Dinner the day after :)

Although the raw challenge is over, I still prefer to eat lots of raw food!

Big green salad with mung bean, red bean and lentil sprouts and wakame, with ginger sesame and chili lime dressing

Italian red pepper and tomato soup

And thus, the last day of my 1 week raw food cleanse/challenge and Halloween party

Although the 1 week raw food challenge has ended, a new way of eating has begun. Sure I will still eat some cooked food, but the staple of my diet, I hope, will consist of raw, living foods!  :)

"Teriyaki" noodles with mung bean, red bean, and lentil sprouts

I was at a Vegetarian Halloween party at dinner time, and I'm glad to say that I stuck to raw stuff!

Look at all the food! (yes, I was not tempted to eat any of the cooked stuff)

More food! Got lotsa salad too.

This salad was really, really, good. Wakame with some dressing and romaine lettuce :D

The one with the blue face is the host

I'm on the left, reusing my dance costume from last year as my costume! xD

Another Christine, proud baker of the only cake at the party :D

grrrr..

meoww

hmmm.

Some stuff I had

This was a random hole at the host's house! I nearly fell into it while taking pictures of people! Now that's a Halloween scare!

Raw Food Challenge Day 6 and Mastering new acro trick!!!

OMG! I finally got this trick! This is really cool! Soooo happy! Have been trying to learn it for a long time! :D

After all the hype xD, here's what I had on the second last day of my raw food challenge :)

Creamy Custard pudding!(thank you lucuma powder!) topped with dried currants and cinnamon (yes, you can have pudding for breakfast and still feel good about it!)

 Fruit salad with red dates and mint drizzled with red wine vinegar, apple ginger spice buckwheat crunchies(Sasha's)

Cheesy "mashed potato"(far side), purple cabbage and dried cranberry salad, cucumbers in dill, raw nori rolls

All of those fit into this compact little container with an ice pack on the bottom! I love the cool stuff that this brand makes :)

Even the spoon is cool x)

Warm Ginger "milk tea" before bed time for a good night's sleep, anyone? :)

I can't believe tomorrow is my last day of the raw food challenge! It has been SUCH A DELICIOUS and EXCITING week!

Raw Food Challenge Day 5 and super cute cookie cutter

Third last day of my Raw Food Challenge/Cleanse! I can't believe how great I feel everyday! I learned so much in such a short amount of time! I have a complete different view of food now. Food should taste good and be filling, but most importantly, it must provide the body with easily digestible nutrients so that our digestive system does not have to work overtime to digest the food. With raw food, all the enzymes are still intact and alive, so our bodies will use less of our own energy to digest the food. Thus, we will have more energy to live our lives to the fullest! :D No more dragging our feet around!

I just noticed that a lot of my raw meals are very "Asian" xD 

Breakfast "cereal"- Sprouted buckwheat, bananas, dried figs and goji berries in Green tea Sesame and Hemp seed milk topped with cacao nibs, more figs and goji berries

Cheesy Red Curry "noodles"!

Rose, Cardamom and Basil Durian "Ice cream". Topped it so full I can barely see the bowl!

By the way, I went to Dollarama yesterday and bought some super cute cookie cutters!

This is my bowl of cookie cutters x)

Collection of cookie cutters

Aren't these cute??? Now I can make a whole family of Gingerbread Mans and Teddies! Can't wait til Christmas! Oh yeah, I finally convinced my mom to let my buy a DEHYDRATOR! SO EXCITED! Raw Christmas cookies, here I come!

Raw Food Challenge Day 4!

On Day 4 and I feel better than ever! Whenever I commute downtown on the GO train/bus, its about 1 hour of sitting time. By the time I arrive at the station, my legs are practically "dead" because most of the blood are diverted somewhere else when you're not active, in my case my digestive system, since I usually eat during the ride. What doesn't help is that there's a flight of stairs that I have to climb after coming down from the GO. Before I started eating all raw, most of the time my legs feel like lead, but right now, I'm practically flying upstairs! I don't know how it happens, but it just did ! :)

So here's what I had today--

Pretty in Pink Pineapple and Beet smoothie- with some kale and collards hidden in there. If I tell you its Pineapple and Strawberry smoothie, you'd probably believe me :)

Raw Hot Chocolate? You betcha. I also added orange extract, which makes it this much more decadent.

Double layer open sandwich-Raw almond butter, bananas, coconut milk yogurt, more bananas, and a generous sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice on sprouted flax bread. Peach slices on the side, also sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice

ooey gooey goodness!

Pad Thai "Noodle" garnished with all the goodies

Chipotle and Basil Pico de gallo (my version has avocados :D). 

These tomatoes are so fresh! Got them from The Delicious Food Show on Sunday and they picked the tomatoes on the morning of the show! They also showed me how to tell if the tomatoes are fresh. You simply rub the tomato with your fingers and smell them (your fingers). It should have a fresh scent. :)

I have so many ideas for what I'm going to make tomorrow! 

So excited!! If only I could do this for a living! 

Raw Food Challenge Day 3!

A day full of delicious meals! Yum!

I started off my day with fresh juice and better than Starbucks Green Tea Latte! It is sooo creamy and smooth! Thank you Vitamix for making it possible to make raw lattes! Made with almond milk, matcha powder and dates

See the foam on top? mmmmmm...

I made Apple Pecan Caramel dipped Cinnamon Vanilla "doughnut" last night!  I think I have just created the best raw "doughnut" that I've ever tasted!!!.No flour and sugar, not fried or baked, full of protein, essential fats, and antioxidants, no crashing 20min later,and best of all, delicious. I can't possibly ask for anything more from a raw food diet! Recipe is at the end of this post :)

Apple Pecan Caramel Fudge ( I had leftover dip from the doughnut, so I turned them into fudge!)

Oh so delicious!

"Asian Stir Not Fried"- Bokchoy, shitake mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, sprouts and avocado in Ginger Sesame and Chili sauce served with Sprouted Buckwheat

And, finally, The Recipe for Apple Pecan Caramel dipped Cinnamon Vanilla "doughnut"

Ingredients

Cinnamon Vanilla "Doughnut"

• 1 cup finely ground raw cashews
• 1/2 cup almond pulp from making almond milk (make sure it is not very wet)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour (some brands are not raw, check first). If you can't find it, try grinding dried shredded coconut with a coffee grinder/high powered blender until powdery, it will probably work well too.
• 1/2 cup pitted dates
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil, melted
• 1-2 teaspoons real vanilla extract (artificial ones are bad! Most of the fake ones contain propylene glycol, the icky chemical stuff in deodorants and anti-perspirant! )
• 2-3 teaspoons cinnamon powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Caramel Apple dip

• 1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup maple syrup at room temperature (or raw agave nectar if you're a really strict raw foodist, but maple has more flavour)
• 1 apple, peeled
• 2 tablespoons lucuma powder
• 1 tablespoon ground raw pecans
• lemon juice and cinnamon to coat apples

Directions

Cinnamon Vanilla "Doughnut"

1. Chop the dates in a food processor until a sticky dough forms.(this makes it less likely to have large "unchopped" pieces of dates in your doughnut)
2. Add in ground cashews, almond pulp, process until well combined. Make sure you don't keep the machine running for too long or it might heat the dough too much and cause the nuts to release their oils!
3. Add in coconut flour, coconut oil, vanilla and cinnamon, process again until well mixed. The dough should look crumbly but will stick together when pressed.
4. Form dough into whatever shape and size you desire. If you want Timbits, shape them into little balls :)  Put them in the fridge so that the dip will stick to them and harden/set quicker when you coat them. Optional: If you are lucky enough to have a dehydrator, I believe it will taste even better if you dehydrate it for maybe 2-3 hours, but it still taste superb just like that!

Caramel Apple dip

1. Chop the apple into very small pieces in a food processor (or by hand). Pour into a bowl and toss with a pinch of cinnamon and some lemon juice to prevent browning.
2. Put melted coconut oil, maple/agave syrup, lucuma powder, and ground pecans into the food processor and process until well combined. Pour into the bowl with apples and stir to combine. If you are not ready to use it yet, make sure to keep it warm so that it stays liquid (it thickens and hardens as it cools). A good way is to put the bowl in a larger bowl filled with warm-hot water.

When both elements are ready to go, simple put the whole doughnut into your bowl of dip, remove, put them on non-stick parchment paper, and lastly, let the dip harden in the fridge.

Freshly dipped!

You will probably have extra dip. Pour into any mold you like to make Apple Pecan Caramel Fudge! Silicon pan works best because they are non stick and pops off very easily! :)

Tada! Enjoy!

Raw Food Challenge Day 2!

 Fresh batch of creamy almond milk

Super Smooth and Delicious Banana & Spirulina smoothie, made with almond milk. There's also kale and broccoli in here! but I couldn't even taste it :)

Sprouted bread with a touch of cinnamon, curry, and coconut

Kiwi, Pear, and Physallis berry parfait with chia seeds, dried apples and currants, sliced almonds and cinnamon- made with coconut milk yogurt

Balsamic and basil pineapple

Jamaican style avocado and red pepper collard wrap with sweet chili dipping sauce

"Rice" and mushrooms in sweet cashew curry sauce

What a delicious day!!!! Can't wait til tomorrow!!

Raw Food Challenge Day 1

I officially started my 1 week Raw Food Challenge today! :) (It wasn't smart of me to choose this day, because I was volunteering at the Delicious Food Show today and let me just tell you that there was a lot of will power required when browsing the booths! You can probably guess why! xD)

Anyway...here's what I had today (pictures are main meals only)  :)

 After an hour long, brutally cold, hand freezing bike ride this morning (which took me 15 minutes to defrost, and lots of people will want nothing but hot chocolate at this point ), I still looked forward to my refreshing Sunday morning juice! Today's juice has carrots, beets, cucumber, lemon, ginger, broccoli stalks, and cabbage, but it still tasted very, very, sweet and yummy because there's lots of beets and carrots :)

Brunch! (took me some time to juice and clean)

Banana Chocolate Chai "Oatmeal" with Goji Berries and Maca, sweetened with dates. Instead of regular rolled oats, I soaked whole, raw oats overnight, then blend them in a food processor with some dates, cacao and maca powder, then added the extras on top :D I also added coconut milk yogurt, although its not technically raw. Some non-raw foods that I'll still be eating are yogurt, miso, and other fermented/cultured foods because some raw foodists still consider them "living" due to the good bacteria in them.

Since I had brunch pretty late and it was super filling (unlike the SAD-Standard American Diet breakfast, which will not last even an hour), I just snacked on fresh fruits and trail mix throughout the day. There were also some samples that were raw in the Delicious Food Show :D

 Dinner!

Cabbage Slaw with Avocado, Red Pepper, Kale & Sprouts, "Alfredo" noodles with basil and kelp

"Alfredo" noodles with basil and kelp

The noodles are made with spiralized zucchini and the sauce is cashew based with lemon juice, dulse, garlic, black pepper, and braggs liquid aminos. So simple yet so delicious!

Cabbage Slaw with Avocado, Red Pepper, Kale & Sprouts

The dressing is made with apple cider and balsamic vinegar, agave nectar and mustard. Doesn't get any simpler than that!

So there you go, day 1!