Day 27 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS: WALDROF SALAD WITH ALMOND MAYONNAISE

"Nothing will benefit health and increase chances of survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetable based diet."--Albert Einstein

Waldrof Salad with Almond Mayonnaise

Salad:

2.5 crisp organic apples, seeded and nicely diced
2 cups of red seedless grapes (you can use green if you like)
1 cup of nicely diced celery
1 cup chopped walnut, soaked and rinsed and re-dried
1-2 pears, nicely diced
1 cup of thinly sliced green cabbage
put all in a bowl and set aside

Almond Mayonnaise:
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of soaked almonds, rinsed
1/2 tsp yellow mustard powder
2-3 tsps of agave nectar or honey
1/2 tsp of salt to taste juice of 2 lemons

Blend all until smooth and add just a little bit of water to facilitate blending process. Pour over bowl of prepared salad, mix evenly and ENJOY! YOU CANNOT RESIST THIS ONE. AND IT WON"T LAST MORE THEN TWO DAYS...

Day 26 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

Leaving R. Thomas......Nina and Mommy

Raw Apple Pie...........YUM!

Nina and Mommy....I had just finished eating my RAWmazing seaweed salad.

Nina and Daddy's faces are hilarious, well, that's what happens when you're at R. Thomas.

If there is any one restaurant in all of Atlanta which deserves a million and more applauds, it is R. Thomas at 1812 Peachtree Road, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30309. They have captured the magic of downtown and all of its hustling and bustling and transformed it into the most spiritual, healthy and, without a doubt, a quintessential conscious eater's paradise.

My very first visit to R.Thomas was over eight years ago when I first met my Rick. He would spoil me and treat me like a queen, because that's how you feel when you're dinning at a health conscious place like R. Thomas. It was was just ten minutes walk from our apartment in Buckhead and we lived for their peanut sauce and quinoa. It was also when I met and chatted with the very talented India Arie, I was about four months pregnant with our first daughter then. It is always a very fulfilling and transforming experience at R.Thomas and yesterday night was no different.

After our discouraging hunt for a raw food eatery we decided to go to R. Thomas where I'd decided I'd manage a salad and then Rick and Nina can eat their delicious vegan delights. As we drove, the beautiful sights of the city and many familiar sights caught my heart and reminded me of when I first met my love. The more we reminisced on our drive there, the more excited I became. R. Thomas with its hippy, cheerful look sprung into sight. We were greeted warmly and seated at a comfortable spot right by the door. No matter how many times Nina goes there, she still is in awe about the dream catchers, the wind chimes and colorful decors hanging from the
ceiling and walls. "Look, mommy, look. Is that a real diamond?" Her childlike wonder always brings out the child in us all and we followed her eyes and fingers across the busy room. I slowly opened up my menu, started scanning through the items and let out a very happy shrill. R.THOMAS HAS RAW FOOD! Okay, pardon me if i may seem a little to excited, but I don't remember years ago seeing any of that on their menu and the more I thought about it, I realized back then I was a only a vegan and didn't have a clue what raw food was all about and so I wouldn't have been looking for it.

R.Thomas is by far my favorite restaurant in Atlanta because they not only serve organic meals, they cater to carnivores (meat eaters), herbivores (vegans and raw foodists) and everyone in between (including vegetarians). Now, I think all restaurants should follow their example. In fact it should be a law to serve only organic food and also to cater to all three groups of eaters (lol) okay I know i am just blowing steam here but seriously, HOW IMPRESSIVE IS THAT? I felt at home right there in the middle of everyone eating whatever they think is good for them.

James, our fantastic waiter was ever so patient and very knowledgeable. I drank water, and Nina got a strawberry/banana shake. We all had a Raw cashew cheese appetizer served with cucumbers, celery and pear slices--which, by the way, was hmm, hmm good. For main course I got a Raw veggie dinner #1: Walnut sunflower loaf topped with chipolte sauce, broccoli cauliflower medley, raw veggie kraut, collard kale salad(which was DELISH) and served with sweet potato chips, guacamole and flax chips(the best I have tasted). OMG! okay, I also got a raw seaweed salad (don't judge, I was very hungry--all of a sudden, lol) and for desert i got a slice of their raw apple pie.....wwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Oh, i forgot to say how much I loved, loved, loved the seaweed salad, it was perfecto! The pie was great (had to bring it home, I was done for the night). The amazing thing about all of this was how i felt after I'd eaten. Usually, on a SAD diet, you'd feel like you were carrying tons of dead weight in your belly, tired and ready for bed but I felt full yes, but not Oh-my-God-I-just-gained-ten-pounds full, I felt satisfied and revived. It was a 100% score card for me. here's their website to read more about this amazing restaurant at

http://www.rthomasdeluxegrill.com/

and their phone number is 404-872-2942. Rick and Nina both got what they wanted and we all left happy. It was money well spent and I will be going back many more times and that's for sure.

Stay Blessed!

~B.

Day 25 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS: MY APPLE-TAHINI STUFFED PEPPERS yummmmy!

"I'm living my life like it's golden." If you are my friend on Facebook, you should have already seen that as my status. 'Golden' is a great song by the very talented Jill Scott and for a few days now it has been stuck in my head. I sing that line only. I sing it over and over and over several times a day and I think it is slowly becoming some sort of mantra. It is how I truly feel inside; I feel blessed and empowered and I know it is mostly because of my lifestyle--which is my raw/vegan eating habit and my healthy mindset.

I have sort of a busy evening and I have to make a fresh batch of my rich chocolate fudge brownies to take over to my friends house (Don't worry I will put up the picture and recipe up tomorrow :-)). I am going to leave you with a picture of what i had for lunch today. It's a new recipe of mine and I will share it with you later. It was DDDDDDDDDDEEEEELIIIIISSSSHHH.

Okay guys/girls, I gotta run. Rendezvous tomorrow.

~B

Day 24 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS: mY mOCK jOLLOF rICE

Hello everyone how has your day been going so far? Mine has been a little busy. Got up and went for a 20 minute brisk walk, didn't feel like doing a cardio workout today so I went straight to making our green smoothie of the day. Then I home schooled my daughter and then went straight to making my R-A-W-MAZING jollof rice. I have been putting together this recipe in my head for a few days now and I must say I am very impressed with myself. It came out perfect.

As Africans, we are very accustomed to eating the same things we grew up eating and sometimes afraid to try new things. The foods our mothers and grandmothers prepared were always so delicous and you could tell by the taste that they cooked it with love. I think when my mother comes over she might have a fit seeing what I eat now, good thing she knows I have always been an open minded child and was never afraid to try new things. There are still some things we used to eat back home that I as a raw-vegan can tweak to eat. They are mostly vegetables and I don't have to use the palm oil mom uses and I can definitely eat them without meat. My uncook book will have a section of mock African dishes that everyone will love like the one I made today. I must confess that there are certain dishes that my mother and grandmother used to make that I miss sometimes--I guess you can call that an addiction, lol, life is full of them...

Mock Jollof Rice:

Ingredients: (add the ingredients into a big mixing bowl exactly as I list them here)

2 cups of almonds, soaked overnight and rinsed

1 cup grated parsnips

1 dsp curry powder

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp paprika

2.5 Tbsp coconut oil

1/4 cup diced onions

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup peas (or peas and carrots)

1/2 cup soaked and diced raisins

2 heaping Tbsp of marinara sauce (this is what left overs are good for)

I also had a side Asian salad with this and a few slices of avocado. Everyone in my household enjoyed this, even Nina who like many children can be very picky.

Asian Salad: (Add all these into a big Ziploc bag, shake well and set aside)

2.5 cup thinly sliced cabbage

2 thinly sliced carrots

2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp agave nectar

1 tsp sesame seeds

This is very delicious!!!!!
Enjoy, till tomorrow...

~B

Day 23 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS: DELICIOUS Blueberry Pie

Hello everyone. I hope you are feeling great today. I am totally awesome. Well, maybe that is due to the fact that I made a delicious blueberry pie today or could it be that, I finally got on the scale today. I wanted to wait till the end of the 30 days to do it but Rick's curiosity got the best of me. So as of this morning, I am 16 pounds (yes, sixteen) lighter than I was 22 days ago. I HAVE EFFORTLESSLY AND DELICIOUSLY LOST 16 POUNDS!--of toxins I suppose:-) All without starving and eating whatever I wanted, or say whatever my body craved, because these days my body craves raw/vegan food and great, yummy raw/vegan deserts. How sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Anyway before sharing the recipe of my blueberry pie, I would like to take a minute and share with you a thing or two about Vitamin B12. It seems like it is the main 'concern' that non-vegans and non-rawfooders have about this lifestyle. We are continually being taught that the best source of B12 is meat.

And, oh, I've also heard someone say "These people have no souls, they should be imprisoned. How do their children get Calcium?" That is why it is important to do your research and be in the know. Did you know that protein inhibits the proper absorption of calcium? So when you think you're getting your daily recommended calcium from milk, you are doing yourself a double disfavor, while also adding antibiotics and hormones to your body. Plus milk that has been pasteurized is now junk due to the high temperatures needed to 'kill' all the bad bacteria in it. If meat were the only good source of B12 then why isn't there a wide spread of anemia in the vegan and raw food community? There would actually be an epidemic in India because most of them practice vegetarianism.

Another concern is that vegans and raw foodists don't eat enough protein. It is this overeating of protein that causes all these diseases we have (refer to the CHINA STUDY, a must read). first of all, the body can only absorb proteins in its simplest form; amino acids. So when you eat a vegan or raw food diet, you are actually giving your body the best and most ready form of amino acids it needs to function in the form of fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. It is with these ready-to-use chains of amino acids that it can function at its optimum. It uses less energy for digestion and there's no concern of putrefaction if the food is properly combined.

Great Plant Sources of Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) include:

Sunflower seeds, comfrey leaves, kelp, bananas, concord grapes and alfalfa.
B12 is essential for the production and regeneration of red blood cells and also prevents anemia.

Great Plant Sources of Calcium include:

Most raw vegetables, sesame seeds, millet and oats. Calcium is needed to build bones, teeth and for normal growth and also for all heart and muscle activity.

Refer to Dr. John R. Christopher's The Regenerative Diet, great book.

Blueberry Pie

Crust:

2 cups of almonds and pecans mix, soaked and dried

3 mejool dates, pitted

pinch of salt

Blend nuts and salt till fine. Then add dates and blend till sticky. Press into pie dish and set aside.

Filling:

2.5 cups of fresh blueberries

2 Tbsp agave or raw honey

1.5 bananas

1/2 blueberries

Blend first 3 ingredients for filling until smooth. Add fresh blueberries into smooth filling and mix with spatula. Pour over crust and refrigerate for 3 hours.

This is a variation from the recipe at purelydeliciousmagazine.net

Day 22 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS: Raw/Vegan Burger with Not-Your-Unhealthy French Fries (hint: jicama is way more delicious and healthy.)

My mother in-law and aunt in-law are both convinced I am channeling their late father, Louie. I laughed so hard when they told me this and even though it is funny when you think about it, I am actually very honored because I have the utmost respect for this man.

He was a very health conscious man and would talk passionately about not eating dead foods and staying away from diary and meats. He was ahead of his time and would often almost always offend people with his views and beliefs-- If only they would listen to this incredibly smart man.

He was self-taught and would spend countless hours in Libraries reading books upon books on every subject. One thing I admire most about him was the fact that he never worked for someone in his life. He had his own business and was very diversified. Is it possible to love someone even though you never got a chance to meet them?--he passed about two years before I met Rick--I know, admire, respect and love him very much. I think we would've been the best of friends. God bless you, grandpa Louie, we would talk up a storm when I get to meet you in heaven someday. For now, I am honored to know and practice what you were/are passionate about, keep inspiring me and I will pass it down to the generations that come after me.

Well, I decided to mix it up a little today. For breakfast, I made a vanilla milk shake, raw and vegan of course. It was done and ready to serve in under 5 minutes--and I made the almond milk fresh this morning, I have become an expert now, lol.

Almond Milk:

1 cup almonds, soaked overnight and rinsed

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups of water

1 pitted Mejool date

Blend all together and strain through a nut bag or cheese cloth to get out all the pulp. You are left with a creamy delicious-nutritious almond milk.

Vanilla Milk Shake:

Almond milk

4 ripe bananas

Pour almond milk back into rinsed food processor and add in four ripe bananas. Blend till smooth. YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY! And very much Nina approved :-)

Tomorrow's topic will be very interesting, you won't want to miss it.

Tata,

~B

Day 21 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS: MY DELICIOUS BASIL PESTO ON JULIENNED VEGGIES

Hello good people :-). Well, I am excited to tell you that I will be making ice cream this week. I found some Yacon syrup at the whole foods Market today and was so happy I did. Also I bought enough bananas to make a good number of vanilla shakes, yum! As you can tell Sunday afternoon is my grocery shopping time--I think it is true for most people. I finally found some onion powder and mustard powder. I will use some of the mustard powder to make some raw/vegan mayonnaise which I found is very easy to make. I got some hazelnuts as well. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but I am on the path to creating my very own raw/vegan Nutella spread. Now, when I have created a Nutella spread, then I won't ask for anything more, lol. I will be able to live deliciously.

Bought lots of greens and fruits of course and will be experimenting with lots of different spices. Not sure what day it'll be on but this week I will make some raw/vegan jellof rice (jell of rice) or jambalaya, as they call in New Orleans and the Caribbeans. I already have the recipe forming in my head. I'm so excited. Cannot wait to get an Excalibur food dehydrator, might get that for myself for Christmas and replace the useless microwave with it.

Did you know that when you heat food in the microwave it raises the temperature of the food to over 2000 degrees? Considering the fact that tons of nutrients and enzymes are destroyed when food is cooked to temperatures over 118 degrees, with a temperature of 2000 degrees you are basically eating rubbish, dead, alien, non-food. Hmm, makes you think huh? I haven't used my microwave for so long, it just sits on my counter top for decoration and I have decided not to give it that kind of privilege in my kitchen, so out with the microwave and in with my I-can't-wait-to-have-one food dehydrator, lol. I will be able to make raw crackers, pizzas, bread, not meat balls, dry my own fruits and seeds, oh, the countless possibilities! Can you imagine? I will go nuts--pun intended ;-)

Well, gotta run, got lotsa' stuff to take care of. And while you're at it at your end, take some time to go green.

Tata

~B