Raw Vegan Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

I came up with this recipe yesterday, and I was quite happy with it. It's simple and, paired with Gena's awesome massaged kale salad, it makes a really nice filling lunch. Give it a try! :)

Raw vegan stuffed red bell peppers:

-1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut in half
-1 avocado, diced
-6 Tbsp taco "meat" (see previous post for the recipe)
-1 green onion, finely chopped
-salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste

Now you have two options: You can mix up the avocado, taco meat, and green onion, and stuff it into the bell pepper. Or you can assemble it in layers (one layer of avocado, one layer of taco meat, etc.) It's up to you!

This is a great recipe to experiment with. I'm sure there are many other yummy fillings you can stuff into the bell pepper, so have fun playing around with it! :)

Raw Vegan Tacos/Taco pizza!

Ok, I'll admit it: I am MAJORLY excited about this post! I have been craving so many forbidden foods during the last few weeks. It's been driving me bananas (pun intended), and sometimes I'm not sure if I can handle the intense cravings. The other day, pizza was the big craving for me. I was determined not to eat conventional pizza, since it is definitely NOT raw or vegan, so I decided to come up with my own raw vegan version. After a little experimenting, I came up with this AMAZING recipe. And it's sitting in my tummy right now. It makes me very happy. :)

The amazingly easy and delicious RAW VEGAN TACO PIZZA recipe:

Serves 3

TACO "MEAT":

-1 1/2 cups raw walnuts
-1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
-3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
-2 Tablespoons nama shoyu (raw soy sauce) OR wheat-free tamari

Grind walnuts in food processor or by hand. Don't grind them all the way to a powder, leave some little chunks. This gives it meatier texture. Then add cumin and coriander and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the soy sauce/tamari.

SAUCE: Simply spread a layer of fresh raw salsa over the tortilla.

TOPPINGS: Diced avocado, red bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, and any other raw vegetables you like. :)

For the CRUST, simply take 2-3 tortillas of your choice and bake until crispy. My favorite kind is the Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain tortillas. I usually pre-slice them into sections before I bake them. It's easier and less messy to slice before you put the toppings on.

NOTE: This is not technically raw, although it is very healthful if you use a sprouted whole grain tortilla. For those of you who are 100% raw, simply place the taco meat/salsa/toppings inside a large kale leaf and eat as a taco. It is JUST as delicious and satisfying this way as it is with the tortilla. I make it both ways.

Hope you all enjoy this! Let me know if you decide to try it. :)

Next post will be a recipe for raw vegan CHOCOLATE COOKIES!

Thanksgiving morning smoothie

I opened the fridge this morning and pondered what I was going to put into my morning smoothie. A small carton of fresh cranberries caught my eye. What better way to start a Thanksgiving day than with a yummy fresh cranberry smoothie? :)

So here's what I came up with:

-2 kale leaves
-1 cup filtered water (add more as needed)
-1/2 cup cranberries
-2 bananas
-1/4 cup sweet cherries
-1/3 cup blueberries
-1 tsp cinnamon powder
-dash of stevia, to taste
-4 ice cubes

Optional, but these foods add lots of good nutrition, and they don't mess up the flavor:
-1-2 Tbsp chia seeds
-1/2 tsp spirulina

Blend it all up and enjoy!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

And to go with your delicious raw brownies, I give you...

RAW BANANA ICE CREAM!! *sigh* I am in raw dessert heaven right now. I was going to take a picture of the brownies and ice cream together, but...unfortunately...they were eaten before I even had a chance. :D

This "ice cream" has a breath-takingly smooth, creamy texture. Actually, I think the texture is more like frozen yogurt than ice cream, but whatever. It's delicious no matter what you call it. :)

Raw Banana "Ice Cream":

Serves 4
-3-4 frozen bananas
-dash of vanilla extract
-dash of cinnamon
-few drops maple syrup (optional)

Place bananas in food processor and pulse until smooth and creamy. Add other ingredients and pulse a few more times to blend.

Serve alone or with homemade chocolate syrup (recipe coming up soon) or raw brownies (see previous post).

Enjoy!! I sure did. ;)

Delicious raw brownies!

I am IN LOVE with these moist, rich, chocolatey brownies! They are filling and actually rather nutritious, so...it's a win-win. :)

Raw Vegan Brownies

INGREDIENTS:

Brownie:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup dates
1/4 cup raw cocoa powder
1 Tbsp agave nectar (I'm sure honey would work just as well)
-Note: If you're not vegan, add approx 1 Tbsp of raw milk to increase moisture-

Icing:
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup raw cocoa powder (or less if you want a milder chocolate flavor)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
dash salt
dash cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Food process the brownie ingredients until blended and chunky.
2. Press into a small pan.
3. Put all icing ingredients into blender, and blend on high until smooth.
4. Spread icing over brownies and pop in freezer to set for 1 hr. then cut and put in snack sized baggies.

Oh, and I sprinkled a little coconut sugar on top of the finished brownies to satisfy my ultra sweet tooth. *wink*

Enjoy!

A good day

Okay, I finally have something good to blog about! Today was great. I started the day by heading over to my friend's house to babysit her four children plus three others. Yes, seven children. All under the age of 11. Haha. But that's fine, I love babysitting! And I managed to come out with minimal battle scars, and none of the kids got hurt (at least not bad enough to call 911...lol). So the kids were pretty good, and I got a peanut butter sandwich all to myself! After making seven other sandwiches, that is.

Oh, and I also gave them little pizza bread sticks. One of the older kids decided she wanted to warm hers up in the microwave, so she stuck it in, pressed the "pizza" button and started it. Now folks, I'm sure the dear little thing thought she was pressing juuuust the right button. After all it WAS pizza bread, right? Well, as it turns out, that "pizza" button set the microwave to go WAY longer than necessary. I was in the midst of holding a baby and spreading peanut butter on a piece of bread when I smelled something MOST peculiar. Like...smoke. Yeah, smoke. Then I hear a quiet "Oh, shoot!" from the child who had placed the bread in the microwave. By this time all the kids are noticing the peculiar smell and are all demanding to know what's going on. Thankfully there was no fire in the microwave, just a piece of black bread. But I was afraid that the smoke detectors would start going off at any moment, and I'd have to deal with the fire department AND seven panicked children. I don't even want to think about it. Fortunately I was able to get a few doors and windows open and the smoke detectors didn't go off. And the kids didn't seem at all upset, so...disaster averted! Yay.

After I was relieved of duty, I went to the store with my mom and got a free smoothie (I <3 freebies). Mom and I came home and I made lunch while she taught her piano lessons. Then I decided that my room needed a little tidying up. Um...ok fine, so it actually needed a major overhaul. :) So I cleaned for a while and did a couple loads of laundry. Then I remembered I was out of my homemade face cream, so I just spent the last three hours making a new batch. Somewhere in between melting and measuring and cooling and stirring the cream, I made tea. By the time I finished up the cream, my tea was all ready.

Aaaand here I am, sipping tea and being glad I was productive today instead of wasting my time on the computer!

Blessings,

me

Update 5/17/09

I know, I know. It's been forever. But it's very late, and I'm very tired. So I'm going to do a little rating system thingy. :)

1 is the worst and 10 is the best:

Life in general = I'll be really positive and give it a 4.

Violin = 10+!!!! This is the best part of my life right now, for sure.

Kitties = 10. I love those little balls of fur so much. :D

PCOS = 5?

More later.