Creative Vegetable Party Display - Tip

This is a variation on a simple way to serve veggies and dip for your next party.

I use a large oval, glass baking dish as my base container. This time I lined the bottom of the baking dish with a coordinating, colorful napkin. You could also leave the dish exposed and fill it with streamers, holiday ornaments, glitter, tissue paper...the options are endless.

Then I find glasses in a variety of heights and widths. I have bought a few individual glasses at the dollar store to supplement what I already have.

I like to cut the veggies long and ragged and have them be sort of organic in shape as opposed to symmetrical.

You can fill tall glasses with long carrots, celery and even bread sticks. Medium glasses are great for bell peppers sliced lengthwise and strips of jicama. Short glasses work well for shorter cut veggies and olives. Specialty glasses like Martini and Margarita are perfect for dips, sliced cucumbers and marinated items.

I think it makes a pretty presentation and I like how little of the landscape the whole collection takes up. When entertaining, sometimes space can be tight.

Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce - Recipe

I have NEVER liked bell peppers!

I don't like the way they taste or smell.

In fact, it is sort of a standard statement from me when ordering in a restaurant ..."no onions or peppers, please"...just automatically.

So you can imagine my utter surprise when I fell completely in love with a recipe that has peppers as one of it's main ingredients!

Shocking.

I actually like it so much I took a break halfway through writing this blog post to go whip up a batch...
can you say compulsive? It was worth it.

I stumbled upon the recipe online and it intrigued me because I haven't been able to eat dairy products for a while due to food allergies.

It is called "Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce" and you would NEVER, EVER know that it has no dairy and is actually a raw-vegan recipe.

We dipped chips in it, poured it over rice and my son had it with chicken...at different meals. He actually packed it in his lunch himself!

Click the link below to see a short video on how easy it is to make this and to get the recipe...

Click Here for Kristen's Raw Chezzy Hemp Nacho Dip Recipe

The wonderful creator of this recipe is Kristen Suzanne, a Raw vegan chef, author and teacher. You can visit her website for more information. http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/

Check out her books too...amazing, live, healthy, positive ideas!

Enjoy!

And please let me know what you think about this...

Righteously Raw Chololate Bars

I choose not to partake in conventional dessert...loaded with fat, dairy, refined sugars, bad oils, etc...but I do enjoy raw, live treats, made with real food.

A raw foods chef and teacher (Kristen Suzanne) turned me on to these beautiful raw chocolate bars and I wanted to pass along the gift.

I tried the Righteously Raw Caramel...which I LOVED

and the Righteously Raw Maca...which I really liked

I found them at Whole Foods and a local natural foods market while visiting my parents in Palm Desert, CA.

I visited their website and was really inspired by their mission and story. Check it out...

Enjoy!

http://www.earthsourceorganics.com/index.php

Pasta Sauce Fix Up - Tip

I recently made some pasta for my family and did a little alteration to the store bought red sauce.

My son doesn’t like chunks of tomato in his sauce so I decided to blend it to make it smooth.

While I was at it, I thought it was a good opportunity to add some nutrition.

I peeled and rough cut a couple of raw zucchinis and threw them in the blender too. I added some fresh garlic and some more fresh herbs. Once blended it was smooth and creamy and pretty pinkish-red color.

It almost looked like a Vodka Sauce.

Because he is really open to eating healthy foods (if they taste good) I told him about my additions. He thought it was so cool because he didn’t taste the zucchini but still got all of the nutritional benefits.

He isn’t a fan of zucchini on it’s own, so this was a great way to get him to eat…

and most importantly, enjoy it!

Carrot (Pulp) Cake - Recipe

We love to juice!

Anyone that has juiced carrots knows that you end up with a humongous amount of pulp/fiber.

We didn't want to through away it's goodness so I hunted for some easy recipes to utilize it.
I found one for a raw carrot cake type thing...it was amazing!

A bit more like pumpkin pie and completely decadent.

Throw all ingredients in a food processor and press in a pan.

See the link below for the forum that had the recipe we use.

After a bit in the fridge...

this is what you end up with!

Yes, that is raw carrot pulp!

http://goneraw.com/forum/carrot-pulp

(Forum post #1 by sunshineandstars )

We added a vegan (un) cream cheese frosting...recipe also found online.

Enjoy!

Dairy-Free Cheddar Cheeze Dip - Recipe

So I will start by saying that I am truly sorry that I can't give credit where credit is due. I found this recipe somewhere and for the life of me can't remember where. I searched online and didn't come up with anything. If this is yours, please let me know.

With that said, this is one of my favorite raw recipes!!!!

It is so thick, creamy and cheesy

super easy to make

non-dairy, raw, vegan...

Amazing!

We use it as a dip, a spread, a topping...whatever.

When I bring it to parties I am ALWAYS asked for the recipe and the funny thing is, I don't even like red bell peppers! I think it is a texture thing for me. When they are all mashed up in something like this, I don't mind the taste.

I have tried substituting other nuts but it wasn't the same.

Let me know what you think.

Cheddar Cheeze Dip

1/2 large red bell pepper

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1 tablespoon tahini

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Blend all ingredients  in a high speed blender until smooth and creamy.

Dip and enjoy!

....mmmmmm

Juice Recipe - Valentine's Fruit Punch

A happy accident...

Last Valentine's Day Steve whipped up this random juice.

We simply used what felt good and what we had in the fridge.

The result tasted like sweet fruit punch and was very pretty.

The perfect color for Valentine's Day.

This recipe makes a lot...

about 4 large glasses to share!

Valentine's Fruit Punch

1-2 heads of romaine lettuce

1 lemon

3 red beets

5 or 6 apples

1 pear

1 inch of ginger

half a cabbage (we used napa)

half a cantaloupe

wash well and then run all through a juicer...

Pour and enjoy!

Let me know what you think.

Dairy Free, Homemade, Raw Ice Cream Tip

After giving up conventional desserts about 8 years ago

and then discovering an allergy to dairy products,

I just figured my ice cream days were over.

Then I discovered raw ice cream! Yea!

By adding a few extra natural ingredients,

you can turn almost any smoothie

into creamy, delicious, decadent raw ice cream.

The best thing would be to google “raw ice cream recipes” for specifics

but most of them simply add coconut oil, young coconut meat and sometimes nuts

to a fruit smoothie type thing.

Throw it all in the blender and blend till smooth.

Then you chill it in a bowl in the fridge.

Later you can add things like vegan chocolate chips, fruit or chopped nuts.

An ice cream maker isn’t imperative

but it does help with the consistency when freezing.

I picked up an “out of the box” Cuisinart model for about $30

at a national bed and bath store.

I just load the chilled mix into the frozen bowl,

turn on and wait about 30 minutes.

Just think, in the time it takes to clean up the kitchen after dinner,

you could have a custom blended, healthy raw treat

that you feel good about putting in yourself and your family!

I store the bowl from the ice cream maker in the freezer
so that it is always ready to go!
If you put it in a plastic bag
it won't get frostbite.

Spreading the Word!

New calling cards are on the way...Yea!

I am so excited to be able to share what we have learned.

Posting on a blog will be much easier than responding to individual recipe requests via email!

Having everything in one place where people can visit, at their convenience, is a wonderful thing.

My wish is that this blog helps others to not feel so helpless when it comes to food issues.

I also hope that we enable people to feel empowered and grateful for the abundance they have.

Vegan (Un) Cheese Quesadilla

To a "normal" eater, posting a picture of melted cheese would probably seem odd.

But for someone like me, with dairy allergies,

being able to have smooth, melted, stretchy cheese is a huge treat.

(Especially when it actually tastes like cheese!)

This shows the supreme melting power of a brand of vegan, dairy-free cheese that we found recently.

I prefer the mozzarella style but they are both good.

Below are two posts with detailed company information.

I purchased them at my Whole Foods Market.

Let me know what you think...

Enjoy!

Click here for the Mozzarella Style

Click here for the Cheddar Style

Vegan, Dairy Free Mozzarella Style Shreds - Daiya

So I already posted about the cheddar flavor shreds from this company,

a nice option...

click here to see that post

But yesterday, I tried these...the mozzarella style

I think I'm in love.

I made a little toaster pizza type thing

using my "safe" sliced bread

some tomato sauce

and these shreds...

yum!!

and that coming from a recovering cheese addict.

They look a little weird, sort of ruffled

but when I took a bite, the texture was like dairy mozzarella.

Creamy, stretchy, smooth.

Today I took two "safe" pumpernickel type bread rounds, toasted them with the mozzarella type shreds and then topped it with some cool, fresh, smashed avocado...with a little nutritional yeast mixed in...

it was delicious.

But the BEST part was that it was allergen free for me.

That is a true gift.

Let me know if you try them...

Dairy, lactose and casein free,

Gluten and soy free,

Cholesterol free.

 

Click here to visit the Daiya website

Welcome

As a labor of love, I created this blog to help others move easily along the path of food choices, based on dietary restrictions...due to medical needs or personal choice.

A little over a year ago, my then 9 year old son and I were both diagnosed with multiple delayed reaction food allergies, and while not life threatening at this moment, they have caused us to alter our lifestyle and food choices dramatically.

Everything is different.

Traveling, parties, events, celebrations, picnics, school lunches, snacks...everything.

In our case, it has been, for the most part, a blessing in disguise. It has caused us to look at our eating patterns and change our bad habits. It has also filtered into the rest of our family and beyond.

I hope to share our discoveries and knowledge in an effort to help others in our situation.

It's not the end of the world...and we are not alone!

Till next time...
Pam

Coming Soon!

Resources and information to help you navigate through the confusing and sometimes frustrating world of food!

Stay tuned...