strawberry basil smoothie

I've been so busy with school lately that the quickest thing to grab in the morning is a smoothie. During my 12-day cleanse, I've weaned myself out of my obsession for bananas and instead turned to avocados. I mean, seriously, what's better than a nice, ripe avocado? They're smooth, creamy, rich, and delicious, and best of all, they go with both sweet AND savoury! I'm sold. 

Smoothies are super easy to make (literally like 5 minutes of my morning, 2 of which are spent making tea while I whir it up in my magic bullet) and they keep you satiated for a good few hours. Not to mention - dddelicious. Stay tune for some housekeeping tips for avocados!

1/2 avocado
1 cup (coco)nut milk
1/2 cup strawberries, frozen
handful basil
handful greens
TBSP flax seeds
TBSP coconut oil

optional
matcha powder

detox porridge

Wild Rose D-Tox friendly porridge

(a staple for any wintertime cleanse)

1/2 cup brown rice

1 can coconut milk

+ almond milk or water to thin
2 prunes, finely chopped

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp flaxmeal

vanilla bean, gutted

cinnamon (stick), nutmeg, cardamom

pinch of salt

topped with

chopped almonds

coconut flakes

Cook until desired consistency (approx. 1/2 hour). Dig in!

rawktober: day fourteen

Please excuse my absence these past few days. I've been busy hanging out with family, drinking way too much wine. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you with a recipe post on the raw carrot cake I made! I hope your Thanksgivings were less detrimental to your health, but, if you're in the same boat as me, here's a recipe for a little post-holiday detox juice.

     Note: I don't make my veggie juices sweet, but if ya can't handle the bitterness ("what bitterness?" I ask), feel free to toss in an apple!

rawktober: day four

    Today, animal rights advocates in China, Spain, and India portrayed the farming and animal slaughterhouse industries with their bodies in recognition of #WorldAnimalDay. Too graphic, or a good wake up call? What are your thoughts? For more pictures, see here.

rawktober: day three

By the time I get around to blogging, my energy has wound down a couple hundred notches for the day and I want to do is send you all zen vibrations. Although I swear, this morning, I was thinking up some pretty passionate topics to share with you! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, who knows), I'm drawing a blank. Nevertheless, I've got some fun facts on H
2O. Did you know that 40% of water bottling companies that claim to sell mineralized spring water are actually just purifying tap water? (here's the trick: a gallon of tap water is valued at about $0.02, whereas bottled can be up to $8.26) Who knew, even companies like - gasp - Dasani have been ripping us off for our water! In 2004, Coca Cola confessed that Dasani had been selling tap water in disguise for 3000% more than its worth. Luckily for us, tap water is actually required to be continuously monitored by the EPA, whereas the FDA only regulates about 30-40% of bottled water! (Sage)

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IF THE GRASS IS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE, YOU CAN BET THE WATER BILL IS HIGHER.

unknown

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I loooove my water. I'm ALWAYS carrying around my bottle, and I'm more inclined to forget my cellphone somewhere than my Nalgene (true story)! If I don't get at least 3-4 litres in per day (excluding all water intake through various foods, eg. fresh produce) I feel incredibly dehydrated. And since thirst lags behind the body's actual need for water replenishment, it means business. How about you? How much do you drink in a day?

rawktober: day two

     I woke up this morning at my usual early hour with my head still pounding from yesterday's overload. My house freezing, all I wanted was a big hearty bowl of piping hot chili. Instead, I grabbed 3 bananas and a jar of almond butter, set the kettle, curled up on the couch with a blanket and watched as the rain ceremoniously pissed on my lawn.

     It was decided. I wasn't going to leave my blankets today. I filled my trusty hot water bottle, made an extra litre of tea, and proceeded to do absolutely nothing for the next few hours. Except make raw sushi. And go for massage therapy. And get a [de]coffee. And read intermittently. It's been a soul-healing kind of day. Maybe I'll even have a bath, and maybe a sneaky glass of wine... or is that pushing today's self-care levels off the charts?

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I’VE LEARNED THAT YOU CAN TELL A LOT ABOUT A PERSON BY THE WAY (S)HE HANDLES THESE THREE THINGS: A RAINY DAY, LOST LUGGAGE, AND TANGLED CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTS.

maya angelou

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rawktober: day one

     Today went more smoothly than I thought. A 13 hour day at school, with one midterm in the morning and the other late at night? I didn't think I'd have the energy to resist non-raw campus food and carry around my own 3 meals all day. Alas, I pulled through. Now, a warm cup of tea and off to bed to soothe my pounding brain.

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A COMFORT ZONE IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE, BUT NOTHING EVER GROWS THERE. 

unknown

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warming up to quinoa

Although these dreary days are slowing turning into warmer, spring ones, I'm still working on getting over my winter blues. I've never been a big fan of quinoa (gasp in astonishment here), but lately I've been experimenting with ways to make it please me. The other day, I had a warm quinoa/tomato/kale salad, which wasn't all too bad. I have a feeling quinoa would be pretty good risotto-style; I don't seem to mind it when it's coated in something else altogether. This morning, however, I felt confident enough to try the ever-so-popular-on-Google-searches apple cinnamon breakfast quinoa! Gotta admit, I was hesitant to add the raisins, as I've never done so before to any porridge, but they definitely made the meal. (And maybe you've noticed that cooked bananas are an indispensable component of any porridge- no need for sweeteners when I've got these babies on hand!)

Serves 1

1/8 cup cooked quinoa

approx. 1 cup almond milk

1/2 banana, mashed

1/2 apple, diced

1 tbsp raisins

vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, coconut flakes, etc.

Cook the already-cooked quinoa in the almond milk. When it expands to desired consistency, add the remaining ingredients and heat until the banana caramelizes, and the apples and raisins soften (if you so desire). Enjoy topped with coconut flakes, walnuts, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

nutrition (entire recipe):

268.0 kcal

fat 5.2g

carbs 55.4g

protein 5.4g

no better way to wake up on a rainy saturday

Fruit in the morning is my favourite. Especially bananas. I've been feeling pretty down in the dumps lately, I feel like I'm about to come down with something, but it's only hit me 3/4 of the way. It's a pretty crappy feeling. I resisted the urge to gobble down some snickerdoodles and decided to prepare myself a lovely fruity "cereal-less" bowl instead. And now I'll move on to my favourite chocolate-kiwi-kale smoothie, and I'll be set for the day!...hopefully.

Although this so-called "recipe" is basically just throwing a bunch of the fruits you have on hand into a bowl and topping them with non-dairy milk, here's my combo this morning:

Serves one

1 banana

1 plum

1 nectarine

6 strawberries

handful of blueberries

1 cup of non-dairy milk (or yoghurt)

Dice the fruit, toss in a bowl, and feel free to garnish with nuts, toasted buckwheat groats, coconut, peanut butter, or agave. Get creative! ;)

lick yo lips pumpkin spice mocha

As you can probably already tell, I've got an abundance of leftover pumpkin and I'm not afraid to use it! On with the pumpkin recipes, shall we?

For a little over a one cup serving

3/4 cup strong coffee

1/4 cup non-dairy milk (eg. coconut- yum), or more

1/2 banana

about 1/4 cup pumpkin puree, or add until desired thickness

vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice, etc.

1-2 tbsp cacao powder

sweetener, to taste

Dunk everything in your blender and combine until smooth and frothy. One word: nom.

raw pumpkin pie porridge

I always do this. I start eating clean, I feel clean, I feel great, and then I go and eat 3 muffins in a day (despite cravings for fresh fruit and veggies) and I wonder why I've got a stomach ache and a sore ego. And so then I resolve to start eating more living foods again- I keep that up for a while, and the same thing happens. Oh well, that's life. Either way, today was muffin day. I'm not feeling so fly on the whole; maybe my lack of clean foods lately isn't helping me fight off this bug that seems to be taking over my body. So, I decided to blend up some raw, healthy porridge to have ready for the next few days in case I'm too bed-bound to prepare anything else!

Based off happyhealthylonglife's recipe.

Enough for 3 small servings, but top them off as you wish!

1 + 1/4 cup soaked buckwheat* (measured after soaking)

3 oz non-dairy milk (a little over 1/4 cup)

1/2 large banana

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 tbsp ground flax

1 tbsp chia seed

vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice etc.

sweetener, to taste

In your blender or food processor, combine 1 cup of the soaked buckwheat groats (reserving the remaining 1/4 cup) and the remaining ingredients, processing until smooth. Stir in the leftover groats. Sprinkle with some coconut, walnuts, and more fresh/dried fruit. Eat it up, and/or refrigerate the leftovers.

*For some simple, uncomplicated help with soaking, click here!

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EVERYONE THINKS OF CHANGING THE WORLD, BUT NO ONE THINKS OF CHANGING HIMSELF.

leo tolstoy

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nutrition (1/3 of recipe):

168.5 kcal

fat 3.3g

carbs 22.4g 

protein 5.6g

chocolate & vanilla kale smoothie variations

When you can't decide on breakfast, have it all - a saying I live by. The other day, I decided to have raw crepes, raw buckwheat cereal, a smoothie, and a raw bagel with avocado mash for breakfast. 

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EAT BREAKFAST LIKE A KING, LUNCH LIKE A PRINCE, AND DINNER LIKE A PAUPER. 

adelle davis

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Okay so maybe I haven't been entirely true to that statement lately-- I feel as though I've been dining majestically at all meals. But hey, who's to judge? Either way, part of today's breakfast included some smoothies that I never thought of trying before. You see, usually when I think of smoothies, I think of loading in everything I can to make it the most nutrition-packed green goodness possible. I guess "keeping it simple" never crossed my mind, even though I've heard claims that the simplest smoothies are, in fact, the tastiest. Halfway through my blending this morning, I decided to pour out some of my original smoothie into a cup, and add a few more ingredients to the rest to test out a few new flavours. The verdict? Heaven. And for those of you who aren't completely in love with kale (yet) like I am, great news: You can't even taste it!

Note: don't question the kiwi, just throw it in. You can thank me later ;)

The recipes: 

Make one cup of thick smoothie each, or 2 cups thin (if you dilute it with some more milk)

Basic vanilla shake

1 cup kale

1 cup non-dairy milk

1 banana

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of cardamom

sweetener, to taste

Chocolate kiwi shake

1 cup kale

1 cup non-dairy milk

1 banana

1 kiwi

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp cacao

pinch of nutmeg

sweetener, to taste

Blend together, pour into glasses, and savour the deliciousness.