Green Smoothie

I've tried several variations to the green smoothie and I must say this one has turned out to be the best.

Here's the recipe

1 mango

1cup of spinach

1 banana

1tbs of agave nectar(optional)

1/4 cup water

Everything goes into the blender.Blend till smooth.Surprisingly, I don't even taste the spinach. I'm hooked:)

I made this again in the afternoon & this time, I didn't use agave nectar and it turned out much better. Also, you wont taste spinach but only the banana and mango which go well together.

This was adapted from a smoothie recipe I found .I didn't have kale so I substituted it with spinach.The recipe didn't require a banana but I used one anyway. And I must say I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out :)

xx

Simple tomato soup I made last night

So I was in need to a quick meal for dinner and it had to be... RAW of course. Since I had avocados, tomatoes, garlic, chili i decided that I'll make soup.

I used:

1/2 an avocado( Haas avocados are better.)
4 medium tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
1 green chili

Chop the tomatoes into 4. Chop the garlic and green chili into smaller pieces and blend everything together with about half a cup of water till its smooth & creamy. You can heat the soup a up just a little if you like it warm but make sure you don't heat it up too much. That will destroy the enzymes in the food which are good for you.

I kept the soup in a tumbler in the fridge for today. It's more creamy, spicier and thicker since all the ingredients have 'set'. Soup should keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.

I've been wanting to be a little more creative with the soups and I'll be experimenting more on how to get more delicious soup since I've been reading all these raw cookbooks.


xx

How I got interested in raw food

It was November last year and I already knew that being vegan is a much more healthier option. I was looking for vegan cookbooks which focused more on salads and uncooked vegetables when I chanced upon Going Raw by Judita Wignall. The book was in- depth, explained why eating raw is healthy & beneficial and the steps to transition to a plant based diet. So I followed... for a few days. Then, I left for Europe for 2 months and I had too much meat, processed food, unhealthy carbs, alcohol ;) . When I got back, I couldn't even bring myself to eat more meet since the mere thought of it made me sick. Then I thought, this is the best time to start again on raw and ever since January 2012 , Ive been about 60 -70 % raw. Recently, I've also been trying to go 100% raw and I must say I'm getting there. By just eating more raw food and less unhealthy food, I already feel more energised, emotionally better and I seem to accomplish much more in many aspects :)

Well, the main point of this post is to highlight how I learnt to become raw and how I keep myself motivated to eat raw. For the first few weeks, some of you may crave cooked food especially unhealthy food,  if that was a major part of your diet in the past. What really helped me and till today, has kept me motivated is having a good understanding of why raw food is better. I have read many e-books and cookbooks which explain clearly why it is important to adopt a plant-based diet. Without such an understanding, its easy to be put off or even distracted( especially by cravings). I know why i shouldn't eat many types of foods I used to eat and I also understand how the raw food I eat now will help me. Yes, I have already seen the changes. I don't rely on caffeine any more for a wake up call, no cravings for refined sugar/unhealthy carbohydrates,no sudden hunger pangs and most of all no fatigue throughout the day.My clothes have also become much looser for me and its not like i deprive myself of food. I just eat raw food.Healthy, nutritious food.Basically, I feel better not only physically but also mentally & emotionally. Not that I was mentally unfit in the past :D

I have relied on these cookbooks to transition to a plant based diet:

• Going Raw by Judita Wignall
• Raw Food/Real World by Sarma Melngailis & Matthew Kenney
• Raw by Charlie Trotter & Roxanne Klein

I just got the last book and its full of amazing, exotic looking recipes why I am dying to try and I have to get down to that.

There are also several websites which are simple to start learning to prepare raw food

• The Sunny Raw Kitchen ( I love their soups. Simple & delicious) 
• Raw Soup Recipes & Living Food Recipes( Again, great soups & I love soups! )
• From Sad to Raw ( Where I got ideas for breakfast)

There are many more websites and materials form which I taught myself and am teaching myself to prepare raw food. The list is endless. Its important to learn the basics through reading cookbooks and other e-books , say, on juicing and making smoothies in order for you to become creative and create your own variations. All these material have inspired me to become more creative and even try learning the raw version of man dishes.

So that's a post to explain how I decided to become raw & a little on my journey . I've made many raw desserts and actually altered them since I don't like it too sweet so I will post that up and also a list of organic stores in Singapore from where you can buy organic produce and other essentials for a plant based diet

Till next time,

xx :)

Another quick post: Raw Fruit Cereal

Soon! I'm going to be posting in more detail:) & with the pictures

So I'm a huge fan of smoothies( the ones with fruit and milk ). Since I started eating raw, I've stopped consuming dairy products including milk. I have found a temporary alternative for milk. Thats raw organic almond milk. There is a really easy way to make it yourself( blend soaked almonds and water) but for me, I have yet to get  my hands on enough raw almonds to make milk (mylk). Here's a breakfast recipe and I have been having this in the morning for the past few days.

To replace the milk,
2 bananas
1 cup of organic almond milk( i usually get the unsweetened one and check the ingredients carefully)

Blend everything in a blender. Result: creamy, sweet banana milk. Surprisingly, I didn't taste the almond at all :) And its all raw, healthy, sweet and GUILT FREE :)

As for the cereal,

half a pack of blueberries( here in Singapore they come in the small standard packs). I would recommend getting them organic as blueberries don't have a hard skin to protect them from all that pesticide...

About 6 strawberries( I cut them in half)

You can add more chopped fruit such as berries? And this makes the much healthier, raw version of the packed cereals which come with more hidden ingredients than you think.

Once again, I've yet to upload pictures. I will also include the brands of the products I buy and where I buy them from as it can be pretty difficult to find some products in Singapore.


For the Organic Almond Milk,

Singapore: It can be found in many NTUCs , Fairprice Finest and the other upscale supermarkets.

Raw Mango Salsa & Hummus

Quick, totally raw & absolutely delicious.

Mango Salsa

2 mangoes( or 1,but I used 2 to make it sweeter)
1/2 a cucumber

1/2 a red onion

1 chilli( I used green as red's too spicy for me)

pink himalayan salt ( amount according to taste)

cilantro

lime juice

Chop everything & mix a bowl.Can be refrigerated for 3 days. A word of advice: add the lime juice just before serving to prevent the salsa from being too 'wet' .

This salsa can be eaten on its own, or in a wrap. I use Nori Sheets(seaweed) as a wrap because they are pretty healthy.

Hummus

2 cans of garbanzo beans

1/2 a teaspoon of tahini

1 clove of garlic

Olive oil( I use organic 100 % olive oil)

Combine in a blender & blend. I used an organic tahini spread which was pretty strong so you may wanna go easy on the tahini if you're not accustomed to the taste( its pretty bitter). Also, add more olive oil if you prefer a smoother consistency. To serve, drizzle a little olive oil on the hummus.

pictures soon!

xx

Whats next on my baking list ?

Its gonna be a quick post but here's whats on my next to-make list :)

Raw Cashew Cheescake

Looks too good to be true but guess what , all the ingredients are healthy and/or raw so its not gonna add up on the calories! :D 

No Bake Brownies

These look as good ( and as sinful) as the original ones.Except that they can be made in close to 10 minutes and are actually HEALTHY! 

And lastly, this one has been on the top of my list .Time to get down to actually making it.

Chilled Double Chocolate Torte: No bake version

In case you've noticed, I've posted only desert recipes and thats because I'm starting to crave for cheesecake/brownies ever since I started eating raw

Thats all for now xx

I didn't quite have enough time to post this yesterday but here's the raw food i made, its mainly juices and a soup though.

I used a recipe from The Sunny Raw Kitchen except i omitted some ingredients as I didn't have them. I ran out of cucumbers and I used soy sauce for one of the alternatives.i have to say it turned out to be a pretty awesome soup.I never thought a totally raw soup could taste almost like those cooked ones. Avocado was used  to make it more creamier and thicker and it went perfectly well with the main ingredient, raw spinach :)

I was never all for raw food until I tried this soup and it taste as good as or maybe even better than cooked soup. So I'm definitely going to try out the other soups. I was eyeing the Spicy Cucumber Dill Soup recipe yesterday but i didn't have all the ingredients .

As for the juices i made yesterday, i tried a recipe I found on Raw Radiant Health . I didn't have pears so i substituted them with apples and it turned out pretty well! I wasn't too sure if i could handle a green juice so quickly but it tasted pretty good and it was sweet too( due to the apples).The lemon also made it taste fresh and lemons usually help the juice keep for about 2 to 3 days if chilled. I had a bag of oranges( about 5 or 6) so I used them all to make orange juice with a quarter of lemon and i must say I'm addicted. I didn't have to rely on caffeine to wake me up - I got an energy boost with all the juice :)

Here's the recipe for the Green Juice:

3 kale leaves (flat kale)
1 stalk of celery
1 cucumber
1 pear( I used an apple instead)
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 lemon( peeled)

Everything goes into the juicer and there you have awesome healthy green juice.

A word of caution though: Leafy vegetables like kale have to be cleaned well as they trap bacteria & dirt pretty easily.Also, it wold be better if organic vegetables are used because its usually free of pesticides and other chemicals. I'm thinking of investing in an organic vegetable cleanser ( still looking for one in the market).I found one but its only available in the Indian market and I'm in Singapore.