August 15, 2010

3 ripe bananas ($.45)

2 cups strawberries ($1.29)

4 tablespoons nutiva hemp protein powder ($.60)

1/2 cup buckwheat, soaked for 2 hours and rinsed well ($.10)

I have three product reviews that I’m going to cover in this post. Because my calorie intake is generally at the lower end, I can also come up slightly low in protein. The RDA for protein is about 50 gr per day; I was regularly getting about 20 – 25 gr per day. So, I was really pleased when I had the chance to try three different products … all of which I’m going use in the recipes today.

These flakes started out as crepes that I left in the dehydrator too long. They were pretty crispy and made great “cereal” type flakes.

I’m a long time fan of Nutiva, and have used their coconut oil for many years. The Nutiva Hemp Protein Powder has its own light and nutty taste which adds additional flavor dimension to these flakes, and any other recipe. The Nutiva Hemp Protein is just slightly grainy, but that actually worked well here and in some other recipes. The nutritional information for this product comes out to 120 calories per serving, with 11 grams of protein for a cost of about $.60 per serving.

I personally like this product so much I now get it in their 3 lb bulk packages … This works out really well, with very little packaging (excess packaging is one of my pet peeves) and the product is exceptionally fresh. I open the package right away, transfer the powder to quart canning jars and store in the freezer until needed.

To make the flakes, in a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, puree all ingredients until smooth. Spread out on dehydrator trays (teflex works best for these) and dehydrate at about 115 degrees for about an hour. Peel from the teflex sheet and flip onto regular dehydrator tray and continue drying for several hours or overnight. Break apart and serve with your favorite nut milk.

 

 1 banana, sliced and frozen ($.15)

1 cup almond milk ($.30)

1 scoop Raw Protein Powder ($1.05)

1 tablespoon cacao or cocoa powder ($.20)

pinch salt

is made from organic, sprouted brown rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, garbano bean and other sprouts, including sunflower seed sprouts.

So, the bad news is, I’m allergic to sunflower seeds and couldn’t try out the organic raw vegan Raw Protein Powder from Garden of Life.  

4 ripe tomatoes ($2.00)

4 leaves kale or chard ($.20)

2 tablespoon olive oil ($.20)

2 carrots ($.10)

2 stalks celery ($.20)

 medium onion

3 tablespoons nutiva hemp seeds ($1.05)

2 teaspoons flavored oil for drizzling ($.10)

I initially made some tomato soup with the Nutiva Hemp Protein powder. It was pretty good but maybe just slightly gritty and the flavors didn’t mesh well, so I made another soup with some hemp seeds on top. The nutty flavor of the seeds goes really well with the creamy tomato soup. 

Nutiva’s Hemp Seeds are about $1.05 per serving with 11 grams of protein and 110 calories.

 ..

To make a flavored oil, simply add the spices of your choice to some olive oil and let sit to absorb the flavors for a few days. I like it pretty intense, so I use about three tablespoons spices per every cup of olive oil, but adjust this to your liking. And experiment … like most raw food projects, it’s almost impossible to really mess this up.

Once the flavor has developed to your liking, strain the oil and put in a container and use within two weeks.

 

1 ripe cantaloupe ($2.00)

2 ripe bananas, sliced and frozen ($.30) 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

3 tablespoons nutiva hemp seeds ($1.05)

1 cup strawberries, sliced ($.65)

The mix will be like soft serve ice cream and can be divided between the cantaloupe halves and topped with sliced strawberries.