Santa will be a vegan this year...

Has the jolly guy been to your house yet? He has been to mine and there is only one popular person's name under that tree, lol. Well anyway, Nina came up to me a couple of weeks ago and said "Mommy, Santa will be a vegan this year!", "He's going to have to eat like us." and I thought, hmm, that would be a great title for my blog at Christmas time. Santa has been getting fatter or should I say hasn't lost a pound since we first saw him. Could it be that we are giving him a heart attack with all our cookies and cow's milk in every house? lol Well I think he would appreciate our house more this Christmas, to show him we love him not only for our fancy gifts *wink* we are also feeding him with heart-healthy vegan treats. I will make him my favorite raw pie from my own recipe this year and a tall glass of almond mylk (Alexa spells it this way, I like it). How is that for a change huh? SANTA WILL BE A VEGAN THIS YEAR...IN MY HOUSE, how about yours?

We went to Stone Mountain the other day and although it was freezing cold, we did enjoy the beautifully lit houses, trees and cabins. My mom couldn't help but wonder how much the light bill would cost, lol. Only someone who doesn't take things for granted will think like that. When you are from a place where every little bit is appreciated, your view of certain things change. I didn't even think of that until she voiced it and I'm glad she did. My best Christmas ever will be the Christmas where me and a few others save enough money to build at least 2 wells in a village somewhere where people don't even have the luxury of having clean drinking water. We can do that next year, so if you want to join me do send me an email. I have done the research already for groups and missions who can help us fulfill this dream. Just imagine giving the gift of life to not only one person but a whole community. Things like that change the course of someone's life. And even if I have to do it alone, by next Christmas I would like to have saved enough to help build a well somewhere for people who need it. Nina has already joined me in this so we are two in this for now but we hope it grows and we can start a movement. I am so proud of her for since we talked about this project she has already saved up $7 dollars, seven precious dollars that tug at my heart, seven precious dollars that can change not one but several people's lives...

Here's Nina and her sister Savi after Sunday school. They made angels that day and colored a birthday cake for Jesus.

This is the pie that Santa is going to feast on. Hmm, how great does this look?

Yummy-deliciouso!

Upside-down

The biggest order I have had for my special pie. It felt great to see people eat it and lick their fingers and go "Hmm, this is sooooo good, and you say it has no animal products in it? and it's raw?" I am coming up with more great recipes for I now know that if people have the option to eat or give their loved ones a healthier choice, most of them would do it in a heartbeat. The thing is, most people (like me in the past) don't know there are choices out there like these. We need more raw food activist and more vegan activists as well.

Anyway I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a FANTASTIC New Year. May all your dreams come true and may this year be the best year ever for each and every one of you. God bless! I will be back after Christmas to share all the goodies.

~B~

Dear Banana...

My Famous Mouth-Watering Raw/Vegan Pie

"Dear Banana,

Let me just start out by saying I can't live without you. You are the sweetest fruit I have ever tasted. You shine like the sun and wear your polka brown dots when ready for me. You are the perfect one, providing me with tons of B6, Vitamin C and Potassium. You are my ideal; economically, nutritionally and in deliciousness. You have all the essential amino acids and up to 5.2 % protein by weight, putting you way above dates, figs, grapes, melons and oranges. My doctor once told me "An Apple a day keeps the doctor away." but now I know better, even apples don't come close to you being that they have only 0.2% protein by dry weight.
You are available to me all year round, something a girl sure appreciates *thanks* for I don't fare well with unavailability. Thanks you for being the sweet one I can always count on.

lovingly,

Bernice."

UPDATE: As of last week Tuesday, my mom has lost 8 pounds on the FYR lifestyle. Can you tell from how her face glows that she is very satisfied? We haven't reached our gaol yet so we keep on going. Great job, Mama!


Mom's green smoothie:

1 head of lettuce
2 ripe bananas
1 cup red seedless grapes
2 Tbsp of flax powder
2 tsp of coconut oil
1-1.5 cups of water


Aunty Flo's Apple/cantaloupe juice tasted really great. Instead of throwing away the pulp I always try to use it to make something else, so with this, I made some homemade apple sauce for Nina, needless to say it didn't last very long in the fridge. Apple sauce is one of her favorite snacks.


P/S

Yesterday I got orders for my first two raw pies. The pie above (my on-the-spot-ten-minute-creation) has been causing a huge stir. On first bite, I got two orders from two different people...this is just so much fun, I can't stop smiling. Nina's piano teacher has also been spreading the word around about my famous pie "You should enter it into a contest or better yet sell it to a restaurant as a healthy desert option." is what he said to me. Wao! didn't know I'd be getting that much buzz for a less than 15 minute creation--created with lots of love every time :-)
If you'd like to order some let me know what size (my standard is a 9' pie) and when. Send request to my email address provided.

Have a blessed day.

~B~

Detoxing

She is 50 years old, five grown children aged 30, 25, 24, 22 and 17 and she is ready to make a change that I definitely admire. Today was supposed to be the third and last day of my Mom's thorough 3-day detox after which she can start to eat solids (vegan of course) but she announced to me yesterday that she would like to continue till Saturday. She says she feels so light, that she feels like she is gliding above the ground and she loves what the detox is doing for her . Since she's been at my house for a little over a week, she's been faring well with our raw/vegan lifestyle. I look at her and one would think she has lived a pampered life but that couldn't be more far from the truth, yet she has the determined spirit to do whatever is good for her. Tomorrow, we do the first week record progress and I am happy to know how much weight (toxins) have been washed out of her body.

Last night we had family over and Rick made a delicious, 3-hour preparation, vegan paneer masala (an Indian dish) and the scent would have driven anyone crazy but my Mom didn't budge and even when Rick asked her to taste the sauce she refused. She reminds me of me, lol, when i decide to do something, I don't back down because it usually starts an endless cycle of self-disappointment. I am very proud of her. As you can tell from the picture above, she is looking fabulous and I can tell she is shrinking, lol. She understands that it is not about losing weight but being healthy, truly healthy, weight loss is a by-product, a bonus and it feels just great!

There are somethings that when you do in life can completely change all other aspects of your life. When you do something you thought was previously impossible, you start to have such confidence in yourself and you know in your heart of hearts that you are stronger than you thought you were and that there is absolutely nothing that you can't do once you decide to do it. I hope we can all make that change as this new year comes along. Let this day be the beginning of the best years of your life. Decide today to accept the challenge and do something great for your health. The government and FDA don't care and love you as much as you love yourself. Treat yourself like the precious person you are and feed yourself the best foods there is; go back to the basics and feed life into your life, Go green!

My Double-decker raw pie

This is the best pie I have made yet. My mom was amazed that I made it in less than 10 minutes. Raw pies and deserts are the easiest foods to prepare and to eat this guilty-free nutritious-deliciousness is just heaven (aunt Cathy we are so making this one in MA). You could fool your SAD friends and family with this. OOOOOOOOOOoooooh so YummmmmmmY! lol

Goodbye for now and tata.

~B~

RAW-mazing carrot Cake

HOW BEAUTIFUL DOES THIS CARROT CAKE LOOK?

...It tastes even better.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Aunty Cathy.

Here's your cake!

I apologize to all my un-raw friends and family but I have to say this is the best tasting carrot cake I have ever had! And even better, is the fact that I came up with this recipe in about 5 minutes. The whole time, I kept my fingers crossed hoping this will even taste like a cake, well, here it is my Raw-mazing carrot cake.

WANT A PIECE OF ME?

This morning I juiced another 5 LB bag of carrot juice and since Nina is always telling me to save the pulp for her salads I thought there had to be something more to do with carrot pulp. I know I can use it for salads and soups but it never occured to me that I could use the pulp for a cake, a carrot cake.


RAW-mazing Carrot Cake:

1 cup almond, finely ground (you can buy almond mill from the whole foods market)
1 Tbsp coconut shreds (unsweetened)
1/2 tsp nutmeg (the scent reminds me of my mother around Christmas time .hmmm)
1/4 tsp Cinnamon powder
3 mejool dates, pitted
2 Tbsp currants
pinch of ginger
1/4 + 1/4 cup carrot pulp (left over from juicing carrots, I'm sure you can use fresh carrots too)
1 Tbsp carrot juice
2 Tbsp agave nectar

Blend all in a food processor with an 'S' blade until it starts to stick together.


Frosting:

1/3 cup macadamia nuts
1/3 cup cashews
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp agave nectar



Stay Blessed
~B~

Rich Choconana Shake

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! yes, I am awake for sure:-) Today I had a rich choconana shake for breakfast. I was going to make some fresh almond mylk (stole this spelling from Alexa) and have it with my yummy G-raw-nola but then I decided to make this shake when I spied my fresh looking bananas. Thing is, I still have about 1 cup of almond mylk left...

This is so very delicious and rich, so rich that one of those glasses was enough. Nina came up with the idea of making these yummy Choconana squares with the remainder of the shake. We sprinkles it with some raw cacao nibs for visual and some crunchiness. If we choose we can always blend it again and make a shake, eat it as is, or simply let it thaw a bit to have it as ice cream, however we have it, it's going to be yummy-delicious.

So here's the recipe for my Cinnamon Almond Mylk:

2 cups of almonds, soaked overnight and rinsed

4 cups of water

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean

6 mejool dates, pitted

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Blend till liquefied and put mixture through a nut milk bag or cheese cloth to separate mylk from almond pulp. Makes a creamy rich mylk.

...and for the Rich Choconana Shake:

2 cups almond mylk

4 ripe bananas, frozen or fresh if you don't have frozen
1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 heaping Tbsp of raw cacao powder or carob powder

1 tsp coconut butter

Blend, pour into glasses and sprinkle with some raw unsweetened coconut shreds.

~B~

DAY 44 Spanish Spinach Casserole

MY SPANISH SPINACH CASSEROLE

i CAME uP wITH tHIS rECIpE jUST ThIS eVENiNG (I like writing like this, it's fun isn't it?)
okay, I added the ingredients as I went and happy to say I've started developing the knack for smelling ingredients and figuring which ones would work with which. Well, everything that is Nina approved (she cleaned out her plate) means it has got to be delicious--I passed my taste test. Oh, Rick finished his as well. Watching both of them enjoy my food makes me full :-)

Isn't She Lovely?

This was yesterday's project and now it's all gone. This is what a 5 LBs bag of fresh organic carrot yeilds. We added just two apples to this and juiced them all together. One of my favorite juice. Tomorrow i plan to make some fennel/ginger/apple (and by the way Alexa, I did send and speak some positive things to my juicer, she forgives me :-))



Here are my fruity truffles and chocolate covered snow mountain munchies. WHAM! that's what you feel when you taste these amazing deliciousness. YUMMMMY, hmm, don't let me start. can you permit me to get romantically involved with my desert? okay, "I love you chocolate, so very much." lol

A few of my coconut boats, walnut boats and raisin boats.....ah

A perfect example of my coconut boat desert...if you look below you can see what her insides are made of...pure goodness!

PURE GOODNESS! (Aunty Cathy, you will love these)

Tata for now

~B~