Apple Pear Almond Smoothie

Every time I'm cleaning up my act, I look to Meredith Baird's Everyday Raw Detox for inspiration. I got the idea for this smoothie partly from a recipe of hers called "Fall Fixer" and partly from my insatiable desire for apples and almond butter, which I eat almost every day. And often twice a day. It's fast, portable, and delicious. Even faster is this smoothie. I thought I'd try blending my favorite combination to see what happens. I eat the two together so often, I'm surprised I didn't try this sooner. It's no surprise how it turned out.  I added a jalapeno pepper to give it some heat. I have to admit, sometimes I'm not sure when I throw something into the blender, but I've learned over the years that really unexpected pairings can delight. So it is with the pepper in this recipe. It's just enough heat to give the smoothie a kick without overpowering it. Paired with a steaming cup of hot cinnamon black tea, this is a perfect start to the morning.

Apple Pear Almond Smoothie:

2 apples chopped and seeded
1 pear chopped and seeded
1/2 c. coconut water
2 T. raw almond butter
2 inch chunk of ginger
1 T. chia powder
2 medjool dates
1 T. flax oil
1 t. cinnamon
1 jalapeno pepper
1 t. vanilla

Blend apples and pear with coconut water until it's an applesauce consistency. Blend the rest of the ingredients with the apples and pear until you have a smoothie consistency.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy. Serves 1-2.

Green Tea Latte with Spirulina Smoothie--1

 I just came back from another vcacation overseas. This time it was to France to ski and snowshoe in a beautiful area in the French Alps. After so recently returning from Australia and New Zealand, I've been feeling a bit out of sorts as far as eating raw goes. The majority of the food I ate in France was raw, but I also ate cooked vegetables and rice, as I did in Australia and New Zealand. I don't think there's anything wrong with that at all. It's just not my usual choice. Raw works for me on many levels. I also am quite picky about my sweet. I like to satisfy my sweet tooth but in as healthy a way as possible. I like my sweet in the natural state, ie. as in dates and figs. (Yes, I know how much sugar dried fruit contains). I don't like to eat sugar sources that have no nutritional value to them, ie. white sugar. I'm also suspect of evaporated cane juice, which, to me, is the high fructose corn syrup of the natural food world.  (And yes, I know that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get where I'm going...it's in everything).

Well, I digress. Back to the traveling... I know a few things got past me, specifically soy milk, which undoubtedly contained sugar and probably of the evaporated cane juice variety. Finding alternative dairy sources isn't so easy overseas. Soy is generally available, but not almond or hemp or cashew or coconut milk. And I'm not in the position to make my own.  (Though I seriously tried to fit my NutriBullet into my suitcase, but it was just too much). I did make sure the soy milk did not contain genetically modified soy, which was much easier in Australia and New Zealand than here in the U.S., if the labels were indeed correct. I was fortunate to find an almond milk in France, but it had sugar in it. No such thing as an unsweetened choice in the tiny town I was in. I was just content to find almond milk instead of soy.  And since I only use a tiny bit in my tea, I was satisfied that making this sacrifice wasn't going to have too much of an impact on my health. Of course, I could just forgo using anything in my tea, but my tea ritual just wouldn't be the same. And I really, really love my tea. It's the one ritual I have to have when traveling. So I accept that a little soy abroad won't be the end of the world.

A side note on  soy. I don't eat soy at home, so maybe things have changed in the decade since I ate it. But it used to be that only organic soy could be trusted to be non-GMO. Most soy is genetically modified in this country.  In Australia and New Zealand most of the soy milk said it was non-GMO, yet it wasn't organic. It was actually hard to find a soy milk that was genetically modified. Now, I don't know what they are doing that we aren't, but it seems there is a greater consciousness regarding this issue. Perhaps it was public demand to not allow GMO's in their food, I really don't know.  I just know as I looked on the shelves out of curiosity it was hard to find GMO soy milk in these countries.  I can't tell you how delighted that made me. Some countries are successfully fighting the corporate corrupting giants, and you know who I mean. So I'm going to hold out hope that we can still turn the tide on this issue in this country.

I digress again.. back to my cleaned up breakfast. I'm not one of those people who do juice cleanses. I juice, but I'm too active to be able to live on juice alone. When I try to clean up, what I mean is drinking smoothies and juices. My aim is to give my digestive system a break by consuming foods that are partially broken down by the Vitamix and presumably easier to absorb this way. I still drink foods with healthy fats in them. Nuts, coconut, and avocados are still part of my 'cleanse.'  Now the purists out there wouldn't approve of this as a cleanse, but it's my cleanse and I know what I need and how to get it.  I strongly believe there is no one way to do any of this. Each of us has to find our own way. So my way this morning was to start with a wheat grass shot, then a green tea latte paired with a spirulina smoothie. A slow start to be sure, but still an improvement over all the chocolate I ate while on vacation.

Green Tea Latte:
2 c. hot water
3/4 c. cashew milk*
4 T. softened coconut butter
2 T. coconut nectar
2 T. green tea powder (feel free to use less as 2 T. makes for a strong green tea flavor)
1 T. lacuma powder
1/2 t. vanilla bean seeds

Blend all ingredients in a Vitamix and let run for several minutes. The heat of the motor will warm the liquid. Serve immediately. Makes two servings.

*Cashew Milk:
1 c. cashews soaked for 2 hours
5 c. filtered water
1 t. vanilla
a few drops of stevia (optional)

Blend nuts with water until you have a smooth liquid. Strain the liquid through a nut milk bag. Add the vanilla and optional stevia to the milk and stir in.

Alternatively, you can buy nut milks from the store, but they aren't raw. Heat is used in the processing. It's your choice how far you want to go with this raw idea.

Spirulina Smoothie:
1 c. coconut water
1/2 c. shredded coconut
2 T. softened coconut butter
1 scoop raw protein powder
1 T. spirulina ( Use as much or as little as you want.  I've worked my way to loving spirulina and find it sweet)
1 t. flax oil
3 medjool dates

Blend all ingredients until coconut has blended well and smoothie texture is smooth. Makes one large smoothie.

Cinnamon Vanilla Chocolate Bar

I've made chocolate many times and posted several of those recipes. Today I made my first chocolate bar using a silicone bar mold. I used the same ingredients I always use, Navitas Naturals Cacao Power and Cacao Paste with a little agave and stevia and a pinch of cinnamon and vanilla. I also made a few candies using white chocolate to top coconut flakes and goji berries. I couldn't resist dipping a few dried figs in the white chocolate as well. The white chocolate uses Navitas Naturals Cacao Power. I added to that some date paste, some cashews, some agave and a bit of vanilla. I didn't keep track of proportions because I was mostly just having fun with different molds. Next, I'll design a wrapper for the chocolate bars so they look like the real thing. Making raw chocolate is easy, but using these molds takes it to another level. I'm going to give the bar to a friend as a gift. Who wouldn't like homemade chocolate made with love and joy?

Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The last market I visited was more of a tourist attraction. Queen Victoria Market is a large market of vendors selling everything from meat to dairy to fruits to nuts to fish, etc. They also had stalls for clothing and other novelty type things, but I stuck to the organic produce area. I prefer smaller neighborhood markets, but while here I did find a booth operated by Loving Earth, a local company that made the raw foods I had been subsisting on while in Australia and New Zealand. It was fun to find them and to talk with the guy behind the table. Tasting their organic raw caramel chocolate was worth the long walk I took to find the place. I'll be trying to reinvent that flavor in my own kitchen. I think I had already tried almost every item shown in these photos during the month I was there, but still I was just happy to let him know how grateful I was to have their raw food available to me.

So to anyone who fancies a trip to either of these countries and wants to eat raw, this is the company to look for. There are others, to be sure, but Loving Earth is the most accessible and plentiful. Organic produce is readily available.  You'll have no trouble eating your way through either country. I just hope you have as much fun as I did doing so.

Queen Victoria Market

Organic produce section of the huge market

The Loving Earth booth is the entire length of photo.

Buckwheat granola, which came in handy for  me.

Raw nuts and dried fruits

More raw chocolate; caramel white chocolate on right

Abbottsford Convent Farmer's Market in Melbourne

I spent a great day wandering Saturday farmer's markets and artist's markets in Melbourne.  My favorite farmer's market was at the Abbottsford Convent, which is no longer a convent but is now used by art organizations.  My best find was a big container of plump, ripe figs. These were perhaps the best I have ever had, and I've eaten a lot of fresh figs. Absolutely perfect.  Even the figs I lived on for a month in Greece (that I picked fresh every day) weren't as good as these.  Honestly, these were divine.

I also found some other beautiful stalls, my favorite being the Hi-Fye pistachio stall. There I discovered almost a dozen varieties of raw pistachios. It's usually pretty hard to find one kind of raw pistachio, let alone a variety. This discovery delighted me. I also talked to an interesting vendor of organic honey. We had a nice discussion about how they make their raw honey. Talking to vendors directly about their passion and where it meets mine is my favorite thing about these public markets. The people watching is pretty good too. I love seeing people riding in on their bikes with their baskets ready to be filled, or people carrying their totes anticipating this week's find. Farmer's markets are one of the few places left that feel like community, and I love being in the energy of this feeling.

 Here are some pics of beautifully displayed organic produce because, to me, it looks as lovely as any piece of art. I am blissfully happy when walking farmer's markets. Such a simple thing, but I am always so grateful to be among other people who share a love of good, pure food and who work really hard to provide it to the rest of us. 

The tub was twice this size to start.

How perfect is that?

Thank you, Ian and Glennis Haw!

 certified organic greens

more organic produce

Hi-Fye Pistachios--these are different raw varieties

Cornucopia of Delights

As I awaited the Saturday farmer's markets in Melbourne I journeyed to the smaller local produce sellers to get me through in the interim. On this particular Thursday I was in heaven. Not only was it great to buy a peach in February and have it be considered in season because of where I was, but I also found fruits I can't get in the U.S. At this particular market I found passionfruit (my favorite), mangosteen and apple custard. I've certainly used mangosteen supplements and juices, but I had never eaten a fresh one. I had also never eaten the apple custard fruit. I don't even really know if that is what it is called, but that's what the sign said, so that's what I'm calling it here.

I took my bounty back to the Nunnery where I was staying, went out to the back fire escape, and had myself a feast. While I was trying all of these delectables, someone was playing a ukelele down below on one of the hostel's patios. As the music wafted up to me on this beautiful sunny day, I indulged in a mountain of fresh fruit. It may not sound like much, but I was so happy with the richness of beautiful, colorful food and some accompanying music, that I was about to burst. Ok, a little of that feeling was from all the fruit I had consumed, but I couldn't resist. I was about to head back into freezing cold winter where many of these fruits wouldn't be in season for another six months and some would never be available to me. So I filled myself up (though I didn't eat all of this at one sitting) on local produce from Australia. It was all delicious. This day will be one of my favorite memories from my trip.

Organic market on Brunswick St.

Mangosteen upper right; passionfruit lower right

Peaches in February in season!

From left upper corner: apple custard, peaches, passionfruit, cherries, peach, mangosteen, peach, fig

My new favorite yogurt

I discovered this truly amazing yogurt while in Australia and New Zealand. It's made in Australia and not available here, but I hope that someday changes. I mean, if I can buy apples from New Zealand at my co-op, why not this coconut yogurt? In full disclosure, I don't know if this is a raw product. I would bet it isn't, but I have to write about it anyway because it is hard to find a thick, creamy raw yogurt if you don't make it yourself. I also admit that normally I wouldn't have bought this if I had seen the full ingredient list. The price tag was conveniently over the one ingredient that would have prevented me from buying it the first time-- tapioca starch (which raises insulin levels much like gluten).  All the other ingredients were pretty pure, so I didn't think too much about that pesky little price tag (pesky for more than one reason; what it hid and what it stated--this stuff is not cheap).

After purchasing it, I brought it back to where I was staying, took off the price tag and let out a sigh of, "Oh well, not perfect, but I'll try it anyway." Can I just say that sometimes it is so worth it to let go of your personal rules just to experience something wonderful? This yogurt was so thick, resembling a Greek yogurt, and so smooth and not too sweet. It was definitely the full fat coconut, which I have no fear of, though I wouldn't eat this every day. It's so rich that it's better to enjoy it spoonful by spoonful, relishing each one with all the attention it deserves. I mean, really, I closed my eyes and savored each bite. Especially since I thought this would be the only time I ever tasted it. The one exception to the tapioca starch that I would make. Ha!

At this point, the vacation attitude took over and I thought to myself, "I'll only ever have it here. I can't find it at home. I'll try every flavor just once."  I almost did that. I let some flavors slide. But I did try the blackberry, the plain, and the passionfruit.  I found the passionfruit flavor while in New Zealand, long after I had said good-bye and put an end to this love affair with this Australian made product. But there it was in Queenstown, beckoning, and I indulged for the last time, pairing it with a raw cracker made in New Zealand that I found at the Mediterranean Market. The cracker was made with buckwheat, dates, and figs. Really, it was nothing fancy but paired with the passionfruit yogurt, it was divine. While everyone else in my group went out to dine at restaurants, I enjoyed my chance at solitude while indulging in each incredible bite. A bit anti-social, perhaps, but this is what love does. It puts you in your own little world where nothing else enters in, at least for awhile. And I loved it while it was happening. It was my favorite meal during the entire New Zealand adventure.