Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 06:02 AM
Hey everyone
Thank you for all the wonderful comments and glad to hear everyone loves themed weeks! Also we enjoyed reading your go to desserts : )
As promised, here are the two recipes from yesterday. They are great ways to enjoy fresh cranberries while in season.
Plus we are introducing a new ingredients we have recently come across and we are so excited to share it with you!!
We were searching for a soy free lecithin to use in our recipes and knew there had to be something. It took as awhile to find a soy free lecithin but we eventually made it to Raw Food World Online Store, There are a few reasons why we love this product:
- Soy Free
- Emulsifier (which helps digest fat)
- Choline (necessary for brain and liver function)
- Can be used to thick products (great for raw puddings and soups)
- Raw, Vegan, Gluten Free Non GMO
This was our first time using sunflower lecithin, and so far we are liking it. : ) The flavor is a not too made, a little getting used too…it is a neutral flavor.
Another cool thing about sunflower lecithin is that it is LIQUID. Most lecithin come in powder or granules.
Why is Choline important?
Choline Bitartrate is an essential nutrient needed by the nervous system to produce acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that facilitates the transmission of impulses between neurons. It helps with muscle function.
Choline is vital for removing fat from the liver because it helps in the production of lipotropic agents. Choline nutrition is very helpful in hormone production and in enhancing sexual function, as well as bladder, kidney, pancreatic, testicular, and liver function.
As an important component of cell membranes, lecithin is needed by every cell of the body. Without lecithin, liver metabolism is deranged, leading to "fatty liver" and eventually chronic liver failure.
Other sources of choline for raw, vegans that eat no soy:
bananas, apples, oranges, cauliflower, cucumber, and tomato, almonds, sesame seeds
Other sources for soy eaters and non vegans
egg yolks, wheat germ, soy foods, cod, salmon, beef liver, soy lecithin
First Recipe: Cranberry Pudding Serves 2 (possibly 3)
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 3/4 cup nut milk
- 1 tsp vanilla (optional)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cardamon (optional)
- 1 zest of an orange
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 tbsp maca
- 1 tbsp sunflower lecithin
- 1 –2 tbsp agave, maple, or yacon syrup (add more to sweeten to your liking)
Directions:
Place chia seeds, nut milk, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamon, cranberries, and orange into blender.
Then blend till combined.
Add maca, your sweetener of choice, and sunflower lecithin
Blend till combined.
Pour into a bowl (yes we used a measuring cup, we are high class over here ; ) ) and set in fridge to set, for at least 30 minutes.
When set, pour into a bowl and top with fresh cranberries
Enjoy!
We made our cranberry pudding a little more on the tart side, but feel free to add as much sweetener as your would like.
Recipe 2: Cranberry Tahini Dressing
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1/3 cup orange juice or water
- pinch of orange zest
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1-2 in fresh rosemary spring
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
- Optional -drizzle in some agave
Place all ingredients into blender and blend till smooth.
This dressing could be used over a salad (like we did), or drizzled over veggies, fruit, etc.
Enjoy!
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Raw Recipes, Theme Week
Tags: chia pudding, cranberries, dressing, pudding, sunflower lecithin, tahini
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
