RECIPES:: Gettin Nutty in the Kitchen

People always ask, well what do you eat if you don't eat anything that "normal" people eat?  Lemme tell you, food that is more nutritious, life sustaining, healing, muscle building, detoxifying, brain friendly, every organ-tissue-or cell friendly food that just so happens to be environmentally friendly and sustainable, not to mention the most important component: tastier and much more satisfying.  Wait, am I the WEIRD one?? Nah, you couldn't convince me.

I have a stockpile of recipes that I've saved over time, and going to try to knock out a few every couple weeks. Only going to post the ones I make though! and remember to take pictures of.. sometimes I get a little hungry..

And I may get tired of typing out "organic", so just assume everything, or at least the important things are organic! 

This group is just a compilation of things that I make all the time and need to share, while a couple others are directly influenced by a few people that always made awesome dishes that I needed to make myself! I take no credit.

Smoothies & Chia Seed Pudding

Chia seed pudding:
I tend to eye ball this one.  A few tablespoons of chia seeds to your choice of liquid, but please, NO conventionally produced milk or soy.


Liquids:  Single or combined:
-Water
-Coconut milk
-Almond milk
-Flax milk
-Grass fed, organic Kefir

Note** Be sure to buy products that are GMO free, ideally organic, and are free of preservatives and other agents.  CARRAGEAN is an additive that is even in organic products that you should absolutely avoid!


That's the basis, then its time to get creative! 

The picture illustrates all the things that went into my smoothie and/or pudding.  '

Starting with the components I blended together first to make a thick, creamy base
Whey protein
-Grass-fed, undenatured, unpasteurized, sweetened with stevia, no preservatives or unnecessary additives
Vegan protein
-Organic, undenatured, no soy, no additives, gluten free, no junk, superfood all plant based protein.
-Cacao powder and/or carob powder
-Avocado
-Diced Avocado PIT (Peeled) (if you have a good blender, this is an incredible addition)
-carrots
-spinach, kale, chard, other greens
-other veggies
-Cinnamon
-Dash of vanilla
-RAW, pasture raised egg

Then topped with...

-Organic berries
-Cacao nibs
-Coconut flakes
-Chia seeds
-Flax
-Hemp seeds
-Sprouted nuts
-Diced Granny Smith apple
-annnnd more cinnamon


If you seem to have a hard time digesting some of these goodies.. that is quite alright!  Simplify your pudding or smoothies by using ingredients that are easier on your digestive system, especially if you're eating these things right away in the morning.  Try to avoid consuming excess nut products (whole nuts, nut milks, nut butters, nut flours) as they can be hard to digest in larger quantities and actually inhibit digestion of other foods and nutrients.

I'll make smoothies out of all these goodies, some of these goodies, whatever feels good that day/time allowance.  Sometimes I'll mix my smoothie in with my chia seed pudding to make it denser and tastier. 

Smoothies

I'll throw in basically all the same things I would in a chia seed pudding and blend er up.  Lately, I've really been avoid extra fructose, so I've even been shying away from using berries everyday.  To most people, I wouldn't even make a point of this; as long as they're using real foods and not overdoing it on the fruit.  

1) Monster smoothie 

-Errrythang you can cram in

-Literally countless varieties you can make.

***I would recommend getting use to using more veggies than fruit in your concoctions.  You'll adapt, I promise.  Especially after you get use to a very low carb diet.  Spinach and carrots are pretty sweet veggies. start with those! 

2) "Frosty"  (what my dad calls it) 

• -Ice (more than usual, ~1/3 of your container)
• -banana (I use just a 1/4 of one..) 
• -Chocolate grassfed, undenatured, unpasturized blah blah blah whey protein  (I like the ML product) 
• Cacao powder (~1-2 tbsp)
• ~1/3 ripe avocado
• -Unsweetened, GMO and caraggean FREE almond and/or coconut milk    (Use less to keep it thick and creamy, just like those beloved frostys.. make Dave proud) 

Thennnnn of course I'll throw in ...

-Cacao (1 tbsp)

-Chia seeds

Salads

I make a salad on most days, and I'll never have the same one, to say the very least! Constantly adding, subtracting, and continually dong new things every time!  That's how you can assure you'll never get bored with it, but will constantly be nourishing your body with awesome RAW foods.

(as organic as possible!! Id rather have nutrient dense food, without the side of pesticides, herbicides, and foreign proteins while supporting an ethical cause)  And Ideally things that are in season!

I like to eat my raw foods earlier in the day, which provides a ton of energy as raw foods tend to be easier to digest. I also try to stay away from consuming too many sugary things earlier in the day, like fruits and starches, I'll try to use those more at night.

There are definitely ways to get creative with your dressings.  I tend to keep it simple, I never really take the time to make anything interesting.  Usually just a different blend of olive oil, white or dark balsamic, apple cider vinegar, fresh lemon or lime, then I may sprinkle different herbs and/or spices such as garlic, turmeric, pepper, basil, rosemary, tarragon, etc.

Things to throw in!
Vegies on Vegies   annnnd maybe a little fruit. maybe.

~Every leafy thing you can get. Mix it up.
~cucumbers
~radishes
~peas/pea pods
~Peppers
~carrots
~sprouted nuts and seeds
~beets
~a few raisins, cransberries, blueberries, or strawberries
~
~Jicima--pretty tasteless, but gives a nice texture
~Raw cheese
~Soft boiled free run egg
~Hummus (make sure you read the label!! look for ones made with ONLY olive oil.. not canola, i dont care if its "organic canola oil" either, or soybean, or sunflower, etc)

You get the idea


Now to the goodies

Truffles 

In no shape or form can I take credit for these, or most likely any dessert creation I do.  All thanks to some awesome people that showed me the light to superfood desserts

SUPER FRIGGIN EASY
and mind blowing


Somewhat healthy way:

1 mashed avocado
1 cup organic, dark chocolate chips
A little organic, raw honey or stevia if you really need it (chocolate chips are most likely sweetened and shouldn't need any extra sugar). You better be really trying to impress someone if you take this step...
1/2 to 1 tsp vanilla

Melt chocolate chips on the stove at a low heat
(And no, NOT in the microwave)

Mash avocado in a bowl, add melted chocolate, then add
vanilla and, but not preferably, honey/stevia/xylitol

Mix well with hand blender, cool in fridge for at least 1 hour, or until cool and firm.  Sometimes it takes longer, be patient, I know its tough.

Roll in minced coconut, hemp seeds, chia, cacao nibs, whatevs.

Cool again.

Devour. 

Superfood, advanced plan, no (errrr maybe a touch of sugar), antioxidants galore way to make TRUFFLES

• 1 avocado
• coconut oil (ill have to measure this someday, without eyeballing it)
• Raw cAcao powder  (5-6 tbsp, although many cacao's differ in potency, so a little experimentation may be needed!) 
• 1-2 tsp vanilla
• touch of raw, organic honey

Makes a decent amount.  At least 15 truffles.  By all means go ahead and double, triple the recipe.

Avocado Nut Cake

Again, another "dessert" that I had to tackle before trying something else that I stole from my mentors, mainly to get the fam on board with all this crazy stuff because I know how INCREDIBLE this one is, and how healthy it truly can be!  

Two Parts

1) The Base

-1.5 cups unsalted nuts (ideally sprouted, unpasteurized.  At LEAST raw without any oils or salt added) 

-1 cup dates (medjool are best, remove the pits!!)

-5 tbsp raw, organic, fair trade, unroasted, unprocessed, unpasteurized pure cAcao powder

Blend er Up::  Start with the nuts.  Then toss in the rest!   Spread the base mix on a smallerish pan, your call really depending on how thick you want the base. 

~~Other additions worth trying~~

-3 tbsp coconut flour (really solidifies things) 

-1-2 tsp vanilla
-Pinch of Cinnamon 

-2-3 tbsp chia seeds soaked in minimal non-dairy milk or water.  Just another sticky agent thats loaded with 

-Dab of honey (if you REALLLLY need to impress someone, sneakily)

2) "Fudge" Topping
This is a basic recipe that can be used with alllllll sorts of recipes

• 1 ripe avocado
• 5-6 tbsp cAcao powder
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2-3 tsp raw, organic honey
• or add a little stevia
• or I added a couple more dates (needed to use them up) and 1/4 RIPE banana
• Pinch of salt (Himalayan or unprocessed, uniodized sea salt) 
• Pinch of cinnamon 
• (Optional) Chia seeds, hemp seeds
• (Optional) 2 tbsp organic coconut milk

In a medium bowl:: Scoop out avocado and mash in bowl.  Add in the remaining ingredients and mix really well.  Spread on top of base.  Put in freezer for an hour or so, and you're ready to mow down some delicious, potentially sugar free, superfood dessert!!  Guilt free!  

Just don't tell anyone it's "healthy" or "sugar free"  (at least processed sugar free...) and wait for their rxn.  If you're as weird as I am, they'll probably make such assumptions, but it's worth a shot.  

This really is a great recipe, firstly it's fantastic, secondly, it's easy to manipulate to experiment with different tastes and still crank out an awesome dish.  

Special thanks to my favorite Icelander for exposing me to, and sharing countless pieces of this small piece of heaven :)

Detox Veggie Burgers

I think it's great to go at least one day a week with minimal, or no animal products. Gotta give that gut and immune system a break every once in a while!! 

I throw a ridiculous amount of things in my veggie burgers, and they have yet to turn out bad.  They have been a pain in the ass to try to configure a way to cook them any other way than baking (which is probably preferred when it comes to nutrient retention anyway... but sometimes it's just too hot to turn on the oven!!).

What went in my last batch::

•  ~3-4 beets
• 1 cup organic black beans
• Full can chickpeas/garbonzo beans
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cup carrots
• 1 med sweet onion
• 1/3 red onion
• 4 tbsp dense chia seeds (minimal water--probably 1/2 c) 
• 1/2 cup flax meal
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup pecans
• cumin (probably... 1 tbsp)
• Chili powder
• Smoked paprika
• Rosemary
• Basil
• Tarragon 
• Himalayan salt
• Black and red pepper
• 6 tbsp melted coconut oil

I literally threw all this in my big Ninja blender, shredded it up, and made patties of which I then put on a baking pan and put on the grill.  They do take a while to cook, especially at a lower temp, almost 10 min/side.  

Baking these also works well.  Which I've done around 415F and took about 20-25 minutes. But keep an eye on them.  Check after 15.