Another morning, another workout and yet again, another green smoothie.
Here I go again (sounds like an old Whitesnake song from my youth), starting out my day with a tall glass of water, the Girls Next Door workout (my husband surprised me with the DVD, since I've been doing their workout OnDemand) and then a green smoothie (stop me if I start sounding like a broken record).
But, this wasn't just any green smoothie, it was a spin off of my usual Sunday morning beverage or my version of a "cup of Joe" (I no longer touch that stuff). Instead of just having any old chocolate version of this chlorophyll packed liquid refreshment, I experimented with my love of cilantro.
This smoothie contained a ton (not literally) of greens, bananas, wheatgrass, spirulina, a probiotic, maca, raw cacao powder and coconut butter, as well as the addition of cinnamon, cayenne pepper and, of course, a bunch of cilantro. It sounds weird, but it tastes great. It's like a fiesta in a glass. It sort of reminds me of the Mexican hot chocolate I would sample at the Children's Museum in D.C. as a child.
Once I blend up my smoothie, I usually enjoy it at my computer as I catch up on e-mail and check out the blogs of my fellow raw foodies in the community. There is an extensive list on the Raw Food Right Now website. Following other raw food bloggers helps me stay on track, especially since most of the people around me don't live this lifestyle (except for me friend and raw food buddy, "Raw"bin: She made that up herself; she should use it to start her own blog. Hint, hint).
In the process of perusing the other blogs, I became inspired (I use that word a lot; I think I need to pick up a Thesaurus) by Freedom's, a.k.a. The Raw Vegan Princess, blog from a couple days ago, where she gave her answers to a questionnaire from Vegan Mofo. I thought I'd share my answers on my blog, as well.
1. Favorite home-made nut (non-dairy) milk? At the moment, mine is pumpkin seed (not actually a nut) milk sweetened with dates and pumpkin pie spice, perfect for fall.
2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to make? This changes all the time, but for this week, I'd like to make the Pasta Primavera on the Sunny Raw Kitchen site, a new version of my cinnamon rolls and a Thanksgiving meal.
3. Topping of choice for popcorn? I don't eat popcorn anymore, but I like to substitute spiced pumpkin seeds.
4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure? I've had many, but I can't think of a specific one at the moment. I guess my attempts at essene bread have not had the best results.
5. Favorite pickled item? Raw pickles, of course.
6. How do you organize your recipes? Organize? That's something I still need to do :-)
7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal? I really need to start composting.
8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be? Spinach, bananas and raw chocolate (surprised that I didn't say, cilantro?).
9. Fondest food memory from your childhood? Baking with my mom. Now, we make green smoothies together. Next, I hope to teach her how to make raw versions of our old baked goods.
10. Favorite vegan ice cream? Anything raw. I really like my versions of Cherry Garcia and Mint Chip.
11. Most loved kitchen appliance? Blendtec
12. Spice/herb you would die without? Cilantro
13.Recipe (Cook) book you have owned for the longest time? Probably the kid's cookbook that I've had since I was little, but as for raw "cookbooks," my first purchase was "Raw: The Uncook Book" by Juliano when it came out years ago.
14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly? pureed goji berries
15. Favorite raw (vegan) recipe to serve to an omni friend? guacamole; even my mother-in-law likes it.
16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh? When I have eaten a cooked meal, I prefer tofu due to its versatility.
17. Favorite meal to make or time of day to make it? Smoothies are easy to make and the options are limitless. I love them anytime of day, although I usually have one in the a.m.
18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator? My second dehydrator that I primarily use for warming raw foods.
19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking. I tend to freeze leftover raw goodies for future treats. I think I currently have raw pumpkin muffins with cashew frosting, cookie dough morsels and fudge from Naked Chocolate.
20. What's on your grocery list? A lot of greens :-)
21. Favorite grocery store? Trader Joe's or Whole Foods
22. Name a recipe you'd love to rawify (veganize), but haven't yet. Marshmallows. I don't know where to start. I wish Sarma would share her Raw Chocolate Mallomar recipe she sells at Pure Food and Wine, or put them on her site for sale.
23. Food blog you read the most. Or maybe the top 3? Raw Food Right Now, We Like It Raw and Kristen's Raw
24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate? Anything chocolate :-)
25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately? Raw cacao butter
26. Veganaise or Nayonaise? I'm not a big mayo fan.
27. What is one recipe, ingredient or cooking technique that you've become familiar with in the last year that you can't imagine you ever lived without? Green smoothies!
28. Do you have a food inspiration in your life? Someone who taught you a lot about making a certain dish, or about food prep in general, or someone who taught you how to truly enjoy food? It can be someone you know or a book author, speaker...anything. My mom. Whenever she travels somewhere or goes to an event, she always has to tell me about the food. She even taught me how to make my first dishes.
So, now is your turn. If you have a blog, have fun posting your answers on your site. I'd love to read them.
4 comments:
I got a NEW BLENDER!!! Yay! No, alas, it's not a blendtec. Can't really afford that yet... but this one has twice the power of the old one. It has a 1-touch shake/smoothie button and I've tried it a bunch of times just this weekend! It stops and changes directions so I don't have to babysit the machine and stop to poke down the clogged fruits and veggies. It even passed the dates and icecube test! I'm so happy with it!! It also has a one touch food processor so I can make my chunky salsas, too.
I'm so excited for you Rawbin. You've been needing a new blender for a while now.
Have you had a chance to answer the questions on the questionnaire?
In answer to your questions:
1. Favorite home-made nut (non-dairy) milk? Almond milk is my favorite quick and easy milk. I can add it to foods prepared for the rest of the family with out complaints.
2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to make?
I want to make the eggless Deviled Eggs, the raw Waldorf Salad and the raw cauliflower Mashed potatoes with gravy. I liked your description of mushroom/soy gravy...
3. Topping of choice for popcorn? I can't eat popcorn. For a simple salty snack, I like to grab a little handful of raw dried olives or cilantro seasoned raw dried pistachios (ships in less than 24 hours from NaturalZing).
4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure? NEVER add green pepper into a green smoothie. The flavor is just too powerful for a banana and berries to overcome!!!
5. Favorite pickled item? Pickled beets are number one. I also like to throw diced pickles into my raw kale salad along with a few chopped dried olives.
6. How do you organize your recipes? they're in my saved emails, mostly from you.
7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal? I throw most food waste out into our woods and let the 5 pet chickens pick through it. The cool thing about so much raw food is that there is so much less waste. I buy only what I'll need for the week, and the trimmings from my prepared salads go right into the blender for my morning smoothies (except peppers).
8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be? Avocados, bananas and carrots.
9. Fondest food memory from your childhood? Home made lasagna for my birthday, cream cheese and honey sandwiches on brownbag days.
10. Favorite vegan ice cream? Almond milk and strawberries and bananas. I want YOUR version of Cherry Garcia and Mint Chip.
11. Most loved kitchen appliance? my new blender with one-touch smoothies.
12. Spice/herb you would die without? Chili. Unless... does chocolate or vanilla count?
13.Recipe (Cook) book you have owned for the longest time? Some old Betty Crocker cookbook that was my mom's. The pages fall out when you open it... so I don't.
14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly? strawberry
15. Favorite raw (vegan) recipe to serve to an omni friend? salsa (just chopped tomato, onion, pepper and cilantro) or guacamole
16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh? no thanks
17. Favorite meal to make or time of day to make it? Smoothies in the morning. Salads for dinner.
18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator? a single serving hand crank ice cream maker and an empty egg basket.
19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking. grapes, kale (I discovered fresh kale freezes nicely for smoothies and doesn't go slimy) bags of peaches from our trees.
20. What's on your grocery list? spinach, kale, carrots, peppers, beets, squash, bananas...
21. Favorite grocery store? Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Our new Giant has a pretty nice selection of greens but they mix organic with the other stuff.
22. Name a recipe you'd love to rawify (veganize), but haven't yet. Is there a raw something that tastes just like cream cheese?
23. Food blog you read the most. Or maybe the top 3? Rawdorable is the first one I've consistently read. I look forward to reading it, too.
24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate? Anything chocolate :-)
25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately? Waiting for my 5lb order of raw dates to come from Frankferd Farms.
26. Veganaise or Nayonaise? no thanks
27. What is one recipe, ingredient or cooking technique that you've become familiar with in the last year that you can't imagine you ever lived without? Green smoothies!
28. Do you have a food inspiration in your life? Someone who taught you a lot about making a certain dish, or about food prep in general, or someone who taught you how to truly enjoy food? It can be someone you know or a book author, speaker...anything. The author of this blog has been quite an inspiration to me. Since changing my food selections to mostly raw, I've gotten much more energy and haven't had as many problems with my digestion! Pretty cool!
Wow, now that's a long comment. Like I said before, Rawbin, you really should consider starting your own blog. I'd put a link to it on my site :-)
Out of the three dishes you would like to make, I've done them all. I'd have to agree that they are all good, especially in the order that you named them.
I forgot about bringing avocados on the deserted island. I guess I was just hoping there would be some there. Maybe we can get some coconuts, too.
I'll definitely share the ice cream recipe with you, maybe in a future post. I've been craving it.
Thanks for the kale tip. I wish I would have thought of it myself.
Cream cheese? You can totally make that raw. I'll teach you very soon.
Thanks for the compliment at the end. You inspire me, too :-)
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