Raw day 4 & 5

No picture updates as I have been really busy and haven't been making anything! I've just been eating basic fruits and veggies no awesome snacks or salads! Just delicious peaches oranges mangos and my all time favorite farmers market corn on the cob and peas!! 

Raw goodies!!

So the last 3 days have felt like they have been dragging out. It doesn't help that my husband eats everything and anything fried or fast food! Day 1 he eats fired chicken while I'm adjusting to eating raw. The sweet smell of crispy fried chicken and the crunch when he takes a bit...ok ok back to the raw food!! So I'm kinda bummed out that I can't have any "good" food while on this cleanse! (I was vegan before so i still couldn't have any but raw made the craving more intense) So I do a little research and find some delicious raw goodie recipes.. I have come to love the website    Ihttp://www.therawtarian.com/ it breaks everything down into categories and all the recipes are super easy and don't call for many ingredients! Tonight I ventured a into the land of raw vanilla drop cookies and chocolate mousse and then combined the 2 and made a pie!! What's better then pie?? Pie that is made with avocados,bananas,coconut and a few other things!! And I really mean only a few other things! If your like me it's stuff that's already in your pantry!! I linked the website where all the recipes can be found above!! Here's how mine came out  vanilla cookie link http://www.therawtarian.com/raw-vanilla-drop-cookies

Mousse link http://www.therawtarian.com/raw-chocolate-mousse-recipe

Needless to say I'm in heaven right now! I think I might even skip dinner and just have some cucumber and mango salad ! 

Raw day 3

Breakfast was on the go as it was Liam's first day of preschool! So we all had some bananas 

Lunch! Raw corn chowder! 

Here's the original recipe!! http://www.therawtarian.com/raw-corn-chowder-recipe

Raw day 2

Breakfast!! Wild Berry and peach with flaxseed smoothie! 

Lunch! Leftover from dinner yesterday thrown into spinach leaves 

Dinner!! Last nights dinner was so good I had it again! The "meat" was so tasty!! It looks like crap but tastes soo good! 

 

Raw day 1

Breakfast kiwi, apples, peaches, strawberries and ground flaxseed 

Lunch!! A little bit of everything raw with fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice! 

Dinner raw taco salad! Mine doesn't look no where near as nice and my cashew sour cream came out lumpy :-/ I defiantly need a vitamix blender!! But it taste amazing! 

Here's the original recipie! 

http://www.eatingvibrantly.com/raw-taco-salad/

Raw food diet!!!

For the next 2 weeks I will  be eating only raw food! Most raw food diets say you can "cook" foods with a temperature no higher then 180*  well I should say you can dehydrate food. The whole idea behind dehydrating is so  you can make breads and chips and so forth. But  since I'm only doing the raw diet for 2 weeks I don't relly need to make chips or bread. 

Why did I chose to go raw?

I chose to try the raw diet because I'm finding myself seeking out vegan comfort food. while having a piece of cake or bag of chips here and there isn't bad I tend to chose the grab and go goodies over the heathy options! So I think it's time to detox my body Nd remind it that fruit and veggies are just as good! 

What will I eat? 

 

 Fruits and veggies! For breakfast I'm going to stick to smoothies with ground flaxseed.  Lunches will most likely be a simple salad and dinner will be a variety. I've never eaten fully raw so this will be a challenge. I've found a great we site called fullyrawkristina.com and she has some great recipes. I will definitely feature. Bunch of her recipes on my blog! And don't forget Snacks.. Snack time is why most fully raw people dehydrate food so that when snack time rolls around you can just grab a bag of "chips" but I on the other hand will only eat fruit or veggies!   

Wait aren't you breastfeeding your toddler? How will it affect him?

 

Yes I am still nursing my toddler but not  very often. He nurses every few days and we are just about done. He turns  3 in November and I have. A feeling he will barley make it till then. So it won't affect our nursing relationship as we are just about done anyways!  But I will be taking a vitamin supplement on the side just to make sure I'm getting everything we need!  

Overall I'm looking forward to giving this a try! I'm doing a test run and doing this for 2 weeks if I find that I really love it I will continue! 

   Thanks for reading my little blurt if you have any questions tips or advice feel free to share!! I will be updating daily on my progress!! ✌Peace & love❤

Happy meal!!

My favorite lunch!! I call it a happy meal! The simpler the better! I try to keep what I eat as clean as possible! I've realized I don't have many recipes but who needs them when you keep it simple! Pure whole raw ingredients! Just wash and eat! Can't get any better then that! 

Breakfast sandwich!

Breakfast!! Light life sausage tofu with dayia cheese on an English muffin!! So simple yet delicious! I love the light life sausage the flavor is so interesting (not in a bad way) but could possibly be mistaken for real sausage! 

It's easy being vegan!!

That's right it's not hard being vegan! A simple yet filling vegan lunch! farmers market squash, zucchini, onion, garlic and kale sauté in a pan with refined coconut oil and place on a bed of rice!! You can't go wrong!

 

Farmers market weekends!!

I just love our local farmers market I can't get enough fresh fruits and veggies!! Everything is so cheap but tastes amazing!! This past weekend we spent a whole $11 and ended up with 2 zucchini 2 squash 6 ears of corn 2 bunches of radishes 5 cucumbers 1 onion 1 garlic.. That's right is was all $11!! And a bonus Liam helped prep my raw salad!! (Recipe later) 

Quick and easy stuffed peppers!!

I stopped at racines's farm stand and grabbed a few peppers (they are super cheap 3 for $2) and decided to make stuffed peppers!! Unfortunately I couldn't find tomatoes even at the farmers market so I pulled out a batch of frozen sauce I made last summer  and it worked just as we'll and still had that fresh local tomato flavor! It's pretty simple to make stuffed vegan peppers! I boil the rice and cook the meat (boca crumbles) with local onion and garlic and a few other seasonings,while that is cooking I cut the tops off the peppers take the insides out and wash them ... When the rice and "meat" mix is ready I mix the two together. I personally don't like soggy peppers so I don't precook or mess with the peppers! I brush the insides with my tomato sauce and stuff with my mixture!! Put the tops back on brush my sauce over them and add a tiny but of water and sauce to the pan then cover  them aluminum foil  and in the oven they go for about a half hour on 350' 

Farmers market salad and slaw!

So I grabbed a few things from our local farmers market this past weekend and have been making everything under the sun with the veggies! Today I chose to make a nice fresh salad with a side of Amy's vegan minestrone soup! 

With all the left over I threw together a little slaw! Carrots,Swiss chard stalk,carrots and scapes! For the dressing  I used vegan mayonnaise and red wine vinegar with chopped up ginger,garlic, and a few pieces of kale thew them in the ninja and instant slaw dressing! Be careful with the red wine Vinegar because the mayonnaise is a bit vinegary on its own!

Weekly prepping!

So to make my life easier and meals faster I prep all my veggies for the week ahead of time! I go pick up fresh fruit/veggies twice a week and cut everything up and bag it! This week I picked up some local squash and zucchini and prepped them when I got home! It's simple and easy! Cut up whatever you are cooking with for the next few days and bag it! (I don't recommend prepping avocado  :-P) When it's time for dinner there's no prepping veggies just pull out of the bag and use! Most days I just have rice  and veggies all I have to do is grab a bag and the job is done! I find it saves so much time when cooking dinner and there's no mess! Also a bonus tip and money saver!! if your local grocery store has a reduce produce section give it a look! Our local stop&shop has a great reduce produce section and you can usually find organic fruits and veggies! I buy it for half price come home bag it up and freeze it!

 

Pigs in a blanket!!

I love love love pigs in a blanket! So basic and simple and only 2 ingredients!! You can't go wrong! 

         1. Vegan hot dogs (I like tofu pups)

     2. Pillsbury crescent rolls (original) 

 

 Follow the directions on the crescent roll package for lee heating the oven! Cut tofu pups in half and roll up in the crescent! If you want to go crazy add some daiya cheese in with the hot dogs! And there you have it simply easy lunch or dinner! 

Simple vegan brownies!

I'm not a huge fan of baked goods more like I dislike them but sometimes we all need a little comfort food! I did a little research and discovered that  the
 ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix was vegan as long as you don't add the eggs! So I figured I'd give it a try! I used energy egg replacer and the final product was iffy it was  flat and crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside I defiantly wouldn't call it a brownie so anyways I topped them with some walnuts and scooped away! It tasted amazing! I'm defiantly  going to try this again with another egg replacer!

Simple lunch!

What's more simple then a salad? I thew together some kale, Swiss chard, garlic,ginger, carrots, cucumbers and lettuce topped with light raspberry vinaigrette!  

Popsicles for everyone!

Simple simple simple my favorite word when it comes to food! Here are some simple popsicles

         1. Cut up various fruit and mash it 

      2.  Fill pop mold and top with banana 

     3. Freeze and enjoy 

Also adding coconut milk ( the can kind) gives them a great creamy texture and a nice hint of coconut! 

Farmers market breakfast!

I hit up the local farmers market this weekend and a little farm stand in Adams behind the old good will! I scored some awesome squash and zucchini and the best part they were huge and super cheap 3 for $2 can't go wrong there! At the farmers market I grabbed some scapes Swiss chard and kale and some carrots I threw it all together and sautéed them with some earth balance  and made a scrumptious breakfast! 

Soy chicken patty

 So I stopped at Price chopper pittsfield to check out what they had for vegan options!! I came across these soy check patty's they were pretty cheap so I said what the heck and grabbed a box. I followed the directions and wasn't to please with how mushy they were but they were after being cooked. I  even broiled it and still wasn't all that firm or "crispy" but the next day I cooked them up and threw them in with some rice and beans they were perfect! I definitely wouldn't recommend them for using like a "burger" though!

Ice cream!!

I like to keep it simple with my "ice cream" 

Banana & Starwberry Banana Ice Cream

1.frozen banana's/frozen banana's and strawberries

2. milk alternative of your choice

3. dash of vanilla or other flavoring

4.blend

 

*if you have an ice cream maker skips the last step and throw it in there

 

After blending I pour the mixture into a bowl and place into the freezer. mix every 10 mins or so until able to scoop out into semi hard balls. place on cookie sheet and put back in freezer after 15 mins they should be ready!! Put leftover balls into a container  and back into the freezer for later use!! 

 

fruit salad

Simple and easy fruit salad!

1. 1 Bag of Fresh Spinach

2. Handful of Fresh Blueberries

3. Handful of fresh starwberries

4. Amy's raspberry vinaigrette (other brands work as well)

 

 

 

Introduction!!

    I'm finally getting around to starting up a blog for my cooking! Its been a long time coming but Ive finally managed to squeeze in some time! I may not update as much as you would like but please bare with me I have a very active 2 1/2 year old! (what 2 1/2 year old is very active?) So if i miss a few days here and there im not sorry im a busy mom!! :-p A little back story as a child i lived with my grandparents and had the amazing grandmother who cooked everything! Food was a big part of my childhood, hanging out with nan as she cooked every meal (most from scratch.) I fell in love with cooking,All the delicate herbs and spices.. I couldnt get enough.I cooked some amazing food threw my teen years but never really went anywhere with it! I became pregnant in Feb of 09 and my love and passion for food came back. All the amazing smells and tastes came back! (maybe because I quite smoking? or maybe just all the crazy cravings) I was in love with food again.But I knew I had to change my eating habits. As the cravings came I decided to test out new and fresher foods.I was determined to get fresh and whole foods in my diet. I like most thought uggghh this is going to be expensive but as I started buying better food and less crap my grocery bill started going down. I have many tips and tricks to saving money that I will share at a later date! But anyways after the birth of my son fresh food was in! I was going to do it and I did it and will never look back! My sons 2 1/2 now and loves being involved in cooking and will eat just about any fresh fruit or veggie over a bag of chips any day!! I decided a few months ago to take peta's 30 day vegan challenge and as you can see by the name of my blog im still vegan!! It was a hard switch but well worth it! My son is not a vegan nor vegetarian he has some sensory issues and I feel as though he can make that choice for himself later! Although he still eats pretty clean! So you may see a few posts here or there that are not vegan!! With all that rambling out of the way Welcome to my blog Berkshire Vegan Mom! Hope you enjoy my recipes as much as I do!