Tag Archives: raw

Mmmm Summer Rolls!

One of my very favorite things to eat these days is Summer Rolls. I’ll admit I don’t make them too much because the dipping sauce, which is divine, contains a little more fat than I like right now. But every once in a while, you’ve just gotta.

low-fat-high-carb-raw-vegan-summer-rolls

I made them for dinner last night and, as well as being delicious, they are super easy.

You’ll need some spring roll wrappers. I got the biggest rounds they had at the Asian market. They have them in some standard grocery stores, too, but there’s a bigger selection (and bigger wrappers!) at the Asian market. 

Then, you put whatever kind of veggies you want in them. 

This time I had romaine, spinach, carrots, cucumber, tomato and alfalfa sprouts. I will tell you that in my opinion, these guys are NOTHING without the alfalfa sprouts but you decide for yourself. 

You just dip the wrappers into water to soften them up, layer the veggies of your choice inside, and roll them up. Easy peasy!

You will, most definitely,want to dip these in this dipping sauce that I modified from one that Megan Elizabeth shows on her YouTube channel.

I use 2 tablespoons of almond butter, 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar, 1 tsp of Liquid Aminos, 1/4 cup of water and some crushed red pepper for the dipping sauce. I take all of the ingredients and blend them in my little Magic Bullet which does a fabu job of mixing it all up. I have mixed it with a whisk, before I got the Magic Bullet, and it’s a little difficult because the almond butter is very thick. But it can work. 

And that’s all there is too it! A tasty way to eat a bunch of veggies. I can usually eat three of of these and sometimes more if I’m particularly hungry.

Try them, you’ll like them! 🙂

Wheeee!

I rode a bike! I haven’t been on a bike since I was a kid but I rode one today. Here’s my experience. 

The biggest thing I learned is that while I might be able to run with my mouth open, I should most definitely not ride a bike with my mouth open. LOL! I’m pretty sure my protein intake is higher today. 😉 

Raw Vegan Avocado Pasta

I’ve been sitting here the last couple of days marveling at this person I’ve become. It’s Christmas time after all and I’m not planning tons of uber sweet treats for us all to eat. No, instead, things like this happen. The other day I clicked into Pinterest to look at something Nikki wanted to do for the glambaby’s birthday and I saw this:

I clicked through to see the ingredients and immediately became obsessed with eating this salad. Now, I’d heard about hemp seeds before but had never eaten them so I’m not sure why I felt I needed to eat this, I just did. As soon as I could get away, I ran to Akins and bought hemp seeds and hemp oil and came home and made the salad. I wasn’t disappointed. One of the best things I’ve eaten since I started my raw journey.

I find myself finding other recipes that aren’t necessarily raw and trying to figure out how to make them raw and that’s what I did today. I came across this recipe for Avocado Pasta. I loved the idea but there were so many things I don’t eat in the recipe. Still, it leant itself nicely to being modified and I came up with this for lunch today. Oh yum! Seriously one of the best things I’ve eaten. If I had more zucchini, I’d have made myself another huge bowl. 

raw_avocado_pasta

I will definitely eat this again and again and again. The only thing I’ll do differently is add more ground black pepper which I adore. Yum!

Last year at Christmas, I think there were more desserts than people here to eat them. This year, my biggest Christmas dinner dilemma is what to do with all of my bananas so we can all sit at the dining table. What a change! 🙂

bananas

Raw Vegan Avocado Pasta
Delicious zoodles with a creamy avocado sauce.
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Ingredients
  1. 4 small or 2 large zucchini
  2. 1 ripe avocado
  3. 1/4 tsp basil
  4. 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  5. 1 tbs lemon juice
  6. 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  7. Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Spiralize zucchini into zoodles. Cuz tomatoes in half.
  2. To make the avocado sauce, place avocado, spices, and lemon juice in blender or food processor. Blend. Add water to make a smooth sauce.
  3. Pour over zoodles and tomatoes, toss until evenly coated. Add ground pepper to taste.
Notes
  1. You can use fresh herbs and spices, in fact they're probably preferable but I was in a hurry. Yum yum! 🙂
Adapted from DamnDelicious.net
Adapted from DamnDelicious.net
Lauri Rottmayer http://www.rottitude.com/

Raw Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

I’m not one of those girls who’s all gaga over pumpkin spice everything. I like the taste but hadn’t had it this year. This morning, I found myself with a banana crisis on my hands. Usually I have the same smoothie for breakfast: bananas, strawberries and spinach. I love it so much I usually have it for lunch! 🙂

raw_pumpkin_smoothie

But I used my last “dead” banana yesterday at lunch time. I have frozen bananas and bananas that aren’t quite ripe yet. So last night I had to figure out what I was going to have for breakfast so I’d be prepared. I had used some of the pumpkin I had in the freezer to make Raw Pumpkin Hummus (amazing!) and thought that pumpkin could be a possibility.

I was nervous to eat a pumpkin raw. Why? I couldn’t tell you. Everthing I’ve tasted raw so far has been delicious. I was so drawn by the hummus recipe that I finally decided to try it. When I got the pumpkin all pureed, I tasted it and was surprised. It was sweet! And yummy. 🙂  I then proceeded to Middle Easternize it. 😉 

So this morning, I decided to make a Raw Pumpkin Spice Smoothie. I used dates, frozen bananas, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Then , after I took a pretty photo of it, I added a half a bag of spinach because I have just got to have it!  The spinach didn’t take away from the deliciosity of the smoothie, it just took away its pumpkiny color. Here I am making up all sorts of words in one paragraph. 😉

raw_pumpkin_smoothie_spinach

So here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it. It is a big YUM! I think quite highly of raw pumpkin now, if you hadn’t guessed. 

 

Raw Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
A raw pumpkin spice offering.
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Ingredients
  1. 10 dates
  2. 2 frozen bananas
  3. 1 cup raw pumpkin
  4. 1 cup water
  5. 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  6. 4 1/2 oz spinach, if desired
Instructions
  1. Add dates, water, bananas into Vitamix. Blend well. Then add pumpkin and spice and blend until combined. If you'd like to add spinach, add enough water to mix it in, approximately 2 cups.
Notes
  1. The spinach doesn't take away from the pumpkin-y taste!
Lauri Rottmayer http://www.rottitude.com/

Butternut Squash Soup!

Welcome fall! It’s soup time. 🙂

The other day, I finally got my Vitamix. I was SO excited. That first night I just started throwing some stuff in: tomatoes, zucchini, red pepper, and I don’t know what else and it was good! I was amazed at how the Vitamix actually made the soup hot without cooking it and it really filled me up.

Today we were out shopping and I saw a butternut squash. I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever eaten butternut squash before but I don’t think I have. I wanted to make soup out of it.  My first challenge was: how do I peel this thing?

Julienne Peeler

A week or so ago, I got a great julienne peeler that I hadn’t had a chance to use yet so I thought I’d try it. It worked great! Chopping the squash after that was a breeze. 

I loaded the cut up squash into the Vitamix and blended it. Then I added onion, apples, ginger, allspice and cinnamon and blended it all on high for five minutes.

I ended up with this amazing, photogenic soup!

raw_vegan_butternut_squash_soup

This was delicious and I will definitely make it again. I think the next time I’ll try some different spices. The ones I used this time were great and lent themselves to the sweetness of the squash and apples but I think maybe something spicier might be nice, too! 🙂

 

Hug A Vegan Day

This morning I was listening to KRMG when the morning host, Dan Potter, mentioned that it was National Hug A Vegan Day. But then he snarked on, that you should be careful because they’re frail. And they smell funny.

KRMG Tulsa

Say what?

Admittedly, I have only been a vegan since September 1, but in the past 25 days I have seen such amazing changes in my health. And I was already a healthy person! Prior to this month, David and I had been eating a paleo diet since November of 2010. But, for me, it was unsustainable because I have a huge sweet tooth and the cookies eventually called. I also loved beer and gin and felt deprived if I couldn’t have a cocktail. 

In the past 25 days, I have had NO sugar. And guess what? It’s. Been. EASY! I’ve also had no desire to have a cocktail, I sleep better, my joints don’t hurt and I’ve been absolutely flying when I walk in the a.m. I don’t even feel like I’m walking anymore, but gliding. 

13:20 min/miles walking!

13:20 min/miles walking!

More than being just a vegan, I’ve been a high raw vegan and have had cooked food only a handful of times. The raw meals have been awesome and delicious. I’ve lost 24 pounds and I’ve never been hungry because I’m eating close to 3000 calories a day. 

I think people can get a lot out of a vegan lifestyle and I’m not saying it works for everyone but it has for me. 

Oklahoma is the 7th most obese state in the nation. Instead of gross generalizations, I believe Mr. Potter could’ve used his platform to suggest to listeners that after they hug a vegan today, maybe they can ask him about his lifestyle and the health benefits of it.

Oklahoma is the 7th most obese state in the nation

Meanwhile, I’d pit my fitness against just about anyone’s any day of the week. And I’m far from frail. So, please, if you notice me becoming frail or smelling funny, I hope you’ll tell me. In the meantime, bring on the hugs! 🙂