September 19, 2010

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Breakfast
White Chia Smoothie
serves 2 ~ $.95 per serving
8 tablespoons white chia seeds ($1.00)
2 cups water (or white tea, cooled)
2 tablespoons coconut nectar or other liquid sweetener ($.40)
4 tablespoons blackberry puree ($.50)
It was inevitable, and on September 23rd it will be official; the autumnal equinox will mean that fall has arrived. Even though I dread cold weather, I’m very much looking forward to all the holidays. I hope to have some special things connected to the holidays this year … starting with my favorite, Halloween!
I’ve been really enjoying chia lately, as you know. Natural Remi -Teas sent some white chia seeds recently as well as some wonderfully fragrant white tea, and this smoothie is what I made with them. I really like the prices at Natural Remi – Teas. The white chia is just $5.50 a pound.
Tea steeped in boiling water isn’t raw, and I avoid pretty much all caffeine myself, but plain water worked really well for this, too. 
In a blender, soak the chia seeds in the cooled tea or water for about twenty minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth and chilled. I don’t like blackberry seeds, they drive me crazy, so I strain the blackberry puree through a wire mesh strainer. Save a few tablespoons of the blackberry puree for dessert later.

 
calories: 244
fat: 9 gr
carbs: 38 gr
protein: 6 gr
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Lunch
Coconut Cashew Soup
Serves 2 ~ $4.04 per serving
4 tablespoons artisana coconut butter ($2.20)
4 tablespoons artisana cashew butter ($2.35) 
1 1/2 cup water
3 dates ($.60)
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves ($.10) 
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
juice of one lime ($.50)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cucumber, sliced into noodles ($.89)
 1/2 avocado, chopped ($.88)
1 medium onion, minced
2 stalks celery, minced ($.20)
small bunch cilantro leaves ($.05)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved ($.30)
red pepper flakes
Oh. Yeah. Coconut butter is divine. Artisana makes organic, raw and vegan nut butters and coconut products. They provided some of their coconut butter and nuts butters for me to try, which are great straight from the jar and worked out really well in this easy and convenient soup.
In a blender, process the coconut butter, cashew butter (almond butter will work as well), water, dates, cilantro, garlic, red pepper flakes, cayenne, lime juice, salt and pepper. Puree until as smooth as possible.
Cut the cucumber into noodles and put in bowls with the avocado, celery, cilantro, and cherry tomatoes. Using a wire mesh strainer, strain the coconut and nut butter soup base. This will take out any larger pieces of dates or spices. A higher powered blender may make this step unnecessary. Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
 
calories: 537
fat: 44 gr
carbs: 33 gr
protein: 11 gr

Dinner
Hasta La Pasta
serves 2 ~ $.95 per serving
2 small zucchini, noodled ($1.39)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved ($.30)
2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
This is just a very basic zucchini noodle recipe. Use a vegetable peeler or spiral slicer to cut the zucchini into noodles. Another option is to simply grate the zucchini. Top with cherry tomatoes and olive oil, and add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.
 
calories: 244
fat: 18 gr
carbs: 16 gr
protein: 5 gr

Cooked

Spaghetti Squash


It’s not raw, I know, but I wanted to show you these amazing spaghetti squash noodles. Spaghetti squash grows very easily from seed, even where there are short growing seasons. I was surprised at how easy and prolific they are. After being cured, they can be stored for several months. They are commonly available at most grocery stores as well. I’m really pleased with how well these grew and now have a pantry full. It’s really not possible, as far as I know, to eat these raw. So, I’ve made them cooked. Done in the oven at 350, the inside will not get any hotter than 212 degrees, so they are basically steamed.
To prepare, simply place the squash on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour and twenty minutes. Remove from oven, let cool slightly, then cut in half. Remove the seeds with a spoon. Then, using a fork, scrape the squash flesh. It will come apart in noodle shaped strands … and it makes a lot. These strands can be used like any vegetable or grain pasta. Here, I’ve added the same things as I have to the zucchini noodles above. The nutritional information in cooked spaghetti squash pretty much the same as zucchini.

 
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Dessert
Plum Pie
serves 3 ~ $2.47 per serving
1/2 cup walnuts ($1.00)
1/2 cup raisins ($.85)
3 plums, sliced thinly ($3.00)
3 tablespoons coconut butter ($1.65) 
2 tablespoons coconut nectar ($.40)
banana ice cream ($.50)
blackberry puree
In a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, process the walnuts and raisins until the mixture begins sticking together. Press into a plate, pie plate, or tart pans and chill for several minutes.
In the food processor, again with the “S” blade, process one plum, the coconut butter, and the coconut nectar. When pureed, spread over the pie crust. Place the plum slices on top. 
This goes really well with a bit of banana ice cream and a bit of blackberry puree.
 
calories: 396
fat: 19 gr
carbs: 60 gr
protein: 6 gr
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Total cost for the day: $8.41
total calories: 1,421
total fat: 90 gr
total carb: 147 gr
total protein: 28 gr

Questions of the Week

1. How raw are you? Do you sometimes have healthy cooked food as well?


2. What will you do for Halloween this year? Do you have kids who will dressing up? 

3. What do you think about bloggers doing product reviews? Is it a good service? Have you ever found a wonderful product via a blogger’s review?

22 Responses

  1. Megan says:

    Yum, spaghetti squash! They're definitely my favourite noodles to use. 🙂

    To answer the questions:
    1. I'm not a raw foodist by any means, but I still eat a lot of raw food. Today for lunch, I had raw spaghetti noodles, but with a tomato and lentil sauce. I eat a lot of salad veg and I adore fruit, but I could never give up rice or roasted vegetables. 🙂
    2. I have no idea! I come from Australia, where Halloween isn't a big deal. This year I'll be in Germany, and I haven't got any clue whether people here celebrate, so I guess I'll find out. I'm just happy that I can get winter squash at the markets!
    3. I'm not huge on reviews, because most of the time they're of products I'll never use or eat, or of suppliers that are too far away to bother with. I can understand that people are happy to write them in exchange for free items, etc, so fair enough really.

  2. Anonymous says:

    1. Working on incorporating more raw options into a vegan-inspired base
    2. Hallowe'en is mostly for small children; it's a great chance for them to dress up and parade. The harvest moon is more of a personal celebration time for me.
    3. Bloggers who get free supplies produce biased reviews. They are inherently biased so the reviews are unreliable/tainted.

  3. ( jason ) says:

    I'm okay with bloggers reviewing products. I'm sure that a blogger can feel obligated to point out mostly positive characteristics of any free product they've received, but they are now required to disclose that they received something from the company. So, I will weigh that knowledge when evaluating a product.

    In this case, I'm excited to find a less expensive source of chia seed. It's a product that I'm already familiar with, but my current source only offers single pounds for $8.

  4. Cynthia says:

    I think some reviews are helpful but I can't recall ever actually buying anything that was reviewed. I recently reviewed some meat free frozen chicken wings. I just really wanted to let everyone know that they were tasty and worth the money.

    My boys are getting too old for Halloween so hopefully just a nice evening hanging out in the drive way with my neighbors.

    For quite a while I was almost 100% raw. But lately I've slipped into about 70-50%. I usually have one cooked vegan meal a day. I'm happy and I feel great. The only thing I try not to slip up on is bread. Most breads instantly make me bloat and feel terrible. Cooked Sprouted grain breads are fine for me to eat and sometimes my homemade pizza dough or rolls.

    Thanks again for the Prints!

    Cynthia

  5. HiHoRosie says:

    Oh my. That coconut cashew soup looks incredible!

  6. Earth Mother says:

    Oh my, I'm looooooving your soup this week! Wonderful combination of flavors and the colors are divine.

    During the summer months (with temps off the charts, day after day, this year), I ate little to no cooked foods. No desire really.

    But now that things have cooled off (thankyoujesus), sure, I'll add in some cooked foods to my diet. I adore soups and baked sweet pototoes + squash.

  7. bitt says:

    I don't really have a number or percent of how raw I am. At this point, I am having something cooked every day or two. It just depends on cravings and hunger levels.

    Not sure what my exact Halloween plans will be. I am going to try to do dog-o-ween with the dogs. 🙂

    I have nothing against product reviews. I disagree with the person who said the reviews are biased. Although sometimes if I can't think of anything nice to say I will just tell the company I'd rather not review it. Usually that's not the case.

  8. bitt says:

    For got to say I love your soup idea! Need to get the ingredients for that.

  9. griffen says:

    the plum tart looks fantastic.

    1. i eat raw as much as i can, but as of lately i've been having one cooked item..

    2. hopefully dr. who inspired costumes will take place on my halloween

    3. i think product reviews are of good service!

  10. Anonymous says:

    Thank you so much ! 🙂

  11. Anonymous says:

    1. I try and eat mostly all raw withe exception of some yummy baked sweet potatoes
    3. I like product reviews….:)

    Will you try and make a dday with no nuts I can't have any:(( please??

    i LOVE your site!!!

  12. Nelly says:

    spaghetti squash is to die for…

    it's my man's bday oct. 30, so we usually just celebrate his day…and product reviews are great i love reading about products that are recommended by my fave people!!!

    =)

  13. Anonymous says:

    I eat raw spaghetti squash. Just cut in half and then use a fork to shred. It's time consuming, but tasty in salads or with marinara sauce.

  14. Mindy says:

    I have to say I'm thrilled to learn about this source for white chia seeds. I much prefer the appearance of the white ones in recipes. My local Whole Paycheck store used to have white chia in the bulk section, and then they suddenly stopped having them. According to a couple of the employees, the company went out of business. The store still carries some really expensive black seeds in the supplement area. The price of seeds at the source you referred to is the best I've seen. Thanks so much for the tip!

  15. Hasta La Pasta = LOL

    the white chias, have never had white chia. only black.

    the cashew soup..omg that looks goooooD! Very awesome!

    and product reviews, YES. I always post what i buy from my hair products to vodka to gum to raw nut butter. It all helps someone, sometime. Sometimes it's given to me, other times i buy it, i post it all. Plus with daily posts, i need to have some "lighter" content, like a chewing gum review LOL

  16. Anonymous says:

    I eat 85% raw and 15% cooked.
    I don't do Halloween.
    I like the product reviews because sometimes it sends to a product I would not have found otherwise. I don't always trust the review, but it's nice to find new sources and some products I didn't know about.

  17. Your blog is beautiful! 🙂 I love the food in this current post. It all looks divine. I want to taste the soup! 🙂 – & – Thank you so much for listing me in your blog roll. Very sweet of you. I appreciate it immensely. 🙂 Xo!

  18. Well ya got me there with the white chia seeds! Had never heard of them!

    That soup looks gorgeous!

    Halloween is not celebrated where I love, but I just got a little costume for the kitty (it will be a 5 second photo-op)!

  19. Anonymous says:

    I think I will HAVE to try the Coconut Cashew Soup. It looks DIVINE!

    Misti

  20. Anonymous says:

    So glad i found this 😀 i am coming off my fast & these dishes are perfect thanx so much for sharing 🙂

  21. bitt says:

    you are the winner of the eating animals book! email me with your info.