Happy Foody

We have made this recipe more times in the last month than any other. It’s delicious…and even those in your life who think they don’t “that raw food stuff” will like it! We eat this either as a salad or in romaine leaves. When you stuff the romaine leaves with these mixtures, it “feels” more like a real taco. It’s all about the texture!

There are a lot of ingredients, but it really doesn’t take that long to mix up. And once it’s made, it keeps well for several days, which makes it great for a quick supper. Enjoy!

This is Matt’s current favorite dressing…it has amazing flavor and when paired with super crisp romaine, it’s so satisfying!

Caesar Dressing
“Living on Live Food” by Alissa Cohen:

3/4 cup pine nuts
1 T flax or olive oil
1 1/2 t sea salt (preferably Himalayan Pink Sea Salt)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 date, pitted and soaked or 1 T agave nectar
1 large clove garlic
2 1/2 T lemon juice (1 large lemon juiced)
2 T water
1/2 T white miso
Sea salt/lemon as needed to taste

1. In a food processor, blend/pulse the pine nuts, 1 T oil, and sea salt until grainy. Do not over blend.
2. Remove from processor and place in small bowl.
3. In a blender, combine 1/3 c olive oil, miso, date/agave, garlic, lemon juice and water and blend until smooth.
4. Remove this mixture and place in the same bowl as the pine nut mixture.
5. Mix well by hand.
6. Serve over a generous portion of crisp romaine lettuce. Add your favorite salad “fixins” It helps to put a plate over your salad bowl and vigorously shake it to spread the dressing around. It’s a thick dressing, and needs a little help coating the salad leaves.

Note: It’s important NOT to “cream” the pine nuts with the other liquid mixture, as you want them to retain a grainy texture. This is what will give it a cheesy taste. If the dressing needs more “bite” add more lemon juice and sea salt.

Several of you have emailed me and asked what the main differences are between the 5000 and the 5200 models of the Vita-Mix blender.

I called Vita-Mix directly to find out the details, and found that the most important health related benefit of purchasing the 5200 is that the container no longer contains BPA’s (Bisphenol-A). If you are unaware of why this is important, here is an article from the Green Guide. Here is more information from Vita-Mix’s website:

Vita-Mix Corporation (Olmsted Township, OH, US) recently upgraded the containers of the household blenders ( Professional Series, Vita-Mix 5200 and Turbo Blend 4500) with a new copolyester material that does not have BPA (bisphenol-A) content.  Vita-Mix chose to use the new material because of its superior durability and sound-damping properties, but can now offer a container that is also BPA-free.

The newest Vita-Mix household blender containers are made of Tritan copolyester from Eastman Chemical Company (Kingsport, TN, US).  Vita-Mix is the first company to use the new BPA-free material in a kitchen appliance.  The material is as durable as polycarbonate and also offers improved resistance to chemicals found in cleaning compounds.  This is expected to provide greater durability over time, even with heavy use.   These new containers are available, at a minimal charge, to Vita-Mix owners who choose to upgrade to a BPA-free product.

Please note that last sentence…if you are currently using an older canister, you can call to upgrade. The other new features of the 5200 are quieter motor, better “parts”, and what not

In other news, we now have a DIRECT contact at Vita-Mix who will handle any questions Happy Foody readers have about Vita-Mix’s.

Here is Brenda’s contact information:

Brenda Kilbane
Sales Consultant
Vita Mix Corporation
8615 Usher Rd
Cleveland, OH 44138 11am-7pm EST
1-800-848-2649 Ext 2305
bkilbane@vitamix.com

If you are going to order a machine, please call Brenda directly and give her our affiliate number to get free expedited shipping!

Our affiliate number is: 06-003082

A big thanks to those of you who have already ordered yours! Shoot me an email and let me know how you like it!

Every raw cookbook has a different philosophy on raw foods…but each one offers new wisdom and insight into living foods. Even if I don’t agree with everything the book says, I love getting my hands on any information I can…knowledge is power!

What’s on my shelf?

Raw Food Real World
Living on Live Food
Living Cuisine: The Art and Spirit of Raw Foods
Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen
I am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude
Green for Life

I use every one of these cookbooks ALL the time…each one has unique and delicious treats.

Cookbooks I would like to own:

RAWvolution
The Raw Food Detox Diet
Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 people

What are your favorite raw cookbooks and why?

When I went raw the first time, Matt did it along with me when he was at home…but he never fully embraced the entire deal He enjoyed the foods I made, but he continued to enjoy his favorites. Those favorites included Dr. Pepper, Snickers, hamburgers, and all kinds of other non-raw stuff He was always a vegetarian at home as well, but ate whatever meat he wanted when he was out.

Fast forward to February. He started to realize that he was gaining more and more weight…and that his diet left much to be desired. So, a few weeks after I went raw…he joined me on his own accord. It started out with a few green smoothies. Then, it was a green smoothie every day…sometimes more than one a day. It didn’t take long before he was sold on the raw lifestyle…and after we came back from our Christmas break, he went for it.

He started to lose weight…easily. Without working out, he lost 16 lbs. in one month. He went from a pants size of almost 40 to a comfortable 36. In 2 months, he has lost 36 pounds and none of his clothes fit him anymore! Wooooo! His cravings subsided. He started waking up refreshed in the mornings…and without much sleep at all. His energy level went up, along with his mental clarity/energy.

When we are out and we choose to eat a cooked meal, he orders TOFU. Now, for those of you who knew pre-raw Matt…you understand that this is a huge step He would always have a little taste of the tofu I made at home, but would never order it for himself. It says a lot about how the raw diet changes your taste buds…and how you look at foods. To even think about putting factory farmed, hormone-laden beef or chicken in your mouth after you’ve been eating so clean…well…it’s gross

The added benefit of having your entire family eating raw, is that you aren’t tempting when you’re cooking their cooked food meals! And one of the best things about eating healthy and clean is that you never have to tell your child “no…you can’t have what mommy and daddy are eating!”. There is no guilt and nothing is off limits.

It’s so exciting when your spouse is on board with raw…and it’s downright sexy when he asks me to make him a big plate of fruit for lunch..hee hee! I know that many of you are on this raw food journey alone, without the support of your spouse. And I would guess that some of you are even having to deal with ridicule and taunting from them as well. BUT…hang in there! I never thought in a million years that Matt would go raw, so miracles do happen! Keep on track with your own eating habits…and don’t worry about his. He will see the positive changes in your life and eventually it will “click”.

I’d love to hear your story!

…is your whole family raw?

…have you had a hard time with a spouse who doesn’t “get it”?

…do you have a spouse success story?

The Green Smoothie Challenge results are in…and it was amazing and life changing! Here are some of the testimonials I received from those of you who participated…feel free to use the comment section of this post to share your own testimonial. How has drinking green smoothies affected your other eating habits? Did anyone else join you in your endeavor? Do share! For continued green smoothie support/ideas…check out the board here.

Hi Sara!
We did the challenge as a family. Here’s what we noticed:

At the end of January, I decided to finally go vegetarian and to cut out dairy. I started green smoothies about two weeks later so my observations must fairly be based on both of those changes.

· I lost 14 pounds.

· Despite losing weight, my milk production definitely increased.

· My toddler happily slurps approximately a pint of green smoothie every day.

· My elimination, which has been really erratic since my children were born, is completely healthy and normal now.

· My skin glows and is completely clear.

· My husband’s dark eye circles are much lighter and his allergies (environmental) haven’t been bothering him.

· My husband reports more energy during his work day without having to rely on caffeine.

· Everyone around us is getting bad colds and flus and we are healthy. Only the baby had the sniffles for a couple of days but it never got worse than that and went away quickly.

· I don’t need nearly as much food to satisfy me as I used to and my cravings for “bad” food are gone. I don’t even think in terms of bad or good anymore. There’s food (whole plant food) and not-food (animal products, packaged junk food, paper, dirt, etc) I would no sooner eat a hamburger than I would a shoe.

· For me, it was the perfect jump start to being “successfully raw”, to take a page from Karen Knowler. For me and my family, that’s around 75% raw.

I just feel so good. I can’t thank you enough for being the impetus to finally DO this. I turn 30 next week and I am so excited to be moving into my best health ever. How’s that? All blessedly true!

-Tara
http://fiddlemama.blogspot.com

Hi Sara,
We have been doing the smoothie challenge for about a month now. I
have to say that this is the best thing we have ever done for our
family. I notice a big difference if I have missed a day or two. I
think in the past month, I have only broken out with ONE pimple, and
that was stress-induced (the in-laws were flying in). Thank you for
introducing the Green Smoothie to our family. Your blogs and pictures
are always so inspiring. I consider you a friend, and I’ve never even
met you! Hopefully one day our paths will cross. Take care, and God
bless you and your family!
Kathi
http://chrysanthemama1.blogspot.com/

Hi Sara!
Has it been 30 days already? I just wanted to thank you for getting me started on green smoothies. I had a rough start (some major detox going on), but this is a habit I plan on keeping. I am AMAZED at how my sugar cravings are kept at bay just by having a green smoothie for breakfast. I strive to eat raw until dinner…some days I do it, some days I don’t, but all in all, the green smoothie at the beginning of my day sets me on a healthier path for the rest of the day.

A few benefits I’ve noticed…

1)f ewer sugar cravings
2) my hair looks much healthier
3) I don’t feel bloated or have digestive issues, and perhaps the most rewarding
4) my husband and my baby are on a green smoothie kick too! We still can’t get our toddler on board, although every now and then he’ll drink a little bit of a “pink green smoothie”.

Anyhow, thanks again for helping my family to start a healthy new habit! I am now exploring more raw foods and, while I’m not yet ready to go 100% raw, I definitely am ready to start incorporating more raw foods into my diet!

Jennifer