Salad deserves more praise then it gets...

So yesterday I spent my day making a great variety of raw food dishes. And while it's really fun and interesting to slooooowly roast things into the perfect consistency and blend up delicious snickers-like pies (that one tasted divine, just saying) it often gets very heavy. Lots of nuts, seeds and coconut oil. Which are all really great but not really a meal on their own. When I have my raw food days I tend to eat a lot of healthy desserts (not that I don't do this otherwise but still…) which leaves me with insane cravings for greens and vegetables during the evening. So after a day filled with indulgence (also know as "heaps of chocolate in all it's raw forms") I whipped up this salad…

Or well I didn't whip it… I chopped, peeled and tossed it. So much greens, so much vegetables! And pine nuts, because they are really crunchy and yummy!

I served this with copious amounts of water and a dressing made with avocado, garlic and lemon juice! A very fresh and crispy ending to a great day!

Now I am a salad enthusiast and eat it in some form every day. But the salad in itself, the spinach, rucola, lettuce, kale and all the other leafy greens out there deserves so much more praise then they're getting! They are so good for you and there is a leafy green for every occasion!

If you have a hard time getting enough leafy greens then I strongly recommend throwing some spinach in your morning smoothie! Easy way to get a cup or so first thing in the morning!

Have a great easter everyone!

Strawberry Buckwheat Oatmeal/Yogurt

I don't know what would be the right term for this meal… It has the grains that oatmeal usually does but it's entirely smooth like yogurt… But the taste is still a bit more "oatmealy" then "yogurty" if you know what I mean!

Oh, and it's also delicious (and insanely healthy!) while being completely raw!

Strawberry Buckwheat [raw, vegan] (serves 1)

      3/4 dl whole buckwheat groats (soaked in water during the night) (about 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp)

      100 grams strawberries, both frozen & fresh should be okay (I used frozen)

      3 fresh dates

      a dash of pure vanilla

Directions:

Drain the buckwheat groats well so that all the "slime" disappears then place them in a small mixer together with the dates, strawberries and the vanilla. Mix until desired consistency is reached. Some like their oatmeal with a little more texture but I mixed mine until it almost resembled yogurt!

I topped my raw oatmeal bowl with a banana, almond butter mixed with unprocessed cacao and homemade cashew milk. I also threw on some chia seeds and some shredded coconut! Unsurprisingly it was delicious and generally amazing! I just love raw food! It gives me all the energy in the world! 

Here we have a nutrition label for the entire recipe and

to me it looks just about excellent! 

Great amounts of fibre to keep you full until lunchtime!

Low fat which gives us the opportunity to drench it in 

chocolate sauce and nut butters!

A decent amount of protein that can easily be boosted with

another 5 grams via chia seeds, various nut butters or 

just chopped nuts in general! The choice is all yours!

Oh… and you'll also get all the vitamin C that you'll

be needing for the day!

A day of liquids!

My "liquid only day" truly did what it was supposed to do! It gave me back my energy and general excitement for life but also made my hungry. Not just hungry for food (even though that was a nice feeling after being sluggishly full for days) but hungry for cooking, learning and exercise! Since I was only consuming liquids I didn't do any intense exercise though! I'll save that for when I am more experienced with fast and the different varieties of it. I did some really great yoga though!

So since this was my first time doing something like this I decided to post pictures of my drinks and quickly go through what I had in them!

Breakfast consisted of a smoothie...

… that contained strawberries, milk, avocado and banana! Really delicious and put together in two minutes. The fact that we lacked spinach made me kinda sad though, since I was really looking forward to a huge, green smoothie first thing in the morning. But as I got a taste of this I decided that I would do just fine even without spinach!

For lunch I had something warm, more specifically this soup…

… that contained broccoli, peas and the spinach that I went to obtain. Deliciously green and a serious health bomb! Might post the recipe for this wonderful and wholesome soup when I have the time to snap some better pictures!

A few hours after lunch I felt kinda low on energy so I made a juice…

… that consisted of the broccoli stalks that got left over from the soup, some carrots and a few oranges. Really nom and really refreshing, just what I needed in order for me to keep on studying for another few hours.

Later during the afternoon I started to get a bit hungry again so I made a smoothie that would serve as a pre-workout snack since I was planning to do yoga within half an hour or so.

I threw some coconut milk, cacao, unsweetened protein powder, a banana and some spinach into my blender and prayed for the best. It turned out really nice and really boosted me for my yoga!

After my yoga I spent the evening chilling with my little sister and as we were watching yet another horse show I made myself an evening snack…

… which may not look very pretty (since it was dark) but it tasted divine! There is some spinach, banana and milk in there in case you were wondering. Really simple and easy!

So that's about it for today. I have really gotten my spirit back and I feel ready for the two long days that is about to come. Seems as if I have a tendency for taking on just a tad too much work… I have to learn how to say no! But that's for another day!

Tomorrow I am planning on breaking my liquid fast with banana pancakes and then I will move on to a potato salad made with heaps of steamed veggies! Aaaaand… then I don't really have any further plans, except for heaps and heaps of raw fruits and veggies of course!

Green Yogurt

Are you tired of eating yogurt that is filled with processed sugar and weird preservatives? Or do you just want a dairy free alternative that doesn't contain soy? Perhaps you're like me and just generally enjoy making your own food, and have a love for all things green?
Then this yogurt is for you! That it is super quick and easy to make just makes it even better!

Green Yogurt (serves 1)

      2 dl light coconut milk (a bit less then 1 cup)
      2 heaped dl pineapple chunks (about 1 cup)
      1 big handful of fresh spinach
      1/2-1 tsp xanthan gum
      eventually some ice cubes if you want it really cold

Directions:
Blend all the ingredients except the xanthan gum until smooth. Add the xanthan gum little by little until the yogurt is as thick as you'd like. If you're using a pineapple that isn't very sweet then you might have to add some sweetener. In that case I recommend stevia, agave or maybe a couple of dates?

 
I chose to top my yogurt with mulberries, shredded coconut, cacao nibs and chia seeds! Yum!


The yogurt makes a really generous serving, but since
I am usually really hungry when breakfast comes around I
have made the assumption that others might feel the same way.
The nutrition label is therefore for the entire recipe so knock
yourself out!

Since the recipe is so low in calories I strongly recommend
that you top it with something calorie dense like nuts and
seed. That will also give you a boost in protein! I know that
there is lots of vegan protein powders available now so if
you feel like adding that to the yogurt itself in order to
up the protein feel free to do so!

Chocolate Covered Coconut Patties

As I promised yesterday, here comes the recipe for these insanely delicious and nutritious little things! They are completely raw (if you choose to use a raw sweetener) and vegan. Its quick and easy to make them, except that you will most certainly end up with chocolate covered hands. I assume that this won't be a problem!

Chocolate Covered Coconut Patties (makes 10-12)

The filling
      1 heaped dl cashews (about 1/2 cup)
      1 heaped dl shredded, unsweetened coconut (about 1/2 cup)
      1 tbsp coconut oil
      5-10 drops of stevia (or other sweetener until desired taste)
      1/2 tsp pure vanilla

The coating
      2 tbsp coconut oil
      2 tbsp cacao powder
      1 tsp agave
      about 5 drops of stevia or more agave

Directions:
Place all the ingredients for the filling in a food processor and mix until smooth. You will most likely have to stop and scrape down some of the coconut from the sides since it has a tendency of getting stuck. When everything is smooth have a taste and see so that the sweetness is right for you and that the cashew to coconut ratio is to you liking. If it doesn't taste as you would like it then adjust the sweetener/amount of coconut until you love it!
Make small rounds of the "dough" and place on a baking sheet. When you have all your patties done then place them in the freezer for an hour or so.

When an hour has passed then start to melt the coconut oil (if you want the recipe to be strictly raw then make sure that you do not heat it over 42 °C). When its melted pour in the rest of the ingredients and mix until you have a loose, lump free mixture. Once again, if it's not sweet enough/too sweet for you then add sweetener/cacao until you find it divine!

Take out the patties from the freezer and dip them in the chocolate mixture. If there is chocolate over when you have dipped all your patties you can either double dip them or you know… drink it. Or dip strawberries in it as I did!

Place the patties in the fridge and let them stay there until it's time to serve them. The coating will melt if you leave them out in room temperature for an extended period of time.

Here is a nutrition label for one of these delicious little cookies…

I must say that this label looks pretty good for something
as delicious as these patties. It has zero cholesterol which
is great for people who needs to keep track of that.

The cashews and coconut contributes with quite a lot
of fats though but they're both really healthy fats!
For me, who tend to eat way too much fruit and way
too little fats and proteins in general, the fact that they
have fats is great. And I mean coconut is beyond
great for your skin!

So excuse me while I go and eat some, all, of these...

Eating the rainbow!

With an addition of chocolate, of course. Life wouldn't be as good without heaps and heaps of chocolate in all its shapes. Since I make my own chocolate its always sugar free and raw, which is just a huge bonus seen from a nutritional perspective! And also a huge bonus seen from the perspective of my, way too sensitive, stomach...

Now even though I have consumed a considerable amount of chocolate today my breakfast happened to be chocolate free! But not fruit free! I guess that yesterdays low intake of fruit is what caused me to crave it like crazy today.

My breakfast was positively delicious, even though it lacked chocolate, and consisted of an apple layered with mashed dates and almond butter. And some sundried mulberries on the side! Completely raw breakfasts always make me feel so energized and full of life!

Studying on the other hand, makes me feel nothing but tired and stressed. So naturally I procrastinated it by working out, then realizing that I was lacking bananas so I ran to the store to buy some. Now I was actually planning on having a cooked lunch but as I walked into the store I saw that both the grapes AND the strawberries were cheap! And all of a sudden lunch also turned out to be completely raw!

Mmm… bananas… strawberries… omnomnom!

And lets not forget the bowl of almond/chocolate butter that I made for me and me alone. Luxury. Seriously though, fruits (especially strawberries) are just the best! Especially when paired with chocolate!

After lunch I actually got some studying done though, until I started to bake! The recipe for these babies will be up tomorrow since I have some pictures left to take before I can post. But I can tell you this; they are really, really good! And very good for you with their good fats and low sugar content! And did I mention that they taste a like a little bit of heaven? And that they're completely raw?

As you can see I didn't have the patience to wait for them to solidify completely so it got a bit messy as I ate them… also I made waaaaay too much chocolate coating so I was left with a bowl half filled with chocolate. I solved this by eating more fruits out in the garden, dipped in chocolate of course!

Ah… I really need to eat some vegetables now… and study… 

A fruitful Monday!

Like literally fruitful! I've consumed such copious amounts of fruits today that I am a bit impressed by myself. And that says a lot considering that I normally eat at least 5-8 fruits a day!

The day started with the following…

… a banana, some grapes and some sundried mulberries! Completely raw breakfast completed! Well minus the tea. But I need my tea so I can definitely live with that!

Off to university I went, with some more grapes packed in my bag since I knew that I would get hungry! The lecture wasn't one of the most intriguing but fun nevertheless! Back home I went and then I threw together the recipe that I posted earlier…

And as I previously have mentioned; It is delicious. Like for reals. Try it!

Later I worked out and after that a chocolate smoothie was made (with lots of bananas & dates in because nom) and devoured. Then I studied some, which I really needed to do and when my sister finally got home we ended the day with some of this…

… which also happened to become my dinner! Five apples, one bowl raw chocolate sauce and one bowl raw caramel sauce. And an additional banana for me since the other two ate this as dessert but for me it was a full meal!

And with this I say goodnight everybody, may you sleep well so that you can have another amazing day tomorrow filled with exciting experiences and lots of laughter!