Thursday, December 16, 2010

I need to blog more!

Oh how the time flies.  I have had so many things I wanted to blog, but there just doesn't seem to be enough time!

Monday night I went to my first Raw Food Tulsa meetup. Raw and Live Food 101 - Desserts.  Kat and Faith made an apple pie, coconut ice cream and chocolate pudding. It was really interesting and tasted amazing.  I am not totally raw when it comes to eating, especially in this cold weather, but I certainly favor it.  My diet is probably 70-80% raw.  I am enjoying all the raw recipies I have been trying.

Tonight I made a great salad from Vegetarian Times Special Healing Foods Cookbook.  It was a Grated Raw Beet Salad with Jicama, Avacado and Orange.


 The red beet, white jicama, green avocardo and cilantro, and the oranges look so pretty together in the bowl.



The dressing had orange juice concentrate as the base and it really complimented all the vegetables.  This is a definate "do-over" in our house.

It has been so cold here in Oklahoma, but we are so lucky to not have any snow and ice.  Today I was in the mood for soup and tried another recipe out of the Vegetarian Times Special Healing Foods Cookbook, Minestone with Sun-Dried Tomatoes Soup. It was just what I needed in this cold weather. I had fresh green beans so used them instead of peas, and I also had several cups of vegetable broth that I added to the water to equal the right amount of liquid, otherwise I followed the recipe.



We LOVED it!  Next time I will double the recipe!

Now to get back to all the tasks of getting ready for Christmas.  Remember, you are what you eat! Pick wisely. And go for that green smoothie everyday!




Monday, December 6, 2010

I LOVE My Spiralizer!!

It just amazes me how easy a task can be with the right gadget!  Sunday was no exception.

I just love veggie pasta, and without my spiralizer I would really miss out on this treat!


I gave it got a good workout: zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and parsnips.  It made a very colorful combination.  I added some shredded green cabbage and minced garlic and I my pasta is made for the week.


Isn't it pretty!

I will have it for lunch this week with various toppings.  I have a great marinara sauce that is perfect on it. I made marinated portabello mushrooms, also terrific on veggie pasta. 

And for a new topping, I tried a new recipe, Fettuccini Cheddar Pasta. The cheddar sauce is amazing.  It is made from red bell pepper, water, raw cashews, tahini, nutritional yeast, sea salt, onion, garlic and lemon juice.  All just blended in my Blendtec until it is creamy. Easy. Easy. Easy!! And yummy, yummy, yummy!!!


Since the Cheddar Sauce it isn't my personal recipe I cannot share it with you, however, it can be found in Eating for Energy by Yuri Elkaim.

What a great way to get your veggies!!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Oklahoma City - Shopping and Lunch at 105degrees

Today was a rare treat! My husband and I decided to set everything aside and spend the day together. Thus, a little road trip to Oklahoma City. It was a perfect day!

First, lunch at 105degrees.  Phenomenal! Capital letters: PHENOMENAL!


My husband ordered coffee, and being the DoubleShot Coffee snobs that we are, he was pleasantly surprised at the quality of his coffee that arrived at the table in a French press.  I decided to try a juice, and I was not disappointed in my choice either.  Complete with a glass straw, my apple, cinnamon, ginger, and lemon juice was fabulous. (I love the glass straw!)


After driving for two hours to get to this restaurant, we planned to experience it from the appetizer to the dessert.  First up, the starter: The Mezze.


Beginning at the top, olives (3 kinds) marinated in a citrus juice, hummus with eggplant bacon, hemp seed tabbouleh, and incredible falafel. We ate it ALL! 

And then came our main course:


This is mine, Heirloom Tomato Lasagna. Unbelievable! Tomatoes, spinach, zucchini, a Macadamia ricotta, pesto, sun dried tomatoes . . . and with such a creative presentation I almost hated to mess it up! It was remarkable.  I would get it again in a heartbeat.  And even though I thought I could never eat it all, guess what . . . I did!


Dick selected the Reuben.  It was made with Portobello mushrooms, sauerkraut and 105degrees thousand island dressing.  Check out the "bread" to this sandwich.  I wish I could remember what it was made out of.  The mix is rolled and then dried in the dehydrator and becomes the 'bread" for the sandwich. He thought it was great.


His side was a slaw that was basically red and green cabbage, carrots and more.  He was also impressed with his lunch, and although I didn't take a picture of his empty plate, it looked just like mine!

Here are a few more pictures of meals from the counter 
waiting for the wait staff to pick up.


OK, so you would think, how could we eat one more thing, and then along came Lauren, our awesome waitress!


She brought us the Giandujo Tasting dessert.  Oh my gosh, there is not even a way to describe this!  It had 5 different desserts on it.


This picture just has to serve as the words! It was . . . I can't even come up with words to describe the taste. I can tell you if we had this at home, we would not have scraped the plate, we would have licked it!!  In the end, I don't think we could get any more off the plate than we did!


This was more than lunch. It was a really fun, delicious, and well worth the drive, eating experience.  The restaurant was clean and pleasant.  The staff was amazing.  Our waitress, Lauren, was a delight. She was so informative, attentive and friendly. Kelly Lee, the General Manager, took time to visit with us, and even introduced us to one of the chef's (sorry I forget her name!) who gave us a tour of the kitchen!!  Too fun.  This place not only had great food, but great people too!

Created in 2009, Oklahoma City's 105degrees is an innovative living cuisine brand, featuring a restaurant, a culinary academy, and a boutique retail shop. It is the first living foods company of it's kind. I can't wait to go back.

Oh, and of course, I couldn't pass up the their shop. Two cookbooks, well not really cookbooks because nothing in them is cooked, had to come home with me!


After lunch came the shopping! From 105degrees it was a short drive to the Penn Square Mall.  It was mobbed!  We lucked out and got a parking spot on the pavement, since many people were parking in the grass!  My husband got some incredible buys at Jos. A. Bank, and I got slacks (down another size!!!) at Talbots. We had a great time roaming around the mall and "window" shopping.

It was, as I said earlier, a perfect day.  I spent it with my husband of 40 years, who continues to be my best friend and the love of my life, and it was filled with so many things that make me grateful for my new health and lifestyle.  

Life is good. Yes, it is. Very good.

Friday, December 3, 2010

A New Home For Green Smoothies

This is a brand new Blendtec blender. It is straight out of the box, making it's first smoothie, in a home of a very dear friend (two "dears" actually), that are ready to begin drinking green smoothies. I am so happy they are making this choice.

We had so much fun leading up to opening the box with the new blender.  First to Whole Foods, where we spent the "whole paycheck!"  for greens and fruits. Then we got everything ready, a quick blender lesson, and the first smoothie was made!  To make it easy and convenient, and to encourage a continuation of green smoothie days, I made up bags to put in the freezer for a few upcoming days. Each bag is filled with enough fruit and greens for one smoothie.  Can't get any easier!

Move over steaks and pork chops, the fruits and vegetables are here!!!
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