"JUST ANOTHER MANIC MONDAY..."

Dora Ako-Bryant

"Just another manic Monday, I wish it were...." Do you know that song? Prince wrote that fabulous song for the Bangles. Hope your Monday is beautiful and bright and that you woke up thinking that it would be your best day yet. My cousin came over for a few days and we had a blast as usual. I did her hair and Nina totally spoiled her with smoothies.

Dora and I

Photo by Nina Lakota

 Nina also got her very first check of $35 from selling her handmade earrings. She also gets orders through her facebook fan page as well--you can see more pictures of her beautiful jewelry there Nina's Facebook Fan Page. I have known from a very young age that this little wonder is an entrepreneur. I will never forget when at 5 years old, she made $60 in just a few hours from selling her paintings at $1 each. She was so enthusiastic, determined and she never let some one's "NO, thank you." stop her from going on to the next person. It was unbelievable to watch... So, if you want beautiful earrings (handmade) you can contact her though my bernice4fyr@gmail.com to  get more information. GO NINA!

Here are some of the tasty smoothies and juices we enjoyed over the past few days:


Nina's Strawberry-mango Smoothie:

Ready to blend

The best part of my little red head's morning is his breakfast smoothie... he stands by me with both arms outstretched  while I'm blending until his cup gets into his little hands

...And he won't drink it without  a straw, learned it from his big sister, Nina

Nina's Strawberry-Mango Smoothie (more like ice cream to me, yummy)

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen strawberries

1 cup frozen mango chunks

1 cup soy milk, vanilla flavored (add more milk if needed till consistency suits you)

Nina's Strawberry-banana Smoothie:

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen strawberry

1 banana

1 Tbsp lacuma powder

1/2 cup soy milk, vanilla-flavored (add more milk if needed)

Chocolate Veggie and Fruit Smoothie

you can replace the soy milk with almond milk or water

Ingredient:

1 ripe banana

2 cups frozen strawberries

1 cup soy milk

2 handfuls of spinach leaves

2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tsp cacao powder (option)

Bonus: Manic Monday Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 cups kale, stems removed
1/2 cup parsley
1 cup spinach
1 cup almond milk
1 cup ice
1 ripe banana
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1 cup pineapple chunks
2 cups frozen strawberries

Add all ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend till smooth. YUMMMMMM

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

MY HUSBAND HAS GONE SEA FOOD CRAZY

Over the years my husband has cooked some of the most AMAZING dishes I have ever tasted. Sometimes I am almost convinced that he missed his true calling as a chef. He is very talented, he comes up with the recipes as he goes and "smells/tastes the the ingredients all together in his mind before they come together in the pot.." Amazing isn't it? Well, lately he has gone crazy with sea food. See, there is always more than one dish cooking in our kitchen, some people are trying to stay lean (me) and some are trying to bulk up (him). Dilemma? you tell me! when I smell his food I know how 'rich' they are, good for him, not so good for me :), but that doesn't stop me from trying some of his dishes and totally enjoying the ones that are good for me and my trying-to-stay-lean endeavor.

We did really enjoy this sea food extravaganza, it was messy, but he outdid himself on this one, whew: Mussels, clams, king crab, snow crabs and lobster, wao....



LET THE PICTURES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES:

Crabs, clams and mussels...swimming

Poor Lobster :(

Just out of the freezer and into the boiling water

PINK=READY

Rick's sea food extravaganza

No one ate the corn, but Rick thought it's traditional to have corn, oh well, they look  pretty and shinny alright!

It was an amazing dinner he made for us all, his baked potato was Prrr-fect

Some Raspberry chocolate wine...

Baked Potato

Lobster tails are yummy

That was my plate....pretty huh?

Rick's garlic shrimp served on a bed of Lebanese Hushwee

Rick's garlic shrimps

another picture just in case you want to look again :0

I asked him if I could share one of his recipes on my blog and he said "Definitely!" Here it is for you all you sea food lovers and non-vegans....enjoy!!

Meet the AMAZING chef himself!

Rick Lakota's Scalloped-Spinach fettuccine in a white wine sauce with wild mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 pack spinach fettuccine, cooked al dente following instructions on package

White Wine Sauce:

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup wild mushrooms, sliced

12 oz bay scallops

1/2 stick of butter

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt or to taste

1 Tbsp fresh or dry parsley

1/3 cup white wine

Directions:

-Saute onions in olive oil until translucent

-Add garlic, black pepper and salt

 Add mushrooms and cook for about 1 minute

Add butter and cook for about 2 more minutes

Add parsley and lemon juice, stir

-Add wine and scallops and cook on low to medium heat for about 3 minutes covered 

-Stir in pasta and let marinade while stirring for about 2 minutes

Serve and enjoy.

I saved some of this in the freezer for myself and one week later when I warmed it up it tasted even better! Let me know how you liked it if or when you do try the recipe over the weekend. Why not? make a date with that special someone and surprise them *wink*

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!

D'lectable Vegan Cheesecake

I was wondering yesterday how I could make a cheesecake without my food processor :( and I decided not to give up no matter what. I was going to make my cheesecake, food processor or not! I definitely couldn't make a Raw Cheesecake because I had to grind my cashews but then I remembered that I had some Tofutti better than cream cheese in the fridge...ding, ding, ding IDEA!!! I wanted a raw crust and obviously could not make my regular raw crust without my 'S' blade food processor so I came up with a cool recipe that worked, talk about DETERMINATION!


D' lectable Coconut Cheesecake (Vegan)

Raw Crust

Before it went into the oven. Nina came up with the idea of decorating it like this :)

You want to lick the computer screen don't you?

That warm chocolate sauce added another kick to it, YUMMMY

Next time I will use a smaller pan so the 'cheesecake' part of it can be thicker

I got my fix, you can have yours too :) This should keep me good for the next few weeks;)

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup almond flour
1 cup coconut macaroons
pinch of salt
6 Tbsp organic maple syrup (I use the organic grade B maple syrup)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until sticky and starts to formed a dough. Press dough into an 8' pan and set aside.

Cheesecake Filling:

2, 8oz containers of Toffutti Better Than Cream Cheese
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients very well in a bowl. Set aside for about 5 minutes to let flavors and sugar set in. Mix again for another 2 minutes or so and then pour over crust.
Bake in 350 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes.
Remove from oven and put in the fridge to chill for about 1 hour.
Serve with warm chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce:

1 Tbsp cacao powder
1 Tbsp organic grade B maple syrup
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

Okay, I came up with this recipe on the spot and the whole time I was keeping my fingers crossed and hoping it tastes half decent enough to eat and not waste--If it was horrible.

VERDICT: I LOVE IT!!!

Now I can make different variations out of this. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Also, I warmed my chocolate sauce just a touch before drizzling it over my cheesecake, the contrast between the warm chocolate and the cold cheesecake was MOUTH WATERING!!! YUUUUUUMMMMYYY!!!

I did my hair on the eve of Christmas, took me only  5 hours

These are called 'Urban Twists'

This hairdo is so 'me': trendy

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