Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Happy November 1st everyone,
Lori and I are still trying to figure out where the year went? How about all of you, do you feel your life is just flying by? Although I love fall…colder weather, leaves changing colors…oh and the Holidays are right around the corner : ) One of the markets we sell at already had Christmas lights up! Are you the type of person who starts early with holiday decoration and shopping, or do you wait till after Thanksgiving?
In our family the day after Thanksgiving is when we go get our Christmas tree and put up the lights on the house. My dad and one of my brother-in-laws loves to go all out with the lights. I mean seriously…it is crazy, but they have fun with it!
Anyways Lori and I enjoyed a lovely dinner last night
The plan was to make our version of mock chicken salad, which we have before and loved it!
Twins Recipe
Twins Mock Chicken Salad:
A New Twist
A simple, refreshing flavor…it is so easy to make:
Twins Twisted Mock Salad
2 cups soaked pumpkin seeds (soak for at least 1 hour)
3 carrots, peeled
1 cucumber
1 black radish, peeled
2 lemons, just the juice
1/2 cup hemp seeds (the originally recipe called for some tahini, but we are out)
1 garlic
Use rough chop the veggies because everything is going to get thrown into the food processor
Two springs of fresh rosemary
Remove from stem
Pulse a little then add pumpkin seeds, 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, juice of the 2 lemons and 1 tsp salt
Pulse
What the texture to be small pieces, not mushy! So pulse slowly.
To assembly:
Place a good handful or two of lettuce on a plate.
Now here is how we topped the salad on top of the lettuce
Using 1/2 cup measuring cup, fill it up……Yep NO fancy equipment needed here : )
Flip onto lettuce
And there you have it
We added some avocado slices….it was a great simple, satisfying meal! While we were eating it, it reminded both of us of something but just could not put on our finger on it. It somewhat reminded us of chicken pot pie, minus the bread, fat, etc…Still not quite sure if that what it is but we have some leftover that we will try to see if we can pinpoint what the flavor reminds us of.
And recipe #2
Raw Raspberry Cupcake
We have made raw cupcakes before and there are many versions of raw cupcakes out there. We feel one of the best is ShannonMarie from Rawdorable. We love her, she is so creative and her cupcakes always look amazing! So please check her yummy treats out, you won’t be disappointed
And after some inquires about our cupcake we decided to share with you all our recipe. As I mentioned we have done different versions of cupcakes, more cupcakes, all with different bases and using different techniques. Overall what we have learned is just have fun and play around with different ingredients.
Twins Raw cupcakes
Chocolate Cherry
Coconut Lime
Lemon
Mint Chocolate
Pumpkin Cupcakes
We like to fill our raw cupcakes with some of the frosting or we make a filling, because some times they tend to more dense and rich than regular baked cupcake, so this gives the filling of “lightness” Well at least we think so : ) and we love frosting!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond flour (made from almond pulp)
- 1 1/4 cups pumpkin flour (made from pumpkin pulp)
- 2/3 cup coconut flour (made from grinding up coconut flakes)
- 4 dates (we use medjool)
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- pinch salt
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
We blened our ingredients in a food processor, till just combined, do not want a big ball of paste. But you can also do it in a mixer!
Then fill your cupcake liners with your batter, try to lightly pressed them. We dehydrated them for a few hours, although you can just put them in the freezer.
Frosting
- 1/4 cup fresh raspberries
- 1 medium banana
- 5-6 tbsp coconut oil (all depends on size of banana – add more oil if not getting hard)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- you can add a few drops of liquid stevia if you want it sweeter, it is optional
Place all frosting ingredients in blender and blend till smooth. Place in fridge to set.
Then remove cupcakes from liners, and then frost. We put our frosting into a piping bag. We took a little scoop out of the cupcake to fill with some frosting. Then put the little cut out piece back on top and then piped on the frosting.
Enjoy!
These can be stored in the freezer or fridge!
Hope you enjoyed our vegan recipes in honor of Happy World Vegan Day!
“Animals are my friends …
and I don’t eat my friends.” George Bernard Shaw
We love this quote because we totally agree. Animals are our friends, our running pals, they comfort us when we feel alone, they do not judge us, they make us laugh…how could you harm them?
Well off to go for a run…
Till next time
L&M
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Raw Recipes
Tags: dessert, dinner, holiday, mock chicken salad, raw cupcakes, vegan
Friday, October 23, 2009 at 02:02 PM
Happy Friday Friends,
I am glad to see that everyone enjoyed our water kefir lesson yesterday! If there are any more questions just email us twins@pure2raw.com, and we be glad to answer any more questions.
Last nights dinner was a new recipe idea that we thought of last minute. Here is the final results:
Michelle’s on left and Lori’s on right….. so who plates better???
After staring at our dinner plates we realized it just needed something else….
Lori’s plate…. black sesame seeds did the trick 
Michelle’s plate.Can you guess what the meal is?
Creamy wilted down spinach with avocado, lime juice, and nutritional yeast!
The beets on the creamy spinach salad are roasted. This is the one ‘cooked’ food we decided to have today. And yes when we cooked food these days it has been at our last meal “dinner”. By eating all raw during the day and come cooked at night gives us the energy we need to perform our best during the day.
Don’t worry we still had room for dessert. I guess our run early in the day got our metabolisms going.
Our dessert cocktail
This little dessert cocktail was rockin!! We used our clean un-cleaned leftover coconut yogurt blender to mix up a little something special. Again we just threw ingredients into the blender and volia…. perfection! *More on the coconut yogurt recipe later.
Twins Dessert Cocktail:
- 2 cups coconut water
- about 1 tbsp carob powder
- 1 packet stevia
- very small drop of mint extract (optional) we just love mint!
- - leftover coconut yogurt (what was left inside from trying to clean out our vita-mix blender) * if had yogurt already made than I would suggest putting about 1-2 tbsp worth of yogurt into blender.
Blend and enjoy!
Our Friday morning started off with some warm lemon water followed by our first cup of our homemade Kombucha. * And we try to recycle as much as we can in our house so you can see our re-used Kombucha glass bottles that we bought in the store. So clever… like no one else has already thought of this before 
Not bad we must say Though it was not has fizzy as the bottled ones in the store :/
Next was finally breakfast…. can you guess what it is?
Yep Green smoothie. This was filled with apples, water, lemon zest and juice, half banana, 2 bunches of watercress. Key is to blend till smooth. Than drink with a must have item— glass straw!
Ok… now time for coconut yogurt making 101 lesson.
How to make coconut yogurt 101:
* this is our second time making it… we have tried a few new things to make it better than the last one and still nut free. If you missed our first time making it you can check it out here. This is Michelle trying to recreate and modify the cashew coconut yogurt she learned at school.
Tools needed: blender, measuring cups, spoons and/or spatula
Ingredients:
- 4 cups coconut meat (it took about 8 coconuts to get this amount of meat)
- 1 cup coconut water
- 1/4 cup lucuma
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 tsp pro-biotic powder (we used powder from opening up capsules)
Place all in blender
This is how we use pill form probiotic in our yogurt….our drugs HAHA
Blend in blender till smooth.
Now time to pour into bowl to let sit overnight and cover lightly with a towel in warm place.
And the next morning here is what you get
Now we just took a few bites of it to see if it has improved since our first attempt…. much better. Love making progress in the kitchen.
What to do with your yogurt?
Use it in smoothies, granola/cereal, or use it as ’sour cream’ or ‘mayo’ in more savory dishes, the choices are endless…Here is what we did
In honor of all the other bloggies who have been enjoying lost of pumpkin creations. We took some roasted pumpkin, pureed it and stirred it with our yogurt.
We stirred in chia seeds and drizzled with yacon syrup (or any favorite sweetener) We like yacon because it is low glycemic and reminds us of molasses. : )
Pure- Simple- And Delicious! Are you drooling yet… I am haha!
Don’t worry about the coconut kefir…. it is almost done fermenting. We will show more of that tomorrow. I know you are all so excited…
But here is what it looks like so far…. we are scared….
It is exploding…yikes this will be interesting. Check back in tomorrow to see how we did.
Till next time,
Lori and Michelle
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Raw Recipes
Tags: cocktail, coconut yogurt, dinner, green smoothie, Kombucha tea, raw creamy spinach
Monday, October 12, 2009 at 03:56 PM
Hey everyone,
Hope you all had a great Monday! The twins had a pretty good day.
We started our 5th day of our cleanse with a green smoothie
Swiss chard, apples, lime, turmeric, cinnamon, and stevia…each got about 2 cups…yes we are drinking out of wine glass : ) Just love how sometimes it creates foam on top (like a cappuccino- well almost)
Twins Workout: (Our sweat station) SAUNA 30 minutes – felt great! Could just feel all the toxins sweating out of our bodies!
The other day our friend Averie gave us some wonderful yoga poses to try that help with detox and support the organs..thanks girl! We loved them, so today after all those yoga twists and turns yesterday we thought we should sweat those toxins out : ) The sauna felt amazing…so relaxing!
We had a wonderful Green Juice to replenish us.
Purple kale, ginger, celery, granny smith apples and mystery green we got from the farmers market…it was actually a really good juice, very pleasant for being so green!
Snack was our cocktail
Yep, KOMBUCHA TEA : )
Then our afternoons were a little crazy. Michelle was running around town doing errands while I headed to my colonic appointment. Now I am not going to get too detailed or anything…just wanted to say I had a good session! The hydrotherapist was very nice and we talked about my issues and what her general thoughts were on cleansing, colon health, raw food, etc.
I must say I left feeling physically good, just mentally have some things I need to think about. She told me since I was not eliminating properly or enough (remember you should be eliminating about 2-3 times a day)!
I immediately told Michelle what I learned at my session. How our bodies our going through some serious detox and since we were not eliminating properly we may need to change a few things. How the hydrotherapist mentioned to try eating a few “cooked” foods and make sure we get good oils (maybe even fish or cod liver oil). Gena also mentioned to us about trying some ‘cooked’ foods to help ease our detox. I must admit I am a little scared and nervous about trying ‘cook’ foods again. I felt I have come all this way and I am not sure how my body would react. Also, my hydrotherapist mention the ayurvedic beliefs and how I am like a Vata.
And especially during the winter months Vatas do better with some warmed meals. Michelle and I got into the Ayurvedic beliefs a few years ago and always thought we might be a Vata. I plan to pull out those books again here and re-read everything and try to incorporate a few new things into my lifestyle this winter to see how it goes for me. Remember that each person is different. I know plenty of raw foodies that do just fine on 100% raw lifestyle and I think maybe one day I will get there but maybe not. If my body likes a few warmed meals every now and then well then that is what I am going to give it. Life is all out about finding your inner balance and peace! I feel that I am on the right path to get me there… time will tell.
But after a long talk with Michelle we have decided that when our cleanse is over we might eat a few steamed veggies or have some warm soup to start. To see how our bodies handle it. Now, we are not saying we are going to eat cooked foods all the time and give up on raw. NO WAY, we love the raw foods lifestyle! We are just going to have a few warmed meals maybe once or twice a week. But we have two more days on our cleanse to finish up first. It is a mental thing now. I could end my cleanse and eat steamed veggies now though I told myself I was doing a 7 day cleanse and that is what I plan to do!
It sure was tempting because look at all the food I made my boyfriend…
Sweet potato fries, roasted eggplant and peppers, and my favorite
Quinoa with roasted butternut squash and bok choy!
Oh and roasted some cauliflower…whew he has food for the rest of the week : )
So enough of my ranting about my colonic session back to food.
Dinner Smoothie:
I was sure hungry by the time I got home and Michelle made us a yummy blueberry smoothie filled with our last bit of fresh coconut water 
and parsley, stevia, cinnamon, chia powder and some collard greens. It actually tasted pretty good.
Question:
What do you do during the colder months? What are your favorite foods that you recommend trying during winter? Or do you not have warmed foods?
Till next time,
Lori and Michelle
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Health, detox
Tags: colonics, cooked meals, dinner, juice, Kombucha tea, sauna, smoothie
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 08:12 PM
Hey everyone
Well despite a great night, last night was also sad. I had to say goodbye to Jen : ( I will miss you!
Today I woke up feeling down…I knew I would be saying more goodbyes to my friends. Lori and I met Gina and Tom at 105 degrees for breakfast before they started their road trip back to GA.
I ordered a green juice with a cacao pear muffin
Lori ordered a green juice with the cinnamon-orange bun
And we shared a side of almond toast
Me, Gina, and Tom all enjoying our last breakfast at 105 degrees This is the sad part about when your vacation or some experience has to come to an end… you make all these new friends and than before you know it is time to say goodbye.
As we were eating Greg and Whitney came in to get a smoothie for the road. They both are heading out today…so I said my goodbyes to them : ( In addition I said goodbye to Sonja and Kelly. So not the best way to start the day and having cloudy rainy weather outside did not help my mood either. Though I tried to make the most of it!
I could not sit in the hotel, because I did not want to think. So Lori and I went for a drive. We had no real destination in mind, just drove around as we talked. We had a lot to talk about but were just not feeling happy. We tried to go workout but even that did not lift our spirits. Weird I know, but I have so many emotions and thoughts inside me that I am having a hard to time sorting them out.
I have learned a lot here, especially over the last 24 hours. I have learned I cannot make people like me, I cannot make everyone happy, all I can do is live my own life, try to be a good example, and hopefully along my journey help one or maybe 2 people along the way. All I want to do is help show people that living a raw foods lifetsyle means embracing life, chosing life, and respecting your body. All the presenters yesterday mentioned how we all have a choice, we have to find how choosing raw foods, choosing to exercise, can positively change our quality of life. We all have to take everything in that we read, hear, or watch because everyone has what they believe is the raw foods lifestyle. So remember you have to find what works for you.
I have also learned that people that choose this way of living are genuinely nice people. They all want to share their stories hoping they can touch someone to make a positive change. Well they all touched me…and well I came here with ideas of what I thought, what I believed, what I thought I knew but now I have a lot of things I want to sort out.
I am very grateful for this experience, for all the people I have met, and for all that I have learned. I am going to miss this place….having a place I could go and eat and not have to worry about what I am eating… is the best feeling ever, which makes it hard to leave. I always wonder why do raw foodies/vegans/vegetarians are the ones always having to explain themselves? What makes us different? Why can’t people understand that these lifestyle/dietary choices make us happy, they make us feel good, why is that so hard to believe?
Lori and I had our last dinner tonight at 105 degrees and both still were not in the best of moods. I don’t know what it was, something in the air, or a vibe we were feeling, but it is just making me even more confused because I thought being around people that shared similiar interest would be a good thing.
We both were not that hungry so we kept dinner light and simple. We split the red sweet pepper wrappers and the spicy vegetable summer rolls and both got a side of kale chips (in honor of Gina ) We also ordered the green tea tropical tea.
Hey it was cold outside
We plan on having our breakfast there again tomorrow before heading to the airport! Hopefully we both wake up with more mental clarity tomorrow morning. Time to get to packing.
Hmmm…well I will have a lot of time tomorrow on my flights to think…which for me is not always a good thing.
Till next time,
Michelle & Lori
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: 105 degrees academy, Health
Tags: 105 degrees, breakfast, dinner, green juice, raw food, tea, vegan
Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 09:17 AM
Hello everyone,
Well, today was my official last day of school. I survived! I still am finding it hard to believe that my month here is over… now I have to go back to the reality and back to work :/ Such a bitter sweet moment…. happy to be graduating and taking what I learned back home but as well so sad to leave everyone here.
Well Lori and I snacked on some of my raw fig tart that I made in class (that I froze) before heading to 105 degrees to grab a smoothie for lunch with Gina.
Sure glad that we had a few bites of this before we left because the smoothie guys were slammed at lunch. So we had to wait till later that afternoon to get our smoothies.
Lori wanted to share with all of you the lovely rent-a-car that she is has been sporting out while she is here
Here is me ready to go into class for my last day
Me – first one to class…. time to get work big night ahead!!!
As I headed to class with Gina, Lori went back to the hotel to do work ( I think she did some). Today was just prepping all of our final dishes for our dinner tonight at 6:30pm followed by our graduation! I got everything ready early so called the sis back to come get her smoothie. Sorry we forgot to take a pic! Well actually Lori took pictures and accidentally deleted them before importing them into the computer…. opps!
Has that ever happened to you before? Deleted your pictures before putting them into your computer?
Back to me prepping for my tonight’s final dish. My theme is Caribbean based flavors like curry, cilantro, cinnamon, jerk seasonings! Here are some quick pictures of some of what you will see from me….
mango slices for my jerky
My coconut rice
My caramelized red onions
My work station… the nerves were definitely starting to kick into full gear right about now
Time to plate up
Plating all my dishes…had to do two servings
Finally time to sit down and eat all of our wonderful dishes. The outside patio was closed off just for us! As well got seated we got served our dishes.
Here is my menu
Since everyone was sick of what they had made from practicing it all week – we passed around everyone’s dishes. That way we all got to try what our classmates created. And boy did everyone do a fantastic job! I am honored to have been able to share this experience with each and every one of you.
Me and Jen
Lori, Gina, & I
Gina, me, & Blake
Greg, me, & Rob
The sis & I
I am so happy Lori was able to be here and experience this all with me!!
Dinner is served
Now here are just a few dishes from my classmates
Everything was delicious!!
Here are two special guest for the evening – Anthony and Philip
They sat down at Lori and I’s table!!! They were both so nice!! They also stayed and enjoyed everyone’s meals as well.
OMG - They are eating MY FOOD!!! SO EXCITING!!!!
Anthony and Lori
Philip & I
Anthony with the Twins
Philip turn with the Twins
Matthew giving a speech to everyone
Matthew with the Twins
My class though missing some ....
Whitney, me, & Ladan
the sis & I again
me&Gina (my angel)...I am going to miss this girl
What a night is was…cannot believe it is over. Thank you so much to Anthony and Philip for talking with my sister and I. You both were so gracious!! Thanks again to Matthew and Dara for putting this whole academy together!!!
Well it is Saturday morning and just got back from a wonderful yoga class with Laura and all my other yogini friends….I will miss them
Now time to get ready for the day full of exciting speakers followed by a special dinner with everyone! Can’t wait!
**Remember if you are in the area to stop by 105 degrees this afternoon for the LIVE AND LEARN EVENT!
I hope all of you are having a wonderful weekend so far!
Till next time,
Lori and Michelle
The Raw Twins
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: 105 degrees academy, Health
Tags: 105 degrees, dinner, graduation, raw desserts, raw foods
Friday, September 18, 2009 at 07:33 PM
Hello everyone,
It is Lori here. I hope everyone had a great Friday. Mine was a day full of baking and making delicious gluten free vegan baked goods as well as some raw food items for the farmers market tomorrow that I sell my goodies at. Check out everything that I did here.
Boy, was I pooped after a long day in the kitchen. I was sure happy to get my workout done first thing in the morning.
Before I left though I drank my lemon water!
I ate my pre-workout bar and the other half of my chocolate wrap that was leftover from earlier this week. Great way to get going!
Today’s workout I decided to do an uphill climb followed by some legs exercises. Love the feeling of burning out my legs!
Treadmill climb workout:
- 3 minutes at 3.5 mph incline 3%
- 3 minutes at 3.6 mph incline 4%
- 4 minutes at 3.6 mph incline 5%
- 5 minutes at 3.7 mph incline 6%
- 20 minutes at 4.0 mph incline 11%
- 10 minutes at 4.0 mph incline 13%
- 2 minute cool down
Legs:
- standing one legged hamstring curl up – 2 sets 13 reps on each side
- seated down hamstring curl ( I did one leg at a time)- 2 sets 20 reps on each side
- leg extension – 1 sets 15 reps on each side
- backward lunges – 1 set – 25 reps on each side
Overall my workout I felt great. Legs were feeling the burn!
What is your favorite leg workout? Mine is backward lunges.
When I got back from the gym I was planning on having a Vega protein shake though I had some vegetables that needed to be eaten up so I made a juice and had my vega protein shake about 30 minutes later with some coconut water. (Sorry no pictures I was in a hurry to get my day going – lots of baking still to do)
Than I made myself a lovely cinnamon spiced green smoothie. I was feeling like cinnamon and added it in to my smoothie today and whoa what a difference. I really enjoyed that hint of cinnamon!
Cinnamon smoothie:
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 2 apples
- lemon juice and zest
- 1 packet stevia
- 1 swiss chard leaf
- large handful of cilantro
- 1 tbsp Vega EFA oil blend
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- heaping 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Blend in vita-mix and enjoy!
The rest of my day just flew by making these delicious raw food items for the market:
Fudgy Brownie Bites
And this new item which had been added to the menu. They have been a huge hit!!!!
Samoa ring cookies with chocolate drizzle! YUMMMMM
Finally I got around to making a little late afternoon snack…. I was craving pudding. Luckily I had an avocado on hand – the perfect ingredient to make excellent quick and easy puddings. I wanted mine to bit sweet but tart too. Therefore, I added some stevia and lime juice and zest. I also added in a few bonus ingredients (maca, sun is shining, and chia seed powder) to bump the nutritional value in my pudding. I must say it REALLY hit the spot for me! Now don’t judge my the picture. It was really good! I call it my green “mush” pudding.
I did this in my small food processor so it did not get as creamy as it usually does in the blender. Though it still tasted great!
I finally got to sit down on the sofa and really enjoyed this pudding. And got to be off my feet for a few minutes! Don’t you just love those few minutes of pure enjoyment of eating something totally amazing! It really makes you feel good!
My few minutes of heaven did not last long before I knew it I was back in the kitchen baking some cupcakes and a cake for a birthday.
Though I did spend I little bit of time making my dinner. It was actually overall a pretty easy dinner to create. I grabbed some of my veggies (carrots, bok choy, cucumber, bean sprouts) and used my leftover spread from my fennel tarts the other day as my filler.
Romaine Lettuce wraps:
First was slicing all the veggies to go inside the romaine leaves. I used my handy little tool from William Sonoma. It is a great kitchen tool to have for those quick shredding jobs!
All my veggies
Time to start to fill the romaine lettuce wraps with my creamy pumpkin seed dressing
Now the veggie layer
Now my romaine leaves were not that big to fully roll them. So I just kinda curled them up and ate it like that. Still delicious and good. I ended up having another plate full of wraps!
Now I am sure I will be having something small for dessert due to me getting up at 3:45 am for the farmers market. Yes I get up that early because I like to drink my lemon water and have breakfast way before I have to leave at 5:30am. That way it gives my stomach time to rest and hopefully relieve myself before leaving (sorry for the language, there is just no other way to say it) because I won’t see a bathroom again till 7 hours!!!!! Oh the joys of my job!
I hope you all have a pleasant weekend.
Till next time,
Lori
The Raw Twins
L&M
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Fitness, Raw Recipes, smoothies
Tags: avocado, dinner, green smoothie, pudding, romaine veggie wraps, uphill climb
