PRETTY RAINBOW...

Nina, 8 years old. 

Are you drooling yet?

Eating raw foods makes you appreciate food in such an awesome way...the time you put into making it, touching the food, smelling it, admiring the colors and texture and tasting..hmmm. So why is it that we humans like to take the shortcuts, avoid pain and change, when we know that those things are very necessary to building and molding us? Something to think about isn't it? Lots of great new this week and last, so my little Wonder aka my 8 year old, Nina, got a very impressive report card and a certificate because she made it to Honor's Roll. How cool is that? As a mom and her home-school teacher I feel so humbled and extremely proud.

*** I appreciate all of you who take the time to leave a comment, questions and/or suggestions in the comment box below every blog entry, makes me know that people are at least reading what I write, kinda' important for us bloggers and it's just really nice to get feedback too, so feel free to join the site, recommend to your friends  etc

PRETTY RAINBOW SALAD

Ingredients:

1 small head cauliflower, lightly steamed and then chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped thinly
1 medium carrot, chopped thinly
1 Tbsp green onions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, thinly sliced
1/2 Yellow bell pepper, chopped thinly
Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper

Place all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Salad Dressing:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dry yellow mustard
1 Tbsp cashew butter (or nut butter of your choice)
1.5 Tbsp agave nectar

Mix all ingredients for the dressing until smooth and then pour over salad. You may add a few cashews or chopped almonds over the salad or eat as is.

VERDICT= I LOVE IT! It was so refreshing...

Little Miss wants to make a Yoga DVD  for kids. This is one of her invented stretches, well,  for kids huh? mommy can't do this for 3 seconds without tumbling over ! (And I am very flexible :o)

Breathe, MEDITATION

Ninashka

Remember to EAT &  DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

CHOCOLATE FOR ALL YE CHOCOHOLICS

The great thing about raw desserts is that you can never finish it all in one sitting, well, for me though. I had  about  2  tablespoons of this and my sweet-tooth was totally soothed. It is so very rich and filling. LOVE THAT! Saved the rest in the fridge for another day. 

I hope you have all been having a great week. Mine has been a little stressful but hey, I survived :) Anyway, I know sometimes some of us run towards food when we feel a little low. Sometimes I crave food, sweet foods when I feel blue (who doesn't?) and raw desserts are guilt-free for me. I don't need a lot to satisfy me so I make a batch and just save it in the fridge for whenever I need it.


DARK CHOCOLATE-RASPBERRY MOUSSE

Ingredients:
1 vanilla bean seeds or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup cacao powder
1/3 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
2 small Haas avocados
1 cup maple syrup (I use grade B maple syrup)

Blend all together in a food processor until creamy. Enjoy as is or with slices of strawberries.

Seeds from vanilla bean

MINI FLOURLESS BROWNIES

I kept these cute little trays from some candy box I found and decided to use them for my mini brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup maple syrup

1 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup cacao powder

1/3 cup mixture of dried cranberries and chopped almonds

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Put all ingredients except the dried fruit and nuts in a food processor and blend. Pour into ice tray or candy tray. Place in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes until it's firm. YUMMY.

Some good music for your listening pleasure: LUCKY

 XOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOOOOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOXO

Remember to EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

Endive Salad with Orange-Mustard Dressing

Something quite interesting is going on in my house. My 16 month old son has this fascination with books. He is always with a book, 'reading' in some corner, flipping through pages and it goes on for minutes at a time. He even 'reads' off his diaper box ...anything that has words. I hope this stays long after he starts really reading. Anyway just wanted to share that with you.. here is a collage of the times I've had the camera near.

ENDIVE FACTS:

 I remember when I first found out about this beautiful-looking greens. I use them in my smoothies, juice it and eat is as a salad. Some people find it slightly bitter but I don't. I have never been the kind to shy away from something because of taste especially if I know it's beneficial to my health. Did you know that when compared to other green leafy vegetables endive is the richest source of Vitamin A? and if you remember from your nutrition class in school vit. A is particularly important for eyesight and good vision. Endive is also a great source of dietary fiber, magnesium, Vitamin E, C & K, Thaimin, folate, calcium, Iron, zinc and a host of other minerals.

Other health benefits of endive include clearing up the skin of acne, in combination with parsley and celery in juices it's a great blood tonic for those who are anaemic. Endive is also a very low calorie (it has just 1 calorie per leaf) food so it is great for those who want to lose weight to eat it as often as they can. It also relieves constipation because it is high in dietary fiber and helps to clean the liver and gall bladder. Now, do you see why I love this vegetable?


ENDIVE SALAD WITH ORANGE-MUSTARD DRESSING


Ingredients:

I head/bunch of endive, wash, fixed and set aside
1 granny smith apple, 1/2 apple julienned and 1/2 sliced

Mix together julienned apples and endive and put in a bowl. Place sliced apples over salad.

Orange-Mustard Dressing:

2 oranges, peeled and halved
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp fresh parsley
1tsp dry mustard powder
2 medjhool dates

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Dress salad with about 4 tbsp of orange-mustard dressing and save the rest in a tight-lid container and put in the fridge.

photo by Nina Lakota

My daughter likes to take pictures of me during my workouts. Someday I will be able to use just my upper body strength to do a pull-up, for now I am quite content with one leg on a stool.

Remember to EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

THE BEST DARN RAW-VEGAN CHEESE CAKE EVER!

I didn't wake up thinking today was the day I was going to create 'THE BEST DARN RAW-VEGAN CHEESE CAKE EVER" but that's what my picky 8 year old, Nina, says it is. She almost ate all of the 'cheesecake' filing before it got into the pan. I was nervous and excited at the same time though, my fingers were crossed the whole time because I didn't want to waste all the expensive ingredients I used, yeah!

Raw-Vegan Hawaiian Cheesecake

THE BEST DARN RAW-VEGAN CHEESECAKE EVER! (I was told to name it that)

Cashews

Macadamia Nuts

Crust

Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup almond flour/meal
4 medjhool dates

I used my fingers this time and just mashed it all together until it formed a sticky dough, I just didn't want use the food processor yet until the 'cheese' filling.

Cheesecake Filling:

2/3 cup macadamia nuts, soaked overnight and rinsed
2 cups cashews, soaked overnight
1/3 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup pineapples
1/2 cup mango
Juice from 2 large lemons or 1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup + Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup (I use grade B maple syrup)
1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp water
16 oz fresh strawberries, sliced and set aside

Blend all ingredients except the fresh strawberries in a food processor with an 'S' blade until smooth. Pour half the filling over the crust and then layer with some fresh strawberries until whole surface is covered. Pour the rest of the filling over the strawberries and place your cheesecake in the freezer for about 2 hours until firm. Take out of the freezer, slice, drizzle with some chocolate sauce and enjoy. My daughter liked hers straight out of the freezer but I let mine sit for about 15 to 20 minutes before eating, I like it that way.

Chocolate sauce:

1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp cacao powder

Mix all ingredients well in a cup  and drizzle over cheesecake.


Remember to EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

COOL CUCUMBER DAY

Some days are just cool, calm and captivating. A day like that deserves a RAW feast.

K.A.L.C Juice (kale.apple.lemon.cucumber)

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale, stems removed
1 whole lemon
5 small red delicious apples
1 medium size cucumber

Juice all ingredients and enjoy. I really loved this, it was an incredibly satisfying breakfast.


For Breakfast little Miss decided to make a ice cream, her absolute favorite thing for breakfast.

Nina's Breakfast Ice Cream

Ingredients:

3 frozen bananas, peeled, cut in halves and frozen overnight in zip-lock bag
1 cup almond milk (she used the left over almond milk we made from a few days ago)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Put in a high speed blender and blend until it starts to look like soft serve ice cream. You may have to move the contents around with a spatula to get it going. Serve as is or top with fruits and/or nuts.


Cool Cucumber Salad

Ingredients: 

2 large cucumbers, sliced into1 inch thickness

Dressing:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 small lemon
dash of salt (optional)

Mix all ingredients well together and drizzle over cucumbers. Sprinkle a dash of black pepper over salad and garnish with some julienned beet root.


And for supper I came up with this refreshing soup, hmmmm...

Refreshing Cucumber-avocado soup

Ingredients:

2 large cucumbers, Peeled with just some skins left
1 ripe pear
2 small Haas avocado
Juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp agave nectar
1-2 sprigs of fresh mint

Pour all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend till creamy. VERDICT: I LOVE IT!

www.berniceangoh.com

Remember to EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

YOU HAVE THE POWER TO UNLEASH THE ENERGY WITHIN

Yesterday I had to cook food for everyone else in the house and something different for me. It is pretty amazing how rejuvenated and alive one feels on a raw or mostly raw food diet. I wake up feeling like I can carry the world, ALL THIS ENERGY! what a difference. I am still mourning my food processor but I will live for the next few days until I can get a new one :)

My two angels having fun

My mornings starts the same, exercise (with my 8 year old trainer, if you think I'm joking come and get a session with her). Eventhough my thighs were sore from her 'Froggies' I still managed to push through and we had a blast. I do add my own exercises in between but I let her have the upper hand (she feels like a pro). Our juice was quite delicious....

SWEET-VEGGIE Juice

Ingredients:

4 carrots
1 cup red seedless grapes
1 whole lemon
2 red delicious apples
3 HUGE handfuls of spinach leaves

Juice and enjoy!

I had a head of cauliflower in the fridge and I had always wanted to make a mock rice, so I used this opportunity to do just that.

Not- rice and nut-sauce

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, (lightly steamed) you can eat it raw but I wanted to steam mine a little
2 Tbsp green onions, chopped
1 heaping Tbsp almond butter
1Tbsp agave nectar
2 Tbsp water
Juice of half a lemon
dash of black pepper
dash of paprika (optional)
dash of salt (optional)

Directions:

Mix first two ingredients and set aside
Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl until it makes a smooth paste. Pour Nut sauce over cauliflower and mix. This was surprisingly quite satisfying and delicious and also very filling. I definitely will make it again. Feel free to make different variations of this and experiment with another nut, say cashews?

For Supper I had a huge bowl of spinach salad, love my spinach, can you tell?

Simple Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

3 cups of spinach leaves
1/3 cup of walnuts
A handful of dried cranberries or raisins

Dressing:

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp agave nectar
1 tsp dried mustard
1 garlic clove, minced

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl, pour on salad and toss. Enjoy!

Okay I made this beautiful veggie juice the other day look what I found after I was done juicing...

Is that pretty or what? what lovely colors...I love beets :) This is what it looked like after I was done:

Looks like blood huh? no worries, no vampires any where close

Here is what I made for everyone else..and yes, they all loved it.

Baked salmon on a bed of raspberry vinegretted (if that's a word) white asparagus and some rice. I may share  the recipe one of these days.

Okay, gotta go, have a great day and remember to EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!