Balance Is Beauty

Hi Loves!

A whole week, since my last post, has gone by! I can’t believe how quickly time is flying. Although I am anxious for the cold weather to disappear and the warmer weather to be upon us, I wouldn’t mind time slowing just a little (I guess it’s true what they say – as you get older, time seems to go quicker!!).

I’ve been pretty busy in the kitchen this week, with a little cookin and lots of uncookin! I whipped up another batch of my new addiction, Kristen’s Raw Savoury Hemp and Onion Bread. As well as a batch of my own Raw Bread. Once dehydrated, these last quite a while in the fridge, so it’s great to have them on hand.

I also tried out a new recipe from Sarma Melngailis’s, Living Raw Food, her Coconut-Lime Cookies.

They almost look like macaroons, but contain macadamia nuts as the base with some coconut and lime. I loved them! If you are a fan of lime, you’ll like these! I highly recommend Sarma’s “un”cook book. At first glance some of the recipes can be intimidating but when you actually go over the ingredients they aren’t as intimidating as they look. I have tons more bookmarked to try, but so far everything I have tried, I have loved!

Now, you all know how much I love my Green Smoothies. Well I have come up with a new smoothie that I have really been enjoying, especially on the colder days when I am looking for something a bit warmer!

Apple-Celery Cinnamon Smoothie

1 stalk of celery (leafs and all!)

1 apple

1 tsp raw honey or agave

Cinnamon (I like a lot, but just add enough to satisfy your tastes)

1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup almond milk (or all water or all almond milk depending on your taste)

Blend it all up and enjoy! I topped mine with some dehydrated buckwheat and coconut, for a little crunch, but feel free to add some granola or nuts, or just sip it (or spoon it plain)– it will taste great with or without toppings! As you can see I really enjoying eating my smoothies with a spoon. I find they feel more like a meal this way and they last a little longer this way (I have been known to chug a smoothie in record time – sometimes they just taste so darn good, I can’t help myself!).

Another recipe I have been wanting to try forever is Ange’s In a Jiffy Spelt Burgers. I must admit on those nights when I just don’t feel like spending much time in the kitchen, frozen veggie burgers are almost always my go to meal. The ingredient list on my favourite frozen veggie burger is not too shabby, but I always prefer to have control over the ingredients I am eating, so homemade is definitely my first choice. Ange wasn’t kidding when she raved about her homemade veggie burgers. I can honestly say, I will try not to never buy frozen veggie burgers again. Her recipe was so simple and honestly took no time at all. The results = out of this world!!! I love the addition of the pumpkin and sunflower seeds – it adds the perfect crunch! These pictures do not do the burgers justice – check out Ange’s site for some better photography

The recipe made 8 burgers and I froze some of them so that when I am strapped for time I will have a quick and easy go to meal! I served mine atop a fresh green salad (sorry no pic), but it would also be great between ezikiel bread or in a wrap. I even had one cold as a quick snack and it was delicious! Next time I am going to try making them with gluten-free flour, as I try to be as gluten free as possible – I’ll let you know if they turn out as good! Thanks Ange for such a great recipe – no more store bought frozen burgers for this girl!!

Hubby was super sweet and took me to my favourite restaurant in the city last night, Fresh. For anyone living in or visiting the city of Toronto, this is definitely a must try restaurant, I promise you won’t be disappointed. I decided on a warm bowl of their curried yam-apple soup (again I’m sorry I didn’t bring my camera – I am slapping my hand for you!!). Honestly, if it wasn’t so socially inappropriate to lick the bowl clean, I would have done it with this bowl of soup. It was SO amazing. What’s more amazing, was the fact that a light bulb went off in my head on the way home (some would say this rarely happens – and I can’t say I disagree). Why not try and recreate this recipe RAW! Generally speaking, my confidence when creating a recipe all on my own is not very high, especially when it comes to raw. I normally like to follow a recipe step by step, but this time I decided to step out of my comfort zone and just go for it! I looked online for some inspiration and just kind of winged it, here’s what I came up with:

Raw Sweet Potato-Apple Curry Soup (serves 2-3)

2 cups cubed sweet potato

1/2 apple, cubed

1/8 cup chopped onion or leek

1 clove garlic

2 cups water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tbsp raw honey/agave

1 tbsp coconut oil/butter (I used butter)

1/2 tsp tumeric (for colour!)

1/2 tbsp tamari/nama shoyu/braggs

sea salt to taste.

Throw all the ingredients in the blender and blend away! If you don’t have a powerful blender, like a vita mix or blend tec, I would suggest lightly steaming the sweet potato so you don’t damage your blender. I can’t believe how similar this tasted to the soup I had yesterday. I love being able to turn cooked comfort food, into raw comfort food. I will definitely be trying to do this more often – hopefully my first success wasn’t just a fluke!

Let me know if you decide to try any of this recipes, I would love to hear what you think!

Happy Friday Everyone! I’ll be back this weekend

xoxo

Krissy