Peach & Banana fruit pudding; Simple, delicious, & nutritious

peachesnbananas.06.30.10.jpgDesserts don’t have to be elaborate to taste good. I like the simple things in life so it’s no surprise that it applies to my food too.

Take my vegan food photos, I usually don’t go out of my way to arrange the food before I snap the shot. It’s more of a here this is what I made kind of thing, no bells or whistles, lol. However I do know that some really do enjoy seeing those type of things, so you might see me do a little bit now and again.

Anyway back to simplistic desserts (that are anything but that in the way they taste.) My daughter was asking for something to eat last night, and so I let her choose her dessert. She eagerly reached for two peaches and a banana and said, “Mommy, can you make me some of that yummy fruit pudding?” So here’s it is…

Peach and Banana Fruit pudding

  • 2 peaches
  • 1 Banana

Directions

  • Place ingredients in food processor
  • Blend until smooth

That’s it, serve and enjoy!

I only made enough for my daughter; I did spoon the remaining batter out of the food processor before I washed it. Yum, it was delicious. It’s a perfect, not to mention a healthy treat, anytime, and it’s good for you too. How’s that for simple, nutritous, but delicious?

Homemade fruit bars/popsicles

Here’s an idea, if you want something different you can make homemade fruit bars too. Why make them when you can purchase them from the store? I’ve been making homemade popsicles and fruit bars for years. Let me tell you something, they taste a lot better than the store bought variety.

Benefits of making homemade fruit bars

  1. Cheaper than store bought fruit bars
  2. They’re preservative free
  3. Only thing in them is raw fruit
  4. Freshly made, so you’re getting the maximum nutrition
  5. You know exactly what’s going into the fruit bars

Where can I purchase popsicle molds?

You can purchase them at many discount stores. I’ve even seen them at grocery stores. You can always find popsicle molds online too. The ones I have are similar to these popsicle molds. If you cannot find them, or don’t want to purchase the molds. You could use paper cups. You could scoop out the frozen dessert with a spoon or add Popsicle sticks (available at most craft stores.)

The beauty of making your homemade popsicles/fruit pops, is that you have a large variety of fruits to choose from. Yes you can sneak vegetables in the homemade fruit pops also! You can come up with the ones you like the best.

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Raw food, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian, whole food, Moondancer, New Tag, Raw food, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian, whole food, Fruit pudding

Raw Vegan: Savory Green Smoothie

green-smoothie.06.29.10.jpgI really love vegetables! At times, making that simple statement gets me odd looks. Since I know there are people who don’t share my veggie love. I can think of friends and family members that would turn up their noses at seeing an abundance of vegetables on their plate.

More on ways you can incorporate vegetables into the vegetable haters meal, after I post the savory green smoothie recipe.

About an hour ago, I made a delcious savory vegetable green smoothie. I’m a savory girl, always have been and so the savory green smoothie was delicious. You do realize that green smoothies don’t have to be sweet, to taste good right?

Raw Vegan: Savory Green Smoothie

  • 3 large tomatoes
  • 3 stalks celery
  • 2 cups baby carrots
  • 3 large collard leaves
  • 5 Romaine lettuce leaves
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 2 cups of water (add more if desired.)
  • *Pinch of Sea salt (optional)

That’s it, serve and enjoy!

Soon after making this, I poured myself a large stainless steel cup of the savory green smoothie. I enjoyed drinking this savory, delicious, and nutritious treat.

Introducing vegetables into a ‘vegetable haters’ diet can be challenging. I’ve met people that wanted to include more vegetables in their diet but were unsure of how to do so. Developing a taste for something you normally don’t eat can take some time to get used to. For example, in my early twenties I didn’t like eating raw collards or kale. Now, I happily munch on them daily. In time, I developed a taste for them. For those of you who are a little skeptical about grazing on a big bowl of raw dark greens I’ve included a few ways you can add more vegetables into your daily routine.

Creative ways to add vegetables into a daily routine

  1. Naturally sweet (raw) smoothies/juices can be a delicious way to sneak vegetables a meal
  2. Add vegetable juices into your sauces/gravies
  3. Make frozen fruit pops with your fruit/vegetable smoothies
  4. Mix vegetable pasta in with the regular pasta
  5. Incorporate finely chopped vegetables into stuffed dishes; peppers, lasagna, potato boats

The key is to introduce things slowly, although some people can do a complete change overnight, others take time to transition to a healthier way of eating. Of course, you don’t have to be vegan or vegetarian to eat healthy, but you do have to make healthy decisions about the types of foods you, or your family does eat. I’ve met some vegans and vegetarians that weren’t healthy because of the bad choices they made. Their selections were highly processed vegan foods, and very little whole foods.

The bottom line is taking care of your body. We cannot turn it in because we’ve abused it. It’s the only body we’re given. Knowing that, it’s important to think about our food choices. That’s where it gets tricky, we usually don’t see the direct effects of bad food choices until weeks, months, or even years after eating a certain way. It’s important to be mindful of the food choices we make. Don’t blindly accept what anyone tells you, do the research, and take note of the effects when you add healthier options into your daily lifestyle.

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Moondancer, Raw food, Recipes, Smoothies, Vegan, Vegetarian, whole food

Vegan Veggie rolls (Egg-less); Cooking and bonding with my daughter

Eggrolls_2.06.25.10.png

Vegan Veggie rolls (Egg-less)

Do you ever plan your meals in advance? If I’m going to be extremely busy, it’s something I do. I believe it’s important to have healthy food options available and so when I know I’m going to have a few days/weeks of nonstop business, I prep my meals in advance.

With myself, it usually means combining vegetables or fruit together, storing them in a glass container and tossing them into the freezer until it’s ready to use. Beans are soaked and cooked in bulk so if we’re craving some type of bean dish I only need to get the beans I need to prepare a meal.

Speaking of food, we had eggrolls this past Saturday. I make two verions; baked and fried. We don’t eat too much fried foods but this past Saturday… we did. The oil was hot; so after a few seconds the rolls were done. I drained the oil, and set them aside into one of my pyrex glass containers. The rolls had a crispy outer shell, and the filling was only slightly cooked. They were a big hit with my daughter (they always are) and so my daughter is clamoring for more.

This evening I pulled out my Kitchen Aid food processor and added the following vegetables to it.

  • Carrots
  • Collards
  • Broccoli
  • Garlic
  • Ginger

I pulsed the vegetables until they were chopped finely. Instead of soy sauce I added Bragg Liquid Aminos, curry, & cumin to the filling. *sidenote* For those who might not be aware, Braggs is a replacement for soy sauce. It has the same taste and it has the added benefit of having essential amino acids are bodies need too. You can’t beat that, something that is delicious and healthy. 😉

Food Storage
When it comes to storing food, I only use glass storage containers. You won’t find plastic containers in my house. I put the filling into one of my Pyrex storage containers and set it in the refrigerator. I’m currently soaking Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas) too. I’m thinking I’ll make Chickpea cutlets tomorrow. Oh, my daughter wants me to make the eggless egg rolls too, we’ll see!

Eggrolls_3.06.25.10.png

Vegan Veggie rolls (Egg-less)

I’ve included a few shots of the vegan eggrolls we made this past Saturday. They were delicious; pairing the broccoli and carrots together was a great idea. They really worked well together, and the carrots added mildly sweet taste to the eggrolls.

Cooking & Bonding

My daughter was happy. She helped me make them, so she was bursting with pride at how well they turned out. She enjoys helping me prepare meals. It’s a great time to find out what’s going on in her world, and I also talk about the benefits of the vegetables and fruits I use in our meal preparation. I really don’t have to tell her too much anymore, when it comes to nutrition/health she knows more than a lot of adults I know. I believe it’s important to not only educate adults, but children too, about the foods they eat, the benefits of following a healthy diet, and the possible problems that can arise if we constantly abuse our bodies by consuming the wrong things.

Making healthy choices

If we keep making poor health choices, in time it can take a toll on our bodies; Allergies, weight gain, heart attacks, cancer, etc., too many to list, but I hope you get the idea. Depending on the ailment, many can be avoided (and at times reversed) if we would only make healthier choices. Sadly, many of us think we have all the time in the world. There’s such a huge disconnect between food and the effects it can have on our health. It seems that many people have the misconception that healthy food simply doesn’t taste good. This is simply not true. I love preparing meals that are not only delicious are a healthy choice for my daughter. Naturally, I want the best for her, and one of the ways I show this is by the foods I prepare.

Regarding that Vegan Chana Masala recipe, I’ll still be posing it. In fact it would have been published on the day I posted the curried zucchini noodles recipe, however I accidentally deleted it, whoops! I haven’t done something like that in years, lol.

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Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian, whole food

Upcoming juice cleanse

raw_juice.06.27.10.jpgHello everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. This weekend I spent a lot of time away from the computer. We had vacation Bible School at our church last week, and my daughter, and I were able to attend every day. We both had a fabulous time. This weekend we took it easy.I had a great time hanging out with my daughter.

Check out the above picture, aren’t the juices lovely. Beginning the second week in July, I’ll be having a week long juice cleanse.

What’s a Juice Cleanse?

When you are on a juice fast you are only consuming raw vegetable and fruits in liquid form. People do juice cleanses for a variety of reasons ranging from detoxification to weight loss. Juice clenases are just one of the ways I occasionally take a break from eating solid foods. I do enjoy the extra energy boost I receive too.

I Eliminate A Lot More

When I’m on a juice fast I notice the amount that my urine and bowels movements increase. I normally have a bowels movement shortly after I eat a meal. This is ideal, but it’s something that many people aren’t doing in westernized culture since a lot of us have strayed away from a whole food diet to a highly processed diet.

Giving my juicer a workout

I’ve been juicing for several years. During that time, I’ve went through a few juciers. I learned to avoid the tougher vegetables since my juicers couldn’t handle them. I vividly remember burning up a motor on one as I tried to juice a beet. About four years ago I purchased the Green Star GS-1000 Juice Extractor. It uses the twin gear technology and blasts thought anything I put into it even the hard vegetables. The pulp come out of the spout, and the juice goes into the little pitcher.

Initially I bulked at the price… almost $400, are they crazy! However, I knew I would be using it a lot, so I went ahead and made the purchase. It’s definitely one of the best investments I’ve made! I don’t have to go to a juice bar, just so I can get them to juice the harder vegetables that my cheaper juicers couldn’t handle. I love convenince, and the fact that I can make freshly prepared juices at home was the biggest selling point for myself. It would have been nice if the juicer didn’t cost as much, but I’ve more than made up for its purchase with the amount of juicing I’ve done. Smoothies, teas, raw juices, and water are the only things we consume in this household. The majority are made by myself.

One of the questions I’ve heard a few people ask was what to do with the juicing pulp. I’ve listed a few of the things I do below.

What to do with the juicing pulp?

  1. Use it in a sauce
  2. Use it to make raw cookies
  3. Add it in a stir fry
  4. use as garden compost

What will I be juicing?

  1. Carrot – These are an excellent source of provitamin A. I usually mix carrots with greens, daikon, beets, and celery. Occasionally I’ll toss in cucumbers.
  2. Celery – I use this in small amounts although very tasty it is also high in sodium.
  3. Beets – Considered a blood builder/blood purifier. It’s considered to be a powerful cleanser. Do not drink this alone. I mix mine with greens, celery, and daikon or carrots. It’s important to note that beet juice can color your bowel movement.
  4. Cabbage – I like the taste of cabbage juice mixed with other vegetables. Cabbage juice was used by Dr. Garnett Cheney, M.D. to cure his patients of peptic ulcers. They drank it daily and were cured in half the time. The American Cancer Society has been urging people to eat more cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, broccoli) because of their protective effects against cancer.
  5. Cucumbers
  6. Zucchini Squash – I love eating this raw and it’s also tasty when it’s juiced.
  7. Garlic
  8. Habenero Pepper
  9. Ginger

Although I drink freshly made juices often, I don’t do juice cleanses as much perhaps four to six times yearly?

Question? Have you ever done a juice cleanse?

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New Tag, Raw food, Juicing

Mike Ancel: Sequel to Beyond Good & Evil is still in the works

Beyond-Good-&-Evil-Jade.06.26.10.jpgBeyond Good & Evil is a game that received much playtime by me on my Xbox. I couldn’t get enough of the video game. I’ve beaten the game a few times, and never get tired of powering up the Xbox and spending some virtual time with Jade.

Jade was refreshing, because she broke that typical female character in a game mold. You know the type I’m talking about? The type that barely has any clothes on (while her male counterparts are fully clothed.) /rolls eyes

I really liked Jade; she was smart, creative, and a lot of fun to play too and. (brace yourselves) she was wearing clothes! /gasps Hello developers, do you really think I’m going to be going to battle dressed like that? It’s just not practical. The men aren’t dressed that way, so why are the women dressed differently? You do realize that a lot of women (and girls) play FPS games, right? Granted, games are starting to improve in this area, and for that I’m happy.

In Beyond Good & Evil, she’s not packing a gun. She’s rocking a camera. Granted, playing gory games doesn’t bother me. I love the Halo series, Gears of War, BioShock, etc. but I thought that was a nice change.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 Teaser Trailer (HD)

A few years ago, I heard talks about a possible sequel, and when I did a search on it late last year I found out this was indeed true. Yesterday, I stumbled upon an article at Eurogamer. Mike Ancel, gaming designer for Ubisoft, states that…

Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in development with a very small team at Ubisoft’s Montpellier studio.

I’m really hoping this is a project that isn’t abondoned. The first, didn’t sell too well but I loved it anyway. I’ll be paying close attention to future updates about the sequel. It will be on my must purchase list too. I do have a favor to ask of the small team working on this game, please don’t eliminate most of Jade’s clothing. Fact, women characters can be fun to play, even when they’re fully clothed.

Vegan: Curried Zucchini Noodles w/Steamed Vegetables (Gluten-free)

World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer.jpgDuring the warmer months, one of my favorite go to vegan dishes is a simple pasta. They are simple, delicious, and a unique way to introduce vegetables at your meal.

I’ve never been a fan of the traditional pasta. Way too much flour for myself, but I’ve always loved the vegetables pastas. Naturally, since you are using vegetables in place of the traditional pasta, your pasta is gluten-free.

I’ve been using vegetables, in place of the traditional pastas for several years. However, it wasn’t until about four years ago that I purchased a machine to make my ‘angel hair’ pastas. In order to make the pasta I use a spiral vegetable slicer.

I’ve tried the Saladacco, but didn’t like it at all. The spiral vegetable slicer I use is the World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer. Thanks to this slicer, I can make vegetable pasta in seconds.

It’s a hot day in Maryland, and I thought I would share one of my raw & cooked dishes. Although we’ve made a raw & cooked version before. Today my daughter and I ate this dish raw. Enjoy!

Curried Zucchini Noodles w/Steamed Vegetables

  • 2 cups of zucchini noodles
  • 1 tsp curry
  • 1/2 cup sweet peas
  • 1/2 cup yellow onion
  • 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup mushrooms
  • Pinch of salt(optional)

Directions

  1. Put noodles & tomatoes in a bowl. Set aside.
  2. Add a few tbsp of water or vegetable broth
  3. Add remaining ingredients stir for a few minutes
  4. Remove from heat
  5. Combine with noodles and tomatoes
  6. Serve & Enjoy!

 

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Raw food, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian, whole food

What if? One wardrobe could open a new world…

Late this evening (or early this morning – I haven’t gone to bed yet for some reason); I felt the need to look up things related to Narnia. Why, I have no clue, but I don’t mind taking a stroll down memory lane. Besides, I really liked the Chronicle of Narnia series.

On my digital trek down memory lane, I stumbled upon La Shawn Barber’s post featuring the Third installment of Narnia.

Wait, wha….? Ok, what rock have I been hiding under? For goodness sakes, I’ve only seen the first installment! Apparently, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader marks the third installment in the Chronicles of Narnia series.

Aslan's-Return.06.26.10.jpg Ok, ok… I know I don’t watch too much television (days, weeks, months can go by before I turn it on) but I thought I would have heard about this!

Talk about excited…
That simple post, instantly transported me to my childhood days when I stumbled upon a book by C.S. Lewis. That book was The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I was about seven (or perhaps eight) when I read it. Which happened to be the second installment within the series. I didn’t read the entire series until I was in my 30’s.

I was raised Christian, and in my mind I saw some similarities with the Christian faith. Aslan the Lion sacrifices his life to save Edmund. Christ sacrifices himself to save the world from their sins. That right there, made the Bible a little more interesting.

As I read through the book, I would rush to the Bible to see whether I could find any other similarities. No, it wasn’t as obvious at Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan but they were still there! What am I doing now? Why, I’m rounding up the entire series to see whether my seven-year old daughter is interested in reading them. She was three when I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to her. When she was five, she saw the movie too. She absolutely adored it!

Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

My only question…
Will my daughter like the new installment? Ok, we have some time, it doesn’t hit the theaters until December 10, 2010. All right that gives us plenty of time to watch the second installment and perhaps brush up on the first one too. Hmm, might be a good idea to reintroduce some of the books to her also. If she likes them, I know what we’ll be seeing at the movie theater this December!

Photo Source: Jonathan Berry.net

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Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader