This went over quite well with the children. My daughter helped me make them. the best thing is I didn't have to worry about her being next to a hot stove cause we didn't use one.
Raw Carob Brownies
1 cup Walnuts 1 cup pecans 1/3 cup Almonds 6 dates(pitted) 1/4 cup Agave Nectar 1/3 Raw Carob Powder 1 lemon(juiced) 1 TSP Coconut oil optional: 1 tsp Spirulina powder or Hemp powder
Place all ingredients in food processor. Blend until all big chunks are incorporated. The mixture should resemble fudge in consistancy. Speed mixture into a square glass baking sheet lined with wax paper. Freeze for 2 hours. Pull out brownies in wax paper over onto a cutting board and remove wax. Slice into desired shapes and size. Store in an airtight container in the freezer if there are left overs. I doubt there will be once you taste them. Enjoy! Yummy!
Here is the social network I grabbed tonights dinner recipe off of. http://lifeit.ning.com/ We improvised just a little with it. We didn't add the lemon juice and instead of grandulated galic we used fresh grated garlic. It was great over a bed of salad greens. Here is the recipe video.
Today was a trying day. I had some of the worst cravings ever. And I also started having what I like to call emotional detox. See my biggest issue is that I am an emotional eater. All my food cravings are attached to my mood. Since I am pregnant my mood can very. I really found myself missing pastries and breadlike products today. That use to be my comfort food. After hours of debating as to weather or not a piece of bread would be the end of my progress. I finally decided to try and make raw brownies. This turned out to be a smart idea. They were so rich and decedant I had no room for anymore pastry cravings.
It was a lot of fun making them to. I got the children involved and they just loved it even more. I think the main reason the pastry craving came up to begin with is becuase my sons birthday is tommorow and I was trying to figure out how he can still have a cake and I stay raw. I eventually decided he is going to be the first member of the family to have a raw birthday. He is offically turning 2. Since he doesn't rember any other birthday's I am sure he won't miss the whole store bought cake thing especially since last year I made a homemade vegan chocolate cake anyway. So we are going to fix another batch of those Carob Brownies and we are also going to make Raw Carrot Cupcake and out them in the little cupcake liners. We can just stick a candle on the top of one. Also I am either going to make or purchase a large fruit platter. We are still going to Chuckie Cheese to play games. We are just going to eat before we go and probally take the fruit platter with us to snack on while we are there. We aren't having a party with friends this year anyway cause we are still new in town.
Also my daughter misses having a special restaurant outing on the weekend so we found a local raw restaurant that we are going to try out. I'll make a post after we check it out. Back home in Chicago the children and I use to go to Karyn's Fresh Corner and have raw ice cream on my husbands payday. I hope this restaurant turns out to be just as enjoyable as back home.
Well I made it through another day. Success is my goal.
2 Mangoes(pitted) 1 Roma tomato 1/8 Red onion 1/8 Red bell pepper 1/8 Green bell pepper 1 stalk green onion(optional) 1 jalepeno pepper(optional) 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt 1 lime( juiced)
Dice all veggies. place in a bowl then add chili powder, salt and lime juice. Serve immediately. Last about 2 days refregerated.
Yields: 2-3 servings
Lemon Squares
1 cup Soaked Almonds 1 cup Soaked Cashews 2 Lemons(juiced) 1/4 cup Agave nectar 6 Dates(pitted)
Place all ingredients in food processor. Blen until it turns to dough like consistancy.Then take a glass baking pan(square) line with natural wax paper then pour dough into it. Spread and patt the dough down to an even level then freezed for 2- 3 hours. After freezing pull out the frozen mixture from the pan and turn upside down on countertop. Pull wax paper off back then cut into squares or desired shape. Serve immediately or store in the freezer.
Crust: 2/3 cup Cashews 1 cup Brazil nuts 4 Pitted Dates 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil 1 Lemon (juiced)
Filling: 4 Ripe Bananas 2 Meat from Young Coconut 2 tablespoon Coconut Oil 4 tablespoon Agave Nectar
*Garnish with shredded coconut and sliced bananas
Process all crust ingredients in the food processor until it resembles dough like consistency. Then take dough and press into glass pie pan or baking dish. Take the filling ingredients and blend in the food processor until it reaches creamy consistency then pour into your pie crust. Add your garnish then place in freezer for 1- 3 hours. Slice and serve immediately.
Yields: 6- 8 servings
Spicy Seed Cheese
1 cup Soaked Sunflower Seeds 2 tsp Chili Powder 1 tsp Paprika 2 tablespoons Celtic Sea Salt ½ tsp Turmeric 1 clove Garlic ½ Lemon (juiced) Pinch Cayenne Pepper (optional)
Blend all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator no more than 4 days.
Quick and Easy Gucamole
2 avocados 1 Roma Tomato( diced) 1 tablespoon Dulse flakes 1 tablespoon Celtic Sea Salt 1/8 Red onion( diced) 1 tsp Chili Powder 1 Lime( juiced)
Mash with a fork until it reaches desired consistancy
Today was just great. It was rainy here but I was still in high spirits. The children have been 100% raw with me these past few days. My daughter(4yrs old) came to me today and after coming out the bathroom and said "Mommy, I boo boo and it was a lot. I feel much better now." I know this can be TMI to some but it just goes to prove that even in her young years she is feeling the changes in her body through eating more raw and living foods. I asked her today was she okay with what she has been eating the past few days and she said yeah. I asked what are your favorite foods and she told me she likes mango, bluberries, cucumbers, bell pepper, celery, and tomatoes. She also mentioned how the raw food was going to make her strong enough to lift the TV and couch. LOL!
Well as far as my son(2yrs old) went today he didn't eat much that wasn't sweet. He seems to be on a savory food strike. Which is weird considering the fact that he was my raw pregnancy and I nursed him raw for the first six months of life.Its Okay cause raw sweets can still be made to include lots of greens and fiber. I give him sweet green smoothies, and raw pie laced with Spirulina powder, avocado, or spinach. He really prefers to eat bananas and dates all day but those dates are no good for his little teeth. I think my mistake with him was during my junk food breakdown I allowed him to taste processed sweets for the first time. I tell you that white sugar is the devil! I know it just needs to work its way out and he will be his old self again.
But you see how much it matters for the parents to set the dietary tone in the house. People are always like my kids won't eat greens. My question to them is do you eat greens? And if so do you eat them in front of the children without complaint?
I also had some comments today about Detox and pregnancy and weither or not I am doing the safe thing for the baby. My response to that was:
As far as toxins building up in the baby that is in my opinion nuts considering the toxins that are in cooked and process food. Not to mention the lack of enzymes and vital nutrient lost from foods that have been depleated by heating. The other thing is I have been raw before and I am not doing a overnight transistion. Most of my diet has been living foods with the exception of the junk food cravings I allowed myself to subcomb to. Also think about it this way Detox is a serious of physical symptoms. If you are not presented with any and you do other things to ease your chances of physical side effects than you should have no problems. Like for one proper food combining. Also staying hydrated. I drink over a gallon of water a day. Then if I wasn't pregnant and just nursing I could take enemas and colonics that would prevent the toxins from coming through my pores. I can however while pregnant scrub my pores by dry brushing and taking steam showers or hot baths alternating with cold water.
Then you have to factor in lifestyle before raw too. I am not detoxing over pork and beef, alcohol, toxic body soaps and purfumes, etc.. These are all factors that contribute to how your detox might be. Another thing is I am not on a detox form of the raw food diet meaning I eat quite a bit of fats and oils and high greens but low fruit. That is one thing that can cause people discomfort is that during transistion they consume more sweets than greens and good fats. I am not aiming to loss weight but to gain it. And you can gain weight on raw trust. That is how I got my daughter to catch up on her growth development about 2 years ago. She was far behind on weight with cooked vegan but she easily absorbed the raw fats with no problems.
Today is my second day of 100% raw and living foods eating. Right now I am at 37 weeks pregnant. A lot of the experts steer away from advising pregnant and nursing women to transition to raw but for me I saw no other logical choice.
Eating SAD or even cooked vegan food was causing me to have a miserable pregnancy. I have had joint pain(inflammation), bad skin, and hemorrhoids. Finally after I had a week straight of headaches and uncontrollable mucus I said enough is enough. I have been 100% raw before and ironically the first time was during my last pregnancy. That was around the time I first discovered raw. So of course the I didn't know that people discouraged transitioning during pregnancy. Going through this again I can honestly say people need to listen to their own body and do what is right for them as an individual.
Now my head does hurt a little today but as I learned yesterday this is just an indication I need to up my water intake. When I was eating mostly cooked I was depleting my body of hydrating foods. Dehydration can be confused with lots of things. Most of the time people think they are hungry and they are actually dehydrated.
My goal is to get prepared to have a painless unassisted home birth and create an optimal body for nursing my newborn and maintaining my family. Even though I ate a whole bunch of regrettable junk in the beginning of the pregnancy I still managed to have a green smoothie for breakfast each day. I think the Green Smoothies are what has helped me to come back off the edge.
I decided to journal my day to day until I at least reach 2 months 100% raw and living foods eating. I think it is important to deal with the thoughts and cravings in a positive way. This blog will be my outlet. As of this week I am also staying clear of certain people who I feel are triggers for me to emotional eat. I also can't go to certain stores or watch certain media. It has proven to be unhelpful in my progress.
I have been trying to help others transition themselves to a raw and living foods diet while I struggle with it myself at times. That's why I have new found outlook on what is considered to be transition. For some transition can occur overnight and for others it can take a few years. That is just the reality of cooked food addiction. I am just being honest with myself.
I am a wife and mother of four beautiful homeschooled children. I am using this blog as a way for me to explore my creativity through writing which has always been one of my childhood passions. And to share with others what I have learned and are learning along my journey of being a wife and mother.
