YUMMY SURPRISE in the Mail!

All right.

I admit. I've been MIA the past week. I know. It's SO SAD! Well, I will explain why probably sometime next week. Not yet--the news is too --private. I'm sure you understand.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about some amazing little presents I recieved in the mail after winning a contest from The Daily Raw Cafe. A beautifully wrapped package and handwritten note from Blackbird Naturals.

Look at the cute wrapped package!

Guess what was inside!

...

Are you guessing?

???

A box of 10 raw vegan Cacao Fudge Truffles!!!

Oh my word. I was SO excited to receive these truffles! And believe me, they were incredible! While the package told me to keep them refrigerated, I went ahead and ate one straight away. So, they ARE better refrigerated, but who has that kind of self control? Certainly not me. 

So anyway, we were so delighted with these. Andrew loved it. I loved it. The package was gone within days. Seriously. We meant to spread them out over time but ... I mean ... they're irresistible. 

BIG thanks to the Daily Raw Cafe for the anniversary giveaway contest that won me these truffles as well as a huge thanks to Blackbird Naturals for the sweet gift.

mmmmmmm!!!

Products for you to BUY! :)

Ok, so here's the scoop. I found these products and they look interesting. If you buy them, I will get a few dolla dolla bills y'all...but seriously, they look really good, or else I wouldn't put them up. If you do check them out, let me know and I will be really interested to find out what you think about them:

10 Kristen Suzannes Easy Raw Recipe EBooks - Vegan.

Click Here! I totally love reading Kristen's blog (and I know you do, too), so I'm sure her e-book is excellent!

RawReform-the Natural Way To Weight Loss.

Click Here!

Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Blueprint.

Click Here!

Getting Started With The Raw Foods Diet.

Click Here!

Eating For Energy - Raw Food Diet For Weight Loss.

Click Here!

Our lunches--almost every day.

Hello!

Greetings!

Cheers!

Welcome!

Etc!

So, I know I promised to blog about my raw apple pie, but I am at work and forgot to upload the pics before I left this morning. As you can guess, I will blog about it instead on Wednesday of next week. So, I would like to share with you what Andrew and I have for lunch most days. Salads. Of course, there are days (like today) where I brought a vegan veggie sandwich on flax seed bread for lunch. But, in general, Andrew and I have tons of salads. You know why? That's right--tons of vitamins and minerals and lots of much-needed nutrients.

But, what KINDS of salads do we have, you ask?

The beautiful kind.

That's right.

This salad you see here looks smaller than it was. We have gigantic salads, generally speaking. This one had romaine, organic garden lettuce (various varieties), bok choy, onions, red cabbage, tomatoes, sesame seeds, broccoli, with a side of carrot sticks. 

Then, I got bored and added raisins and sunflower seeds to it, too!

YUM!

And what, you ask, do we put on our salads?

Sometimes nothing. 

And other times....

This is my Asian Sweet and Sour Sesame dressing with red pepper flakes.

I love love love love love this dressing. I can't get enough. YUM!

So anyway, that is the scoop for now. We love loading our plates with leafy greens and hopefully are getting the vitamins we need. Next month, we will be getting health insurance and, therefore, will be heading to a physician to make sure we are getting everything we need to stay healthy. YAY!

Have a wonderful, wonderful Friday!

Crunchy Salad with Almost Raw Peanut Sauce

So, salads are, in my opinion, the easiest and quickest raw dinners to make....and Andrew and I eat about 9-12 different salads each week. We almost always eat a big salad with a side of fruit and/or veggies for lunch. That might sound really boring to some people, but what I've discovered is that salads can actually be fun and fresh each day due to the random assortments of veggies available and the amazing amount of combinations of salads/veggies/dressings you can make.

This is a salad Andrew and I had a few nights ago for dinner. It's based with fresh romaine and other salad greens from our organic garden -- and SPINACH! From there, I topped it with red onions, red peppers, red cabbage, sun dried tomatoes, and some sesame seeds. This salad was so so so tummy and was full of crunch, which I really love in a salad.

The salad dressing is probably the most fun part about salads because there is just no end to the tastes you can create (good AND bad).

This is my ALMOST raw peanut sauce. The reason it is almost raw is because I used whole peanuts (unshelled, of course) for the sauce which aren't technically considered raw. It is made with lemon juice, red pepper flakes, honey, ginger, garlic, and water. I used this recipe for the basic idea.

MMM!

MSG in Your Food!

In this article from Natural News, writer Allison Bigger reports that MSG is indeed found in most processed foods, Chinese food, salty snacks, and other types of food. 

I could be wrong, but I thought this was outlawed? Nope, I WAS wrong. It's NOT banned. The Mayo Clinic's registered dietician Katherine Zeratsky says that symptoms of MSG in our systems are: 

•               Headache

•               Flushing

•               Sweating

•               Facial pressure or tightness

•               Numbness, tingling or burning in face, neck and other areas

•               Rapid, fluttering heartbeats (heart palpitations)

•               Chest pain

•               Nausea

•               Weakness

Wow! It is no wonder people who eat highly processed foods (most of us in America) feel these types of physical effects after eating out at restaurants or eating canned vegetables and soups. Zeratsky claims that there is not much evidence that MSG is the direct cause of these symptoms (I would like to know who has funded those studies) but that researchers are now recognizing a short-term link between MSG and adverse affects. That wasn’t too much of a stretch for me.

Of course, this Natural News article seems particularly biased. The main references are Wikipedia and GoVeg.com. Hmm…

The Journal of Head and Face Pain printed an article titled “MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Induced Headache: Review and Case Studies.” The abstract of this journal article may surprise you: “Monosodium glutamate (MSG), an established headache trigger, has become far more prevalent in canned, packaged and prepared foods over the past decade. The presence of MSG in food may be difficult to detect since the terms ‘natural flavor,’ ‘flavoring,’ or ‘hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP),’ all may appear on food labels to refer to MSG, according to current FDA food labeling code. HVP typically contains 10–30% MSG.”  

Maybe you aren’t surprised by that, but I certainly am. It makes me surer of my raw food (or at least whole, clean, vegan) diet than ever before. Now, don’t forget, I am coming from a strong Standard American Diet background—I still like to go out to eat and I still have serious cravings for less nutritional and whole foods, such as delivery pizza and Chinese food. But knowing what really is lurking within my forkfuls  (“natural flavor” anyone?) helps me keep those cravings at bay!

There are studies, such as one conducted by Ronald Walker and John Lupien at the University of Surrey that seems to dismiss any negative side affects associated with MSG: “Conventional toxicity studies using dietary administration of MSG in several species did not reveal any specific toxic or carcinogenic effects nor were there any adverse outcomes in reproduction and teratology studies…The conclusions of a subsequent review by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) did not discount the existence of a sensitive subpopulation but otherwise concurred with the safety evaluation of JECFA and the SCF.”

So who am I to totally dismiss studies such as these? Well, all I know is that it is a chemical. Whether safe or not, I say, “No thank you, Mr. MSG!”

Can I go visit my organic garden now? 

Corn and Red Pepper Chowder

A week or so ago, I attempted my first ever raw soup. I used Ani Phyo's recipe for sweet corn chowder from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, but wanted to add a little kick to it. I'm not sure if I made the original right or not, but I decided to add red pepper and extra seasonings (cayenne anyone??).

Now that I think about it, it would have looked nice to sprinkle it with cayenne!

Anyway, the soup was awesome. I wish I could tell you the amounts of whatever I used but I just kept throwing stuff in until I was happy with the final product. That's one of my favorite things about eating raw--being able to make and remake and change and undo and redo what you've done. It's great. Because everything is so fresh and not altered, you can just do whatever you want! So that's what I did and this is what I got. I called it "Corn and Red Pepper Chowder."

Have any of you made raw soups? What is your favorite soup??

(we had "ITS HOT" side salads with our soup)

My New Favorite Raw Blog!

I am SO excited I found this blog and I am SO excited to share it with everyone I know!

Introducing...

drum roll please

  The Happy Raw Kitchen!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog. I know I say that about a lot of stuff, but seriously.. this blog is the bomb. Angela, the owner of the blog, makes delicious recipes and has one of the most beautifully creative minds I've ever seen! She even has the most beautiful pantry I've ever seen! I mean, come on, when you can say THAT about someone, you better believe their blog is going to rock. Who even thinks about what someone's pantry looks like? That's right..someone who has seen an inspiring pantry, that's who!

And...she's funny. Who doesn't like a funny blog?

And...she takes incredible food pictures of her food! Check out this pic from her blog:

Yep...there's that pantry again. But look at how pretty it is! Ah! My heart swelled as I checked out her blog. I'm definitely going to be getting some pretty jars to keep my seeds, nuts, and grains in now. Oh yeah, you better believe it!

Anyway, go to her blog because she has an awesome contest going on right now. And no, that isn't why I posted this post. I really do actually love this blog.

I'll close this post with another picture from The Happy Raw Kitchen. Cheers!

and another? :D

5k-my new goal!

Well, I received a magazine in the mail a week or so ago and just happened to be flipping through it when I found 3 training schedules. One for a 5k in 6 weeks, a 10k in 12 weeks, and a half marathon in 18 weeks! So, I e-mailed Andrew and went searching the internet for a local 5k that will take place 6 weeks from now. I found one! Awesome.

This is a picture from the first and only 5k I've done. I couldn't run the whole way.

We are going to try to train up and get ready for this awesome run. It benefits our local YMCA (Andrew used to work there and so did my sister-in-law and her husband!) and this shoe drive called Soles for Souls. We're super excited. My only goal for this first 5k is to be able to run the entire thing in less than 30 minutes. Cross your fingers!


I wasn't sure what types of food raw people need to eat so I looked up some articles and came across this one which looks really helpful.

It says to eat almonds for vitamin E, oranges for vitamin C, black beans, salad greens, bell peppers, bok choy, and onions for antioxidants, and berries. There were a lot of non-raw options like chicken and eggs, but what they said for raw foods it seems like I get plenty of them! Yay! That makes me feel good!

Another article says berries, bananas, and broccoli are excellent for runners!

Basically, it looks like Andrew and I eat good running foods all day long. I'm surprised I can't run farther than I currently can! Well, don't worry folks, we will be running 3.1 miles on July 10th here in our hometown. We are looking at other nearby cities to see if maybe we could enter a few 5ks! That would be fun.

I'll let you know about our progress! Today is our first day of training (and its going to be HOT and HUMID outside! eep!)

Enjoy your day!

Strawberry/Coconut/Carob Fudge Cake

So, I made another cake!!! YUM!!!! IT was so so so so so good. 5 RAWS. A MILLIZONZILION RAWS!!! I love love love love love this cake. Ok, so, I used Ani Phyo's chocolate cake recipe and added a middle layer of strawberries and coconut.

The inside "cake" part is made with walnuts, carob powder, and about a cup of dates (I soaked them to make them stick together better). The dates give everything the soft, moist taste. It looks like this:

I mashed it together to make two circles for layers, then put the strawberry/coconut layer in with some icing. Oh, the icing is made out of avocados, a few more dates, agave syrup, and MORE CAROB! Mmm chocolatey.

The first time I made this cake, I did a horrible job at getting the "batter" to stick together. For some reason, the cake crumbled everywhere! That's why I added a tad bit of water to the mix this time. It worked like a dream. Like a DREAM I tell you!

Yeah, look at it. Its....incredibly tasty. Ani Phyo might be a genius -- this cake is so easy and it took me about 20 or 25 minutes to COMPLETELY make it. She has a few more books out and it looks like I might just HAVE to buy them! 

By the way, Andrew and I cooked a couple times this week and can I just tell you the cleanup is AWFUL!? I thought cleaning out my food processor sucked when I made something with olive oil, but I totally forgot how annoying it is to clean pans! Anyway, we have GREAT pans from my in-laws, so its nice to use them here and there! 

But seriously, this CAKE!!!! YUMMMM!!! It was the "treat" I picked for the week. Next week I'm looking at making a raw blueberry cream pie, which sounds DELICIOUS. I just can't stop thinking about it, even though its not chocolate. We'll see! 

Foods High in Protein

So, Protein. Pregnant women need it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a pregnant woman should get 10 extra grams of protein while they are pregnant. That's approximately 60 grams of protein! So, for all you raw soon-to-be mommies or those of you who are just interested in which raw foods have the most protein, here is a chart from The Fat Free Kitchen!  You can rest assured that while this table is not a RAW table, and it talks about cooking the veggies, you can eat the foods raw and enjoy even more protein that hasn't been destroyed during cooking. Just don't overdo it, because excess protein can harm your body! Anyway, Enjoy!

Description	Weight (g)	Measure	Content per Measure (g)
Alfalfa seeds, sprouted, raw	33	1 cup	1.32
Artichokes, (globe or French), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	120	1 medium	4.18
Asparagus, canned, drained solids	72	4 spears	1.54
Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained	60	4 spears	1.55
Asparagus, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	5.31
Avocados, raw, California	28.35	1 oz	0.60
Avocados, raw, Florida	28.35	1 oz	0.45
Beans, baked, canned, plain or vegetarian	254	1 cup	12.17
Beans, baked, canned, with franks	259	1 cup	17.48
Beans, baked, canned, with pork and sweet sauce	253	1 cup	13.43
Beans, baked, canned, with pork and tomato sauce	253	1 cup	13.05
Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	172	1 cup	15.24
Beans, Cowpeas (Blackeyes), immature seeds,  boiled, without salt	165	1 cup	5.23
Beans, Cowpeas (blackeyes), immature seeds, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	170	1 cup	14.43
Beans, Cowpeas, common (blackeyes, crowder, southern), mature seeds,	172	1 cup	13.30
Beans, great northern, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	177	1 cup	14.74
Beans, Kidney beans, red, mature seeds, canned	256	1 cup	13.44
Beans, Kidney beans, red, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	177	1 cup	15.35
Beans, Lima beans, large, mature seeds, canned	241	1 cup	11.88
Beans, Lima beans, large, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	188	1 cup	14.66
Beans, Mung beans, mature seeds, sprouted, cooked, boiled,  without salt	124	1 cup	2.52
Beans, Mung beans, mature seeds, sprouted, raw	104	1 cup	3.16
Beans, Navy beans, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	182	1 cup	15.83
Beans, Pinto beans, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	171	1 cup	14.04
Soybeans, mature cooked, boiled, without salt	180	1 cup	22.23
Soybeans, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	172	1 cup	28.62
Beans, Snap beans, green, canned, regular pack, drained solids	135	1 cup	1.55
Beans, Snap beans, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	125	1 cup	2.36
Beans, White beans, mature seeds, canned	262	1 cup	19.02
Beet greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	144	1 cup	3.70
Beets, canned, drained solids	170	1 cup	1.55
Broccoli, raw	88	1 cup	2.62
Broccoli, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	4.65
Beets, cooked, boiled, drained	170	1 cup	2.86
Beets, cooked, boiled, drained	50	1 beet	0.84
Cabbage, Chinese (pak-choi), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	170	1 cup	2.65
Cabbage, Chinese (pe-tsai), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	119	1 cup	1.79
Cabbage, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	150	1 cup	1.53
Cabbage, raw	70	1 cup	1.01
Cabbage, red, raw	70	1 cup	0.97
Cabbage, Savoy, raw	70	1 cup	1.40
Carrots, baby, raw	10	1 medium	0.08
Carrots, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	1.70
Carrots, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	146	1 cup	1.74
Carrots, raw	110	1 cup	1.13
Cauliflower, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	124	1 cup	2.28
Cauliflower, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	2.90
Cauliflower, raw	100	1 cup	1.98
Celery, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	150	1 cup	1.25
Celery, raw	120	1 cup	0.90
Corn, sweet, white, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	77	1 ear	2.56
Corn, sweet, yellow, canned, cream style, regular pack	256	1 cup	4.45
Corn, sweet, yellow, canned, vacuum pack, regular pack	210	1 cup	5.06
Corn, sweet, yellow, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	77	1 ear	2.56
Corn, sweet, yellow, frozen, kernels cut off cob, boiled, drained, without salt	164	1 cup	4.51
Corn, sweet, yellow, frozen, kernels on cob, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	63	1 ear	1.96
Cucumber, peeled, raw	119	1 cup	0.68
Cucumber, with peel, raw	104	1 cup	0.72
Dandelion greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	105	1 cup	2.10
Endive, raw	50	1 cup	0.63
Garlic, raw	3	1 clove	0.19
Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	198	1 cup	17.86
Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw	56	1 cup	0.91
Lettuce, iceberg (includes crisphead types), raw	55	1 cup	0.56
Lettuce, looseleaf, raw	56	1 cup	0.73
Mushrooms, canned, drained solids	156	1 cup	2.92
Mushrooms, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	3.39
Mushrooms, raw	70	1 cup	2.03
Mushrooms, shiitake, cooked, without salt	145	1 cup	2.26
Mushrooms, shiitake, dried	3.6	1 mushroom	0.34
Mustard greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	140	1 cup	3.16
Okra, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	2.99
Okra, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	184	1 cup	3.83
Olives, ripe, canned (small-extra large)	22	5 large	0.18
Onions, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	210	1 cup	2.86
Onions, dehydrated flakes	5	1 tbsp	0.45
Onions, raw	110	1 whole	1.28
Onions, spring or scallions (includes tops and bulb), raw	100	1 cup	1.83
Parsley, raw	10	10 sprigs	0.30
Parsnips, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	2.06
Peas, edible-podded, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	5.23
Peas, edible-podded, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	5.60
Peas, green, canned, regular pack, drained solids	170	1 cup	7.51
Peas, green, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	8.24
Peas, split, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	196	1 cup	16.35
Peppers, hot chili, green, raw	45	1 pepper	0.90
Peppers, hot chili, red, raw	45	1 pepper	0.90
Peppers, sweet, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	136	1 cup	1.25
Peppers, sweet, green, raw	149	1 cup	1.33
Peppers, sweet, green, raw	119	1 pepper	1.06
Peppers, sweet, red, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	136	1 cup	1.25
Peppers, sweet, red, raw	119	1 pepper	1.06
Potato pancakes, home-prepared	76	1 pancake	4.68
Potato, baked, flesh and skin, without salt	202	1 potato	5.05
Potatoes, baked, flesh, without salt	156	1 potato	3.06
Potatoes, boiled, cooked in skin, flesh, without salt	136	1 potato	2.54
Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without salt	135	1 potato	2.31
Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without salt	156	1 cup	2.67
Potatoes, hashed brown, home-prepared	156	1 cup	3.78
Pumpkin, canned, without salt	245	1 cup	2.70
Pumpkin, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	245	1 cup	1.76
Radishes, raw	4.5	1 radish	0.03
Spinach, canned, drained solids	214	1 cup	6.01
Spinach, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	5.35
Spinach, frozen, chopped or leaf, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	190	1 cup	5.97
Spinach, raw	30	1 cup	0.86
Squash, summer, all varieties, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	1.64
Squash, summer, all varieties, raw	113	1 cup	1.33
Squash, winter, all varieties, cooked, baked, without salt	205	1 cup	1.82
Squash, winter, butternut, frozen, cooked, boiled, without salt	240	1 cup	2.95
Sweet potato, canned, syrup pack, drained solids	196	1 cup	2.51
Sweet potato, canned, vacuum pack	255	1 cup	4.21
Sweet potato, cooked, baked in skin, without salt	146	1 potato	2.51
Sweet potato, cooked, boiled, without skin, without salt	156	1 potato	2.57
Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, stewed	255	1 cup	2.42
Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, whole, regular pack	240	1 cup	2.21
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	180	1 cup	1.53
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	17	1 cherry tomato	0.14
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	123	1 tomato	1.05
Tomatoes, sun-dried	2	1 piece	0.28
Tomatoes, sun-dried, packed in oil, drained	3	1 piece	0.15
Watermelon, raw	286	1 wedge	1.77