Bunny Spice (aka The Magic Carrot Juice)
When we were in Florence, SC…Becky made this amazing concoction for me. She had been talking and raving about it forever, and when we finally got around to making it, I was sorry I hadn’t taken her up on it sooner! She got the recipe from her friend Tami, and then Tami told me it was a variation of Sarma’s recipe, called the Bunny Spice! It was such a funny coincidence…being that One Lucky Duck is sponsoring us. Yet another reason to get Raw Food Real World!
This drink ROCKS my world. Even if you don’t have a juicer, you could food process the carrots and ginger with a little water…and use a cheese cloth or nut bag to squeeze out the juice. Or, you could get carrot/ginger juice at your local juice bar and hurry home to make it (juices are the most powerful within 30 minutes). Or, if you could even process the carrots/ginger to break them down and then blend them with the rest. It may not be as smooth, but I just want everyone to try this…it’s so unique! The spices are what make it so addicting…so play with them until you find your perfect mixture. I tried to get Becky to give me true measurements (because I’m a recovering obsessive measuring addict!)…but she doesn’t roll that way 🙂 Also, you must serve it in a wine glass or other beautiful drinking vessel…because it makes it “magical”. hee hee! So here it is…enjoy!
Bunny Spice (aka Magic Carrot Juice)
Sarma says: “Carrot juice is a great source of beta carotene, and a powerful antioxidant. However, carrots are also hybridized and much sweeter than wild carrots would be, and so avoid consuming too many of them. Fresh ginger is great for digestion or settling and upset stomach, and it improves circulation.”1 cup carrot ginger juice (run carrots through juicer with thumb-sized knob of ginger)
1 cup almond milk or brazil nut milk (freshly made is always best!)
2 cups frozen sliced bananaSpice blend (start with a generous pinch of each and adjust to taste)
Cinnamon
Nutmeg (freshly ground is best)
Cardamom (freshly ground is best)
CloveJuice carrots and ginger. Add to blender with frozen bananas, nut milk, and spices. Blend and drink!
Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus (no beans!)
Sun Dried Tomato Hummus
Ani‘s Raw Food Kitchen
2 c zucchini or summer squash, chopped
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lemon (2 T)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup tahini (I only used 1 T)
1 t sea salt
2 T parsley, chopped
1/3 c sun dried tomatoes, chopped
Pinch of paprika
Process zucchini, garlic, lemon juice, 1/4 c olive oil, tahini, and salt until smooth. Pour mixture into a bowl, and stir in parsley and sun dried tomatoes. Set aside and allow tomatoes to soak up moisture for 10 minutes or more. Stir well. (note: I did not let them soak, but instead just blended everything together all at once and it works fine that way as well). Sprinkle a pinch of paprika and drizzle w/a teaspoon of olive oil on top just before serving. Keeps for 2-3 days in the fridge.
Chocolate Bliss
What I am about to tell you will revolutionize your entire life. 🙂 Ok…well, maybe not. But pretty close. This is especially for those of you who are rockin’ the green smoothies…and need something to shake it up a bit. But it’s also for anyone who loves chocolate and wants a healthy alternative to their addiction. These make great popsicles for the kiddos too.
Chocolate Shake
Raw Food Real World
by Sarma Melngailis and Matthew Kenney
3 cups frozen bananas
2 cups almond milk (it’s amazing with FRESH almond milk, but any milk will work)
2T raw carob powder or cocoa powder (adjust to taste…cocoa tends to have a stronger flavor than carob)
1 t vanilla (non-alcohol)
1/4 cup agave nectar or 2 packets stevia
Pinch of sea salt
(For an extra kick, you can add a bit of cinnamon)
Put all ingredients into your blender.
Blend.
Drink.
Sit there for a moment while your world turns upside down.
Smile deliriously until someone walks by and asks what is wrong with you.
Share your chocolate bliss and make them happy too.
🙂
More Green Smoothie = More Happy
When you are making your green smoothie in the morning…make double the amount! It’s so much easier to make it all in one batch, and then you have a ready-made, delicious & satisfying snack for later in the day. I love keeping empty bottles like this one just for this purpose. Bella has an empty “mini” Naked juice bottle that is her special smoothie bottle. She loves knowing that it’s in the fridge full of green smoothie just waiting for her whenever she wants (it usually doesn’t last very long!) and I am more than happy to give it to her.For those of you that work full time and have access to a fridge…this is a great way to bring raw to the office, or even just a quick and healthy snack for the afternoon.
Also, don’t be afraid to have 2 smoothies in one day … it’s a great way to stop cravings in their tracks! Greens are where it’s at!
How To Make a Green Smoothie
For those of you who are still wondering exactly how to make one of these crazy green smoothies…check out Robyn’s (of Green Smoothie Girl fame) video. It’s great…and it has a lot of little tidbits of knowledge too. My favorite quote:
“If you do nothing else that’s healthy all day long…do this!”
Preach it sister! Even if you are eating Snickers and Mountain Dew…you can still benefit from a green smoothie…get on board!
Raw Link Love
Here are a few more delightful links for you to check out…happy surfing!
Green Smoothie Girl speaks about feeding babies and toddlers
David Wolfe speaks briefly about protein
Ani Phyo goes to the Farmer’s Market : I love Ani! Can’t wait to get to California markets…
Raw Spirit Fest 2007 (video by Philip at Loving Raw…for all you festival-loving raw foodies out there)
“How Do You Have a Social Life with Raw Food?” (a cute little song)
Funny Smoothie Video with Tim VanOrden
Thoughts on being “independently healthy” by Tim VanOrden
Raw Families
When it comes to feeding our kids, we all want the very best…but sometimes don’t even know where to begin! Transitioning your children to a raw diet (or even just more raw foods) seems daunting, but you would be surprised at how adaptable they are. It’s important to offer them many options (with different textures), make it colorful and fun, and don’t give up! They will have favorites just like you do…become a “student” of your child and find out exactly what foods their body craves. Start adding things slowly and involve them in the process.
I would highly encourage you to examine what kinds of foods you are putting in your child’s body…cut out the filler foods and go straight for the good stuff! Eliminate flour crackers, non-sprouted breads, chips, milk, and cheese and I guarantee you will see a marked improvement in their skin, their behavior (yay!), and their digestion.
I had the pleasure of meeting a family at our Live Lightly demo this week who has been raw for 1 year. They have 3 boys… all extremely bright kids and healthy kids who shared my love of dates! It was so fun to see how excited they got when I pulled them from the fridge. Weeee! It’s so refreshing to see a family teaching their children how to eat pure, whole foods from such a young age!
Some linky love:
Families in the Raw
An excellent list of resources from all over the web!
Raising Raw Kids Forum
A subforum of Give It To Me Raw
Raw Recipes for Kids
All recipes marked “kids” at Gone Raw
Meals for Raw Babies and Toddlers
A few snack/meal ideas for those of you with hopes to turn your family raw!
Happy Foody Raw Challenge + Raw Life Coaching
Attention all you green smoothie fans! It’s time to crank it up a notch. You had to have known this was coming! 🙂 Raw foods are rocking my world and I want you to have a chance to experience it yourself in a supportive and fun environment. I am launching the official “Happy Foody Raw Challenge”. If you have been intrigued by all this talk about “going raw”… now is your chance to try it out for yourself.
This challenge will be ONE WEEK long. To make it even easier for you to succeed, you will be the one to choose the 7 consecutive days that will work the best for you between now and March 25. You might consider taking one week to ADD more raw food to your diet before you start taking away the cooked foods…doing a slower transition time. Here are the guidelines:
Commit to eating raw foods for at least 7 consecutive days.
Continue to drink at least one green smoothie every day.
Easy! You can do ANYTHING for one week. And I know you will feel amazing. You’re going to have more energy. You’re going to finally kick those bad habits. You’re going to be HAPPY. Oh but Sara! What if I can’t make it a week!? If you do make the choice to have cooked foods within that 7 days, don’t beat yourself up. Shoot for perfection so you can truly experience the benefits, but be gracious to yourself on your journey! This isn’t a challenge where you need to feel “bad” or like you’re “kicked out” if you mess up. However, I do want everyone to give it their very best effort. Let’s have FUN and enjoy these amazing foods!
Exciting news! Are you serious about making a change? I am going to be offering “Raw Life Coaching” for all those interested and will have a “Raw Challenge Special” for those of you who want to try it out for just 7 days. I have also launched my private raw food journal, Raw Delight, which includes my food journals, more extensive thoughts on eating raw, and details about making the transition as a family. You will have access to that blog with the purchase of a personal coaching session. You don’t have to go 100% raw…I can also coach you in creative ways to add more raw food to your current diet. Click here for more information and pricing!
As if all that wasn’t exciting enough…there is one more big thing! Sarma Melngailis, President of One Lucky Duck and Partner/Executive Chef at Pure Food and Wine, the nation’s premier raw food restaurant in NYC has donated the prize for this challenge! She will be sending a signed copy of her cookbook Raw Food Real World to the winner, along with a tote bag and some delicious raw snacks from her exclusive raw foods store, One Lucky Duck. One Lucky Duck is now sponsoring the Live Lightly Tour and let me tell you…you do NOT want to miss out on this! The raw chocolate macaroons are worth it! Sarma’s cookbook is hands down my favorite cookbook. Gorgeous photography and recipes you will go nuts over. The introduction which details her conversion to raw is a great read. You will LOVE it. You have no idea how excited I am to be able to pass on this kind of raw love to you guys!! 🙂 To be eligable, commit yourself to this challenge and enroll yourself in our Yahoo! group below….I will announce the winner on March 25. Thank you Sarma for this awesome gift.
A few more tools for your success:
Raw Challenge Yahoo! Support Group
Make the commitment and then join our group to get ideas and support!
Raw Challenge Blog Badge
Put this on your own blog to encourage others to join as well! Please “save image as” and copy this to your own computer and then link it back to this post.
Stay tuned for ongoing encouragement, recipes, and fun! Tell all your friends about it and let’s go raw!
Beautiful Things
When we were living in Bozeman, we were friends with a lovely family that used lots of wooden bowls and utensils. He could tell you exactly where he was when he carved a certain spoon. When you ate from the bowls and used the spoons…you just felt so connected and earthy.
When we were back in Minnesota, I enrolled in a “Intro to Wood Carving Class” and learned how to carve my very first wooden spoon. It was a delightful experience and was a great arm workout! It solidified my love of all things wooden. Then, I ran across Anthony’s blog about eating from wooden bowls. I knew that I needed to go on the hunt for beautiful wood pieces to eat from. I had been checking thrift stores, etc. with no luck…but I ended up finding four beautiful bowls at a store in Florence. They were priced to sell and I snatched them up so fast 🙂
We put away all of our metal plates and we now each have a wooden bowl to eat from and bamboo wooden utensils that I had previously purchased from To-Go Ware. We eat everything and anything in these wooden bowls. I am in love. I have been using the bamboo chopsticks to eat my salad at night and it’s been such a great way to slow down the pace of my meals. I truly savor every leaf and morsel that I am able to grab with these 2 sticks. As I slow down my pace of eating, I am able to relax and be more conscious of what I’m eating and how much I’m eating. Growing up, I was notorious for being done with my food before everyone else, so this is a big change for me. Eating slowly aids in better digestion…taking time to chew eat bite slowly before moving onto the next is the first step of the digestive bliss (tip: your food should be “mush” before you swallow it!). I am slowly learning my body’s true signals for fullness, and by eating slowly, I am able to stop eating before I am stuffed. It also enables me to be more thankful for my food as I have more time to consider how blessed I am to have food so readily available to me.
I want everything in my life to be artful and beautiful…and the kitchen is no exception. My goal is to have only wooden or handmade items in my cupboard…things I consider to be beautiful. I currently have a nice collection of pottery cups and small bowls and every time I look at them I smile. They have been gathered from different travels and different artists and I feel their love in them whenever I use them.
I challenge you all to have at least one beautiful wooden bowl and/or piece of pottery in your kitchen and to try one meal this week with chopsticks. Eat mindfully… you’ll love it!
And The Winner Is…
*opening secret envelope*
Allie
Yahoo ID: jayhawk617
Congratulations Allie! You are the winner of the Green For Life book by Victoria Boutenko! I will contact you directly to get your mailing info.
Happy Foody 
