you enjoyed all my food as much as I did.
| | A Veg*n Meme
What wonderful foods did you bring home from the grocery store? |
| Midweek Munchies: What Freedom is contributing for the week
Well here I am, returning from my study-enforced absence with End-of-Week Munchies and it's a good one this week - lots of yummy stuff but a bit cheaper than the last few. My bills have gone up a bit since going raw - don't let this put you off if you're thinking about it though, as they don't need to. Mine have for two main reasons-
1) I am choosing to buy as much organic as possible, although I do sometimes choose conventional based on price
2) I am eating a lot more nuts than you really need on a raw diet because of my desperate need to gain weight. Fruit and veg is generally cheaper, although having said that my beautiful apples were by far the biggest expense.
Anyway, here's the list and, as always, $ means organic :-)
$almonds$
$apples (fuji)$
$apples (pink lady)$
$avocados$
baby spinach
$bananas$
basil
$broccoli$
cashews
cherimoya
coconut
$coconut date treats$
corn
dried figs
golden kiwi fruit
$kale$
$medjool dates$
$oranges$
$parsley$
$pepitas$
pine nuts
$pumpkin$
rockmelon
strawberries
$sultanas$
sun dried tomatoes
$sunflower seeds$
$tomatoes$
walnuts
Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments) |
Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog
Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies
A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.
PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!
