"Creamy" Herb and Garlic Dip, Pesto & More! ;)

I've been meaning to get a post up for days and days now, and I've just been busy with kids, study, Thermomix, and of course cooking (and uncooking too!)! So here's a few things I've been making and thinking about the past week or so!

Firstly I put up a picture of my dinner the other night - Quirky Jo's delicious gluten free foccacia style pizza base (recipe here) topped with Mushroom and Onion and with a little pesto, and of course the Pink Paradise Smuice I had with it! 

With the pizzas I made up the recipe from Quirky Cooking, and after rising I just sprinkled some finely sliced onion and mushroom on it, then baked it. I just had this broken up with a little of my homemade macadamia pesto and it was just divine! 

I also felt like something sweet and energising with dinner that night so I had this beautiful Pink Paradise Smuice (Smoothie-Juice ;))

Pink Paradise Smuice

150g frozen watermelon cut into chunks approx 2 inches in size

2 oranges skinned and halved

1 round of pineapple cut into large chunks

1/2 a tray of ice

Simply throw all ingredients in the TMX or blender then blend up for 1 minute on speed 9.

Sit back and relax and enjoy your delicious and pretty pink smuice! :D (Or you could throw some greens in it for some extra oomph and voila its a scrummy green smoothie!)

I also made up a few salads to have on hand in my fridge so that I wouldn't go looking for easy UNhealthy snacks. I find if I have a few really great crunchy healthy salads with a couple of different dressings in the fridge ready to go, I can eat those until I'm busting and know that I'm nourishing my body instead of hurting it with excess fat, sugar etc. So I made up the salads, and I made a lemon basil vinaigrette and then thought I'd see if I could make a Japanese recipe I have for Sesame Soy dressing. I didn't actually have all the necessary ingredients for the authentic recipe (such as rice wine vinegar and sesame oil to name a couple) but I thought I could get close to how it should taste, and it turned out way better than I expected! Just like the real thing!

Japanese Sesame Soy Dressing:

Ingredients:

1/2 med brown or white onion

60g sesame seeds

60g vinegar

60g grape seed oil (or other lightly flavoured oil)

20g soy sauce or tamari

20g sugar or other sweetener

Method:

Grind the sesame seeds in TMX for 1 minute on speed 10.

Add onion and mince for 10 seconds on speed 6.

Add all other ingredients and blend for 1 minute on speed 9.

Mix into your favourite salad and enjoy - this goes particularly well with a chinese style salad of wombok, finely sliced red capsicum, bean sprouts etc. Also with daikon but good luck finding quality ones here in the Far North! Those of you down south, if you can get hold of daikon you want to shred it either in your tmx on speed 5 for about 10 seconds or grate it and have just that with this dressing - sounds strange but its delicious, and that's the way they eat it in Japan!

Then today I went a bit crazy with dips - I made a trio of dips! One was to practise for my Varoma Demos with the TMX which is a red capsicum, sundried tomato and cashew dip. The other two were my own creations and both turned out so well I simply have to share them!

The first one I made was because at our demos we make the Creamy Herb and Garlic Dip from the Everyday Cookbook and its always a huge hit. So that got me thinking, I wish I could have that dip without suffering from hayfever for a couple of days afterwards (as the original recipe has cream cheese in it and dairy makes my hayfever go crazy)! I had heard of and seen and tasted creams made from cashews before so I thought if I just made a "cream cheese" from cashews, then added the rest of the ingredients, that should work, and it turned out pretty well!

Creamy Dairy Free Herb & Garlic Dip (foreground of above picture)
Ingredients:
200g Cashews
60g warm water
1tsp salt
1-2 cloves garlic with the centre removed (this takes the bitterness out of the raw garlic, but leaves all the great garlic flavour, you don't have to do this if you don't want to, it tastes fine with using whole garlic cloves!)
2 Shallots quartered
Handful fresh parsley

Method:
First make the cashew cream "cheese": First mill the cashews for 10 seconds on speed 9 to make a fairly fine powder.
Add water and salt and blend for 1-2 minutes on speed 8 or until a cream cheese type texture is reached.
Remove this cashew cream cheese and set aside.
In your clean bowl, mince garlic, parsley and shallots for 3 seconds on speed 7.
Add your cashew cream cheese mixture back into the bowl and blend for 5 seconds on speed 7.
Enjoy with some rice crackers or my fave - veggie sticks - especially zucchini and carrots! :)

The final item for tonight (and then I have to get to bed, urgh!) is my Raw Vegan Macadamia Pesto (pictured at the back of the above picture). I have been tweaking and tweaking and tweaking this for weeks now, so if you've seen the other incarnations on my blog sorry but this one really is the BEST! I'm finally happy with it, and we had 3 others taste test at our TMX meeting tonight and everyone really loved it (EVEN Jo! :P) so here it is:

Raw Vegan Macadamia Pesto:
Ingredients:
1-2 cloves garlic
Leaves from 2 x 50g packs of basil (approx 40-50g of basil leaves)
100g raw macadamia nuts
Handful of parsley
Handful of baby spinach
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
40g Cold Pressed Olive Oil

Method:
First mince garlic for 3 seconds on speed 7.
Add all remaining ingredients and pulse on Turbo for 3-5 pulses.
Scrape down sides of bowl and pulse a few more times until the desired texture is reached (some people like it chunkier, I like mine medium).

That's it from me tonight as its WAAAAYYY past my bedtime and I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard!

Over the next couple of days I'm going to do a series of posts on my top "secrets" for weight loss and increased energy! I've also still been thinking of running another challenge, so stay tuned for details!

Love and Health, B xxx

Where are you at the moment?

Hi All! So I know, I know, I've been terribly slack with the blog the past few days! Apologies! I've just been really busy with....well....LIFE! LOL!

Of course I've still been having my green smoothies to start my day (and for morning tea most days as well) . My combos over the past few days have been pineapple/grape/baby spinach, banana/berry/nuts/baby spinach, orange/baby spinach, orange/pineapple/baby spinach, and pineapple/fresh mint/baby spinach. Yes I do notice a recurring theme is the pineapple - that's because they were on special at my local shop for $1 each! So I bought a few cause I just LOVE them! In addition to my smoothies I also made some more Macadamia Pesto on Friday and enjoyed it on fresh homemade pizza with a salad of rocket and fresh tomatoes, Om Nom Nom - I'm a little addicted to fresh Pesto at the moment!

As promised here is a picture of the Yoghurt and Berry Popsicles from the Everyday Cooking for Every Family TMX cookbook (pg 167) that Saana and I made, and a picture of Saana enjoying one! These were a big hit, we'll have to make another batch tomorrow I'd say!

Today I'm really wanting to hear from YOU! Not just how you're going on this green smoothie challenge, but in relation to your eating and lifestyle habits at the moment in general. What I'd like to know is where are you RIGHT NOW on this journey of diet/exercise/lifestyle? Are you a Vegetarian? Vegan? Raw Foodist? Fruitarian? Paleo? 80/10/10-er? Regular Meat and Veg? Other? How much exercise, fresh air and sunshine do you get? How much do you move your body just in incidental activity during the day? What choices are YOU making, AT THE MOMENT, to be a healthier you? The reason I'm asking this is since embarking on this whole healthier eating journey (and NO I'm not willing to label myself at the moment!) I'm discovering that there are a HUGE variety of philosophies just within the Raw Food Movement ALONE! Let alone the many other food and lifestyle choices that are out there, that are not the typical western diet of meats, starchy carbs and a smattering of fruits and veggies! I'm just having such fun reading and learning about all the different options there are out there! And also trying to figure out which one might be best for me personally! So I'd love to hear from you, and hear what you're doing, and what its doing for you!

Another reason this is pertinent to me at the moment, is because when I first started having green smoothies and just eating more fresh fruits and vegetables in general, I experienced an AMAZING surge in my energy levels and general awareness and feeling of being AWAKE to everything that was going on around me. In addition to that my Asthma, Pancreatitis and my Hayfever (a daily torment for me for YEARS) DISSAPEARED! WOW I thought, how amazing is this - I changed what I'm putting into my body, and my body is now THRIVING! And most days I do still have that to a certain extent. HOWEVER, my hayfever has since returned, and is now back to being a daily thing - every morning for at least a couple/few hours I suffer from sneezing, itching nose and eyes, runny nose and weepy eyes! Its just awful! In addition to this I have plateaued with my weight loss and I think I've even put a little back on!

The past few days to a week I've been putting a lot of thought into why this has happened and what I could be doing to improve the situation. I do still have cooked food most evenings, and if I feel like it sometimes during the day as well. One difference is that since I started I've begun to branch out and make (slightly) more complicated raw food recipes using a lot of nuts and seeds and oils. Funnily enough I'm starting to wonder if I was better off when I was LESS educated about raw food and simply had my green smoothies JUST using fruit and baby spinach, and a lot of raw vegetables and salads!?!?! So over the next few days I'm going to try going back to that simpler way of eating - green smoothies still for breakfast and morning tea, but avoiding nuts or added special ingredients (at least not having those extras every day!), and having nice big crunchy salads and raw veggies as my lunch and afternoon snacks. Then I'll have a cooked meal most nights with my family, OR some raw noodles with some sort of raw sauce on them if I feel like it. In addition to this I have been having the odd bit of dairy most days - a bit of parmesan cheese here, a little bit of custard there! So I'm going to try to really clamp down on that again and see if that helps the hayfever!

The other change I'm aiming for is that I'm DETERMINED to get outside and MOVE! Friday morning Saana and I went for a 2km power walk/jog and I felt sooo much more energetic Friday and some of Saturday as a result! I think this is so critical and so easily neglected these days, and I'll be the first to admit I'm the worst culprit! The last thing I want to do is get up even 1/2 an hour earlier to get out and go for a walk, but I KNOW if I find the motivation to do so, my body will reward me for it INSTANTLY! Yet I STILL procrastinate, CRAZY!!!!!

So in honour of simplifying, here's how I started my day today: Green smoothie of baby spinach, banana, frozen blackberries, ice, water and a little cacao (for a sunday morning indulgence!)

And I've just finished polishing off a lovely crisp morning tea of celery and carrot sticks with homemade TMX hommus - delish!

What shall I have for lunch? Maybe some Zoodles with some Mushroom Pate on top? We'll see!

So please comment here or post on my Wall on Facebook (top right of this page to LIKE my FB page!) and tell me where YOU are, what's working for YOU right now? What has worked for you in the past? What are YOUR goals in regards to your food and  health? I'd really really love to hear from all of you! Also please remember to spread the love! We just need 9 more people to join us to make the 30-in-30 challenge goal I set! So tell your friends and family to get with the green too! :D If this challenge works out and there's some positive feedback, I'll have to think up some more challenges in future - and possibly prizes! (there are ideas floating around in this head, for sure! :D)

Love and Health! B xxxx

Sooooo Much to Say, So little TIME!!!

Well today I'm feeling like I don't know where to start!! We had a huge weekend with my Mum's surprise 60th Birthday party on Saturday night (I made those fabulous dips for it, and also made up a Beetroot Salad, some Coleslaw, and a lovely tart Broccoli salad which everyone loved). Mum was super surprised and had a really great time so it was all worth it!

Then I had to rush back from Cairns to Atherton Sunday for my very first Thermomix demonstration! It went really well despite my nerves and a few beginners jitters and hiccups and the hostess really loved it! So not bad for a complete newbie!

So onto the raw food "thing" that I keep going on about lately. I have to tell you it's EXTREMELY addictive, the more raw fruits, veggies, nuts etc that I eat, the more my body seems to be craving it. After splurging a bit at Mum's party on Saturday night (I had quite a lot of dips with cream cheese in them and a bunch of cooked canape's, plus a bit of steak and some mudcake!) and then having cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner Sunday (circumstances dictated, although I DID manage to sneak in some salad at lunch time and a fresh squeezed OJ at breakfast), I felt like rubbish yesterday and also this morning to a lesser extent! I woke up yesterday with red itchy eyes and a runny sneezy nose and it lasted until mid-morning. Today I was a little better, a little headache and a runny nose but it cleared up after only an hour this morning.

Yesterday morning I had a green juice of a huge bunch of baby spinach, 3 fresh oranges and some ice, it was so light and refreshing, just what I needed when I was feeling all sinus-y! Morning tea was my usual banana/nut/berry power smoothie followed by this totally delish Creamy Pesto Carrot Slaw for lunch:

Now this one was a little complicated, I have to fess up, but I was in the mood for something creamy and pesto-y and I just wouldn't be denied so I put the extra effort in.

So first I made up a dairy free sour cream based on a combination of Jo's from Quirky Cooking found here and Eva's from Uncooking101 here. Here is my Thermomixed take on it:

Ingredients:
50g raw cashews
50g sunflower seeds
100g pine nuts
(Soak these seeds and nuts overnight to make them softer, for an even creamier texture and to activate the enzymes in the nuts, I hadn't planned that far ahead so I put them in unsoaked)
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp onion powder
1 clove garlic
Juice of 2-3 lemons (to taste, I like mine really tart)
250 g water

Method:
I'm lazy so whilst some ppl might mince the garlic first I didn't!
Combine all ingredients in your Thermomix, food processor or blender. Blend on Speed 9 for 1 minute, scrape down the sides of the bowl and blend again on Speed 9 until a nice smooth creamy consistency is reached. This does keep in the fridge for a few days so I made up quite a large batch.

Next I threw in some leftover Pesto Dip from the Thermomix cookbook Everyday Cooking for Every Family, slightly modified (I prefer a stronger basil flavour, and a slightly wetter consistency, and I love the pine-nut flavour so I added some in, cause for me if there are no pine-nuts its not really pesto!):

Ingredients:
1 clove garlic
100g basil leaves
Handful of fresh parsley
100g Cashews
40g Pine Nuts
100g Olive Oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2-4 TBSP of Parmesan if you eat dairy, or substitue 2-4 TBSP of Nutritional Yeast or Savoury Yeast for a dairy free alternative.

Method:
Combine ingredients in your Thermomix or blender and pulse on Turbo for 4-6 pulses depending on the consistency you like.

Next I threw together a Carrot and Zucchini "Slaw" which was just 1 carrot, 1 zucchini, 1/2 a stick of celery with leaves, 1/2 a shallot and 1/4 of a red capsicum all quartered and thrown in the Thermomix and chopped on speed 4 for about 10 seconds, then scraped down and chopped on speed 4 for another 5 seconds.

I then threw all three elements together in a nice big bowl, mixed it up and VOILA, a creamy pesto salad! It was totally delicious and by halfway through the bowl I was so full I had to leave the rest for dinner!

I have more pics and recipes to share (my daughter and I also made some of Choclate Covered Katies Raw Cookie Dough - for the sweetener I used 2/3 cup of Rapadura. And we made some peanut butter, plus there's my awesome juice from this morning, my power smoothie and today's gorgeous lunch!) but I don't want to overwhelm you all in one post so I'll save those for later tonight or tomorrow (depending on when I have time). As always please leave me comments and/or requests for recipes and I'll do my best! Stay happy and healthy! xx