Carob Cake Amazingness

I have been home all day studying and I decided I needed some "junk" food so I took a little break and whipped up some raw vegan energy to get me through the rest of my studying...
This cake is the yummiest thing I have ever tasted, I can't decide whether to call it a cake, or a pie or a piece of awesomeness...

For the crust/cake/cookie type part:
2 cups of walnuts
1 cup of shredded coconut
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/4 cup of agave nectar

Put all the ingredients in a food processor. (If you don't have a food processor put the nuts in a bag and hit it with a cup till its mashed up like I did in all the other recipes and then mix everything together! If you have other creative ways to destruct things with out a machine post it in the comments!)
Then put all the ingredients in a pan and shape it into a cake!

For the Frosting/Filling thing:

3 majooled dates (soak for an hour to get it soft)

1 ripe Avocado

1/2 cup of carob powder

Put all the ingredients in a food processor for an easy mixing or do what I did: put the dates and avocado in a bowl and mash it till it's super mixed then add the carob powder and mix until it looks all yum and chocolaty! 

Frost your cake and enjoy! 

Keep it refrigerated.

Back to cramming with Jon...

xoxo REL

Minute-Meal Nutritious style!

Ugh I am always busy... most students let their health become their last priority when life gets hectic- but for me my schedule just means I need creative ways to keep my nutrients coming.

The other day I knew I was going to be out of the house the entire day- and I had about thirty minutes to get dressed eat breakfast and prepare my food for the day... so with the 3 minutes I saved for food prep (...it takes me a while to get ready and I like to take my time while eating ;)....) I quickly made this yummy awesome vegan (not 100% raw but can be made 100% raw) goodness!!!

Then while I was sitting with my friend when she was getting an IV at the hospital I took out my pre-packed meal and my camera and took a picture of my creation for my blog- lets just say not only does she think I am the biggest loser but she was pretty embarrassed. Um still a win of my life!

So what you will need to make this awesomeness!
-Tempeh (BUY ORGANIC!!!! Tempeh is fermented soybeans for all you vegan newbies)
-Ketchup (The reason this dish isn't raw- Ketchups like my all time favorite food- actually 2nd fav because tomato sauce is number one in my life!!!! But because I am so into ketchup I will figure out a raw ketchup recipe and get back to you soon...)
-Sprouts (any kind you like- I used alfalfa. or you can use lettuce- I mix lettuce in sometimes when I am not too lazy to spend hours washing it.)
-salt, pepper, /whatever other spices you put into things.
I didn't take measurements really it is based on your taste buds- you can do wrong....

You mix all the ingredients and get this weird looking concoction- I know it looks nasty to some people (my friend refused to try it) but it really tastes awesome- it is one of my new favorite meals.
I think if you add mung bean-sprouts and cook it- it might be a yum veggie burger for non rawists- I never tried but just thought of it now- if you attempt this let me know. Also you can add spices to make it suitable for any dish- wow I love tempeh!

Stay healthy
REL

Sushi Night

Okay so I'm ready to throw some raw vegan awesomeness your way- raw vegan sushi...

I have been super busy studying for my make up exams... I missed three exams to go to South Africa for two weeks and party it up at my brothers wedding :) it was worth the stress I am under now- although I hate stress more than anything because it puts the body in an unnatural state of fight-or-flight- unnatural because stress was meant for survival not for meaningless busy work that society throws at me. (This is why people get sick from stress- I wrote my final research report on stress in my old college- I'll devote a post to it eventually.)


My friend Katya decided that it would be a good blog entry for me if we had a sushi night. So for our creative friday night dinner we invited friends to bring their favorite veggies and come kick it Japanese style with us...

Katya made vegan sushi and I made the incredible raw delicacy you see in the photograph!


What you need: 
-Nori Sheets (I bought mine at the local health-food store for 6 ₪= $1.65; but you can buy them at any supermarket now days.)
-A wooden sushi thing to roll it up- sorry I'm too lazy to google what it's called. UPDATE: A Bamboo Mat- Thanks Shira :)!!!
-A really sharp knife.
-Alfalfa sprouts to use instead of rice (sometimes I just cut lettuce instead of sprouts)
- Random veggies you like in you sushi: Avocado, Cucumber, Carrots, Red pepper
- Pickled Ginger (You can pickle it yourself- google it; I just bought at the store)
-Soy Sauce (Get one with out MSG, sugar, or gluten- Read ingredients you will be surprised to see all the extra shit they put into food.)

Okay so cut all you veggies really thin. 
Wet the nori with a little bit of water first so it will stick because there is no rice to make it sticky.
Then youtube how to make sushi and just use the same technique they tell you but with sprouts instead of rice!) 
I actually never googled how to roll sushi we just did it over and over until it worked.

Our final product was a success so yum! Katya spent all of dinner making fun of me (Raw vegans get a lot of beef from people- like my pun? but you just gotta get used to it) because I was just eating salad but actually I tried the vegan one and I think the raw vegan sushi was much more flavorful. Raw sushi is surprisingly a really filling meal... so please enjoy and let me know how it goes!


Back to studying...
REL

Pasta- because you ran out of cereal

Okay so pasta is pretty much the only reason most of us have not starved to death yet but it's mad fattening. Before I went raw I inhaled that shiz- I'd make an entire bag and keep it in the fridge for go-to meals when I don't have the energy to think about what to eat through out the week. Plus pasta is super awesome because every time you eat it- you add a different sauce and walla not the same meal you had yesterday.

But now how the hell is a raw vegan gonna chow down on some processed-white-flour-carby-pasta? Oh wait, an awesome alternative? No way, impossible! Oh yes my friend it is possible- there is a healthy alternative to pasta and it tastes the same, if not better! I feed this dish to really stubborn anti-vegans and they loved it! Not only does this alternative taste like pasta- it is quicker to make than pasta.

Are you ready to find out the worlds best kept secret (unless the picture on top already gave it away)? Drum roll please.... Zucchini! 

Take a peeler and peel the zucchini into strips... and add your favorite sauce... and walla it tastes just like pasta minus the carbs! Plus zucchini is really healthy packed with vitamins. A lot of the vitamins are in the skin so eat the skin too (try to buy organic though).  Really I am serious, what are you waiting for, go try it!

The recipe I am sharing with you today is sundried tomato and pesto pasta...

You will need:
1 Zucchini (This recipe makes extra pesto sauce that you can store in the fridge for two weeks but if you are making for more than one person you can add more zucchinis)
And for the Sauce:
1 cup of Basil
1/4 cup of Sun-dried tomatos (If you like sun-dried tomatoes you can skip it or put less)
1 Tablespoon of Pine nuts (which are expensive and you can skip this if you want)
2 Tablespoons of Olive oil
1 clove of Garlic (if you like less garlic use less)





Peel the Zucchini into spaghetti strips- stop peeling once you read the seeds.

Wash the basil and leave it to dry in the colander/ or just dry it by hand.
You can then blend all the ingredients or continue on reading for my ghetto style that can be used if you don't have equipment

Take the pine nuts put it in a plastic bag take a mug and crush it into little pieces. I did this on a towel so I wouldn't break the mug. The plastic bag will probably break- mine did- so like double wrap it or something- within the same bag to try not to waste plastic like try to fold the plastic over or something. I'm sure there is a better way to do all this I just didn't come up with it yet... if you think of anything post it in the comment section.

Chop the basil, garlic, and sun-dried tomato really small like the smallest you can cut it up. Then put all the ingredients together and mash it like there is not tomorrow- I used a fork and a knife.

Eventually it will look like pesto sauce!!!

Mix the sauce into the zucchini pasta add any spices you like and enjoy your meal!

Also if you are a cooked food eater and you are looking for a warm meal (weird but I guess everyone has their preferences.) You can throw this into a skillet and cook it on the stove- you will be losing a lot of nutrients but it is still a better alternative to pasta.

Let me know how your pasta comes out! And share any sauce ideas you have in the comments section!

xoxo

REL

College Survival 101: Cereal

I know I have wrote my first three posts on breakfast but there is a reason for this...

the fact of the matter is that the most important food in a college students life is cereal.

A short history lesson: The invention of cereal was one of the all time greatest accomplishments of mankind (yea this is history). It is a staple food of every college student and possibly every unmarried person in the world. Wiki says cereal was invented by vegetarians in the 19th century- VEGETARIAN WIN! 

For breakfast today I had home-made cereal. I make my own cereal because I like deciding what ingredients to include and also it is cheaper than buying a box of cereal. And YUCK most generic cereals are full of preservatives and sugar- I try to steer away from that shiz. But also I can't drain my piggy bank with pre-made granola... why spend my drinking money when I can make a big bag of cereal for less than 10 ₪ ($2.75)? Plus it lasts me over a month. It is beyond awesome because can put everything my taste buds desire in it... no more picking between strawberry pieces and almonds!

For 5 ₪ ($1.37) I buy a big bag of raw oats from the health food store... then I add anything I want! Like now my cereal has (Oats, coconut, raisins, & almonds). Last month I put (dried strawberries, Goji berries cashews, raisins and coconut). Pretty much I get creative and you can too! So go forth and make some awesome cereal! Post in the comment section any combinations you have tried that you recommend.

(Don't worry I eat lunch and dinner too... I have some great lunch and dinner posts coming up... stay tuned)

Keepin it REL (I am trying out new tag lines- just hang with me I will figure it out)

The walk of shameless breakfast- Sweet Almond Oat Cereal and fresh squeezed orange juice!

A typical friday night filled with drama, drinking, and texting led to an awkward Saturday morning...

BTW veganism win- after a meal of salad you get drunk pretty quickly ;) 

(Here is a good resource if you want to know if your alcohol is vegan http://www.barnivore.com/)

I am all about informative veganism- so I take every opportunity to keep people in the loop about the "food" they consume- last night my friends boyfriend was drinking Guinness so I took the liberty to inform him that what he was drinking was processed with animal products- he was grossed out- mission accomplished. So if you are not looking for a side of dead animal with your buzz I recommend you do your research and/or email the companies to find out what goes into their products.

So this morning I woke up with three surprises
One- I was wearing Jon's pajamas over my clothes :/
Two- I had a text message from Tamir asking how drunk I was (I guess texting while intoxicated is not my strong point)... to answer his question I send him a photo of my third surprise my GBF Jon sleeping with his eyes open ...oh how I love Camera phones!

I am the worst person you want to have sleep over- because I am very much a morning person. When I was younger my best friend Gianna would give me a set time when I would be allowed to wake her up and if I woke her up any earlier she would have a shit fit- and well I am not so good at keeping promises so Gianna has screamed at me at 7am on many occasions!

I promised Jon I wouldn't wake him up early so instead I took out his laptop to check my facebook and stalk my old myspace friends... but I broke his laptop so I HAD to wake him up to make it work again... and typical Jon is the biggest grouch in the morning so he yelled at me for breaking his computer but quickly forgave me because he is secretly straight and in love with me---- we "girl talked" (we are gay like that) for like 30 minutes and then Jon kicked me out of his house so he can go back to sleep.

Still wearing the outfit I wore last night I continue on to my walk of shame...

My walk of shameless breakfast full of protein, fiber and electrolytes:
-15 almonds (crushed- I put them in a plastic bag and used a mug to crush)
-1 Banana (sliced)
-1/2 cup of raw oats
-1 tsp of shredded coconut
-1/3 tsp Cinnamon
-Almond milk

Mix all the ingredients together and enjoy!








Oh and of course some fresh squeezed orange juice! I bought my citrus juicer for 8 NIS (= $2.17 USD!) Win!
I juiced only one orange and decided to do 50/50 a technique my father taught me about where you fill half the glass with water so you don't consume too much sugar.

Now on to a day of studying/procrastinating for my make up exams...

Keep it healthy,

REL

Quick Breakfast- Creamy Banana Parfait

My first post!

I've been meaning to start a blog on my veganism for a while...

now I am finally getting around to it :)

Firstly I need to share my typical vegan experience:

I went on a date last night with Tamir, a guy I have been seeing for a couple of weeks.  

We went to a Thai restaurant a friend of mine raved about... 

before I started searching through the menu I asked the waitress what I can get without MSG in it- she said she never gets that request and went to find out (sad that so many people don’t care/ this was a great conversation starter with Tamir now he knows the reasons he should stop eating MSG- plus he got to see a little more of my crazy!)... they only had one salad without MSG and one main dish a tofu curry coconut dish, but since I am a very picky eater (and luckily Tamir is too) we switched to a restaurant where we knew I could get a vegan burger... YUM!

I have been converting to raw since August 2010- but as many of you know 

(or will soon find out) it’s not so fun to be a raw vegan when you are chillin with friends- so instead of stress myself I eat vegan food (It’s okay not to be 100% raw.)

Okay so since I am in university I am not the most creative eater- in the mornings I firstly eat a fruit- usually an apple or banana- then I wait like an hourish for a real “breakfast” of raw oats and almond milk.

But I have been keeping a food journal for the trainer at the gym (I go to Curves- I never worked out before I started Curves and I totally recommend checking out your nearest Curves if you are a beginner) and I notice that my meals look so bleak... so I decided to whip out a recipe from Raw Energy by Stephanie Tourles- a great book!

I made the Creamy Banana Parfait- basically a mix of a banana, oats, cranberries, cinnamon and almond milk- It was so Yum I decided to start blogging about it- and here we are :) I am so excited to share my journey through simple raw living with you.

xoxo- REL