My Microwave is Annoying me......and other assorted musings

So, I know, two posts in one day is a bit much, but I've just had so much rattling around in this head of mine today and yesterday, and I feel like I'm learning and growing and changing at such a rate of knots lately that one post today just won't do it!

Firstly, my microwave is sitting there on the bench in the kitchen, taking up a big chunk of my bench space and its just.....annoying the heck outta me!!! I'll explain more (and ask for advice) about this later.

For now more of the yummies I made (with my daughters help) yesterday, and what was on the menu in the casa of "going raw" today! LOL

I mentioned in my last post that yesterday afternoon my daughter and I made this awesome chocolate chip cookie dough from Chocolate Covered Katie, all I did was mix it up in the Thermomix instead of a food processor, and for a FIRST, my daughter LOVED it!!! Hurrah!

It's really gooey and just totally scrummy, the first "healthy" snack I've turned out since starting on this journey that my daughter hasn't turned up her nose at.

So, today's breakfast was another green smoothie-juice (I've decided to use the term "smoothie" if its a thicker type, and "smoothie-juice" if its still the whole fruit and veg rather than actually juicing, but is a thinner juice-like consistency). It was kind of a "what have i got in my fruit bowl that might go together" smoothie-juice and you know what? It turned out so awesome its going into regular rotation!

I think I'll call this one "Monster Green Slime" just for fun and cause its sooooooo darn green! LOL

Ingredients:
2 Green Apples, quartered (no need to remove seeds or skins if using a TMX or other powerful blender)
1 Cup Green Grapes
2 Cups Baby Spinach
8 Large Ice Cubes
1/2 to 1 cup water (as always, to your desired consistency)

Method:
Combine all ingredients in TMX on Speed 6 for about 10 seconds then scrape down the sides with spatula, then whiz up on speed 9  for another 30 seconds until nice and juicey.

This was so refreshing (not to mention completely delicious) I was ready to BOUND out the door about 2 minutes after drinking it, what a BRILLIANT way to start the day!

My mid-morning smoothie was another variation on my berry/nut/banana smoothie. This morning I wanted to try some Maca powder as I just finished watching the DVD's from Uncooking101's "Home Study Course - An Introduction to Raw Food Made Easy" and Eva mentioned that Maca, in addition to its other benefits outlined here, has quite a nice malt-type flavour. So I thought the combination of Maca and Cacao would not only give my power smoothie a nice energy boost, but would also taste pretty great, and oh I was SO right! LOL

Mid Morning Power Smoothie:
Ingredients:
1-2 Bananas
1/2 to 1 Cup Frozen Mixed Berries of your choice
1/3 cup raw cashews or almonds (soaked preferably, but if you don't have time its pretty good with just raw nuts)
2 huge handfuls of baby spinach or other greens
8 large cubes of ice
Water to your desired consistency
Today's added ingredients:
1 tsp Raw Cacao powder
1/2 tsp Maca powder
2 fresh pitted Dates (I only use the dates if i'm putting Cacao in as they're not necessary to sweeten the smoothie ordinarily, only to counteract the slight bitterness of the Cacao)

Method:
Blend on Speed 6 for 10 seconds then scrape down sides of bowl and blend on Speed 9 for about 1 minute. Serve and garnish with a berry or two as desired and enjoy! :)

Then for lunch today I had another awesome Slaw (the reason I'm having Slaw type salads is I can't honestly be bothered chopping up veggies the traditional way most days, and I haven't got my spiraliser to turn the veggies into nice noodles yet!) made with the dairy free sour cream from yesterday's post, mixed with a Raw Mushroom and Walnut Pate based on this recipe but modified to my personal tastes:

Ingredients:
2 Cloves fresh Garlic
200-230g soaked Walnuts (soaked for 4-8 hours)
200-230g raw Mushrooms
2 TBSP or 20g Tamari/Nama Shoyu/G.F Soy Sauce
2 tsp fresh or dried Thyme
Black Pepper to taste
20g Olive Oil
1/4 to 1/2 shallot
Handful fresh parsley

Method:
1. Mince garlic in TMX on Speed 7 for 2-3 seconds.
2. Add remaining ingredients to bowl and combine on Speed 7 for approximately 10-15 seconds or until your desired pate-like consistency is reached (some people probably prefer larger pieces, others would prefer a creamier consistency with smaller pieces).

Then for the slaw I just threw one carrot and one quite large zucchini into the Thermomix (quartered first) and chopped them for around 5 seconds on speed 4, then scraped down the sides and did another 5 seconds on speed 4.

Then I made a well in the slaw mix, scooped some of the Pate into it and drizzled some dairy free sour cream over the top, mixed it all together and chowed down! Yummo!

So that was the raw part of my day - dinner was a lovely steamed stuffed chicken breast and steamed vegetables with my family, but the way things are going, soon dinner will be something raw and veggie TOO - more on that in future!

So back to my microwave annoying me! I don't know why but suddenly its really bugging me, probably because of this new consciousness of what I'm putting in my body, i just don't see the need to nuke or deadify things anymore! So it's annoying me that its sitting there on the bench taking up space where I could have nice clear bench space for prepping all my lovely fresh foods, and also tempting me to use it.....So, does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do with it? I'm not quite ready to completely get rid of it because I think hubby might have a heart attack if i just dropped that bomb on him all at once, so an alternative???? Til next time!! XXX

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

Today I'm Supermum! ;)

So tonight I'm feeling like I've achieved so much in such a short number of hours. I'm also feeling super energetic and positive (perhaps from all the raw and whole foods I ate today??!?!) so all round its just one of those good days when you feel like you're on top of everything! :)

It was a big day for me, as Jon went to Family Daycare for his first time ever! I had to leave really quickly like ripping off a band-aid or I never would have left him! Mummy is such a softie! I'm also throwing a surprise 60th Birthday party for my Mum tomorrow night so I was busy organising and making things for that too!

So I started my day with a delicious energy boosting green smoothie of baby spinach, mango and oranges, yummo!

All I did was skin and quarter the oranges, skin, de-seed and roughly chop the mango, threw that in my Thermomix with the baby spinach and some ice and blended on Speed 9 for about 30 seconds, Voila!

Then after a quick trip out to drop off the kidlets - Saana to school and Jon to his first day at Family Daycare (teary Mummy!) I was feeling the need for my more substantial mid-morning power smoothie so I whipped together this one:

I shared this one with the lady who was here cleaning my house so the recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

* 2 Medium Bananas, peeled and broken into large pieces

* 2 Fresh Dates, pitted

* Two large handfuls of baby spinach

* One large handful of raw almonds

* Approx 3/4 cup of mixed berries

* 8-10 large ice-cubes

* Approx 1/2 to 1 cup water (adjust to your personal taste, I like mine nice and thick)

Method:

Combine all ingredients in your Thermomix or blender and combine on Speed 5 for 10-15 seconds,

scrape down the sides of the bowl, then whiz up on Speed 9 for 30-45 seconds. Pour out into your favourite glass and enjoy! The almonds make this really creamy, so it tastes like a real thickshake and it's REALLY filling and lasts me through to late lunch.

After that I was good to go! So, after putting away the washing, tidying the house, packing a bag for Saana and the baby for the weekend down at Mum and Dad's and doing the grocery shopping, I came home to whip up some more treats in my Thermomix! In the space of around 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours I made FIVE dips from the "Everyday Cooking....for Every Family" cookbook that comes with the Thermomix. From the dark green one clockwise they are: Basil Pesto Dip, Avocado Dip (yes it's kinda orangey from the fresh tomato in it), Garlic and Herb Dip, Beetroot Dip and Tuna Dip (with walnuts etc - this one is delicious!). Party dips sorted! 

That wasn't quite enough so after I picked up both the children I threw together a Creamy Tomato and Salami Fettucine (also from the Everyday Cooking book) which cooked itself in 20 minutes in the Thermomix while I fed the baby! 

Now I'm munching on a couple of Quirky Jo's Walnut and Raw Cacao Nib Bliss Balls before packing my things for the party and possibly having a little read then crashing before our busy weekend. I probably won't have another chance to blog until at least Monday so I hope everyone's weekend is awesome! See you next week! :)

My "Kinda" Raw Day......

Well this journey of trying to incorporate more raw/living and whole foods into my diet is AMAZING so far, and I'm only a couple of weeks into it!

What I'm noticing currently seems to be the more raw I eat, the more sensitive I seem to be to cooked food!

For example I started today with a lovely refreshing Pine Mint Smoothie:

Ingredients:
* Large handful baby spinach or other leafy greens
* One medium to large green apple, quartered
* One round of fresh pineapple, skinned and quartered
* Fresh Mint to taste (I like a lot as it's what makes this smoothie so refreshing!)
* 100-200g ice
* Water to desired consistency

Method:
Combine all ingredients in the Thermomix (if you don't have one you need to use a pretty powerful blender or food processor) and whiz up on speed 5 for about 10-15 seconds to combine, then scrape down the sides of the bowl and lid, then speed 9 for another 20-30 seconds. If it's too thick simply add some more water until you reach the consistency you like.

This was a great way to start my day, the mint really wakes me up and makes me feel ready to tackle anything!

But THEN I made some cheese and bacon pizza scrolls for my husband and daughter to have as THEIR brunch and they just looked and smelled so good coming out of the oven I couldn't resist eating a couple while they were still warm......so delicious!

But after that I fell into a bit of a carb coma and had to sleep hard! I had a nap for about an hour and a half and still felt tired when I woke up! Luckily I had some of this awesome Raw Walnut and Mushroom Pate leftover in the fridge and I threw together a quick snack of that stuffed in half a tomato with some carrot dipping sticks. It was totally delicious and I felt so much better afterwards!

I haven't made anything for dinner yet so I might just have some nut butter on five seed bread (both made in my trusty Thermomix) as a quick easy dinner, and we'll see how that makes me feel!