Quinoa Salad

Some cooked and some raw

Cooked quinoa with steamed baby zucchini and corn, with raw carrot, tomato, basil and scallions.

Super easy to make and good to eat warm or cold. Recipe from Raw and Beyond.

Triple C Cookies

Raw cookies made from coconut, chia seeds and cacao.

A healthier raw cookie, made with virtually no nuts (with the exception of 2 tablespoons of nut butter), but packed with chia and coconut which makes them tasty, chewy and high in omega 3's.

Recipe is from Raw and Beyond.

Raw Pea Soup

Very simple and tasty recipe from Raw and Beyond, by Elaina Love. Perfect for the summertime.

1 bag frozen peas, defrosted
1 1/2 cups hot water
1-2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons hempseeds
2 teaspoons flaxseed oil

Blend in a blender or food processor and serve.

Green Smoothies for days

It's been over a month and I'm still going strong on the green smoothies.  I've been having them everyday, and I make enough in the morning to sip them for a good chunk of my day. I have been just making them up as I go now that I know what flavor combinations I like. I haven't been photographing them or anything I've making for that matter because it hasn't been that exciting to show you all :)

I've been eating very simply in the evenings as well in the last few weeks. I'll make a dinner such as beans, a grain and steamed veggies, or a big salad, or a lightly steamed sweet potato with minced raw veggies on top. I've been enjoying going out a little bit more now that I've been including some cooked food back into my diet. But even when going out, I try to eat pretty simply and find dishes that pack more nutrients. (I do hope however to make some more exciting dishes soon to show you all so stay tuned :)

For my green smoothies, I try to hit up a farmers market every week to get a different variety of greens that I can't find at the grocery store, in order to fully be able to rotate my green intake. There I have been finding lamb's quarters, dandelion, miner's lettuce, sorrel, vitamin greens, russian kale (younger and softer than normal kale), purslane, chickory, mustard greens, and sprouts. And then at the store I can easily find arugula, kale, spinach, romaine, red and green leaf lettuce, chard, beet greens, and bok choy. 

For fruit, I typically pick up a big bunch of bananas, and then some apples, pears, mango, pineapple, strawberries, and peaches and then switch it up with different berries, kiwi, papaya and whatever I can find. 

I was making 2 or three kinds a day and only having 1/3 or 1/2 of each batch,  in order to have different flavors in a day. But I found that I don't mind sipping on the same smoothie for a while as long as its tasty. That way I can make one smoothie in the morning and finish it that day and can start with a fresh one the next day instead of having left overs.  The fresher the better in terms of having the nutrients at their best for consumption.

I tend to always have a banana in my smoothies and switch up everything else, just because they create a nice sweet and creamy base. I've done just apples and pears and that was really boring and too watery tasting so I found that something sweeter and creamier mixed with apples and pears is good. 

For spicy or bitter greens I found that mango or pineapple are really good for cutting through the spice or bitterness. Then I add whatever fruit I think is good with them. I try to not use both mango and pineapple because they are so sweet on their own.

For more neutral tasting greens, you are good to use any fruit as your base. 

Overall, I try to use no more than 3 or 4 fruits in my smoothies because the simpler the ingredients, the more your body can absorb all the nutrients of the smoothie and not be bogged down with too much work. So feel free to experiment! Green smoothies are a simple thing to make, just focus on rotating your greens, and keeping the smoothie simple. Also, try to consume them on their own and not along with other food so that your stomach can just focus on getting the good stuff from the smoothies. Green smoothies are a complete food with their nutrient content and fiber so don't worry about only having a smoothie in your stomach.

Greens + fruit + water = fun timez

Check out my previous post on green smoothies here and of course I encourage you to learn from the original creator of the green smoothie, Victoria Boutenko, on her green smoothie blog.