My Smoothietude Prize Pack!

Last week, I got a great gift in the mail- my Smoothietude prize pack! In case you missed it, Kathy from Healthy.Happy.Life hosted a smoothie photo contest, with tons of great prizes. My smoothietude entry came in just below the grand prize winner- I was one of two "first place" winners.

Here's what I found in my prize pack:

It included (all products raw, vegan, and from One Lucky Duck - which I definitely felt like!):

• Acai powder (so excited to try this in smoothies!), maca powder, and raw cacao powder
• A glass straw, complete with hemp bag to store it in and brush for cleaning (I thought this was a great addition, since I have been trying to avoid BPA-laden plastics, and paper straws often get too soggy)
• Almonds and a straining bag to make almond milk- I have been wanting to do this for a while so was really excited to get this!
• Himalayan salt
• A few yummy samples of raw cookies and bars
• A $50 gift card to spend at One Lucky Duck

I also received a signed copy of Kathy's new book, 365 vegan smoothies. So excited to try out these recipes!!

I quickly whipped up a smoothie of my own, and enjoyed it through my new glass straw ;-)

Looking forward to trying out more of these great prizes! A big thanks to Kathy and Gena for choosing me as one of the winners, and to One Lucky Duck for the great prizes!

Nearly Raw Broccoli Slaw

Before I get to the other cookie recipe I made this weekend, let's have some greens, shall we?

Ok, so this technically might not be a slaw, but I just thought it had a nice ring to it ;-) This broccoli salad contains mostly raw ingredients, and just barely steamed broccoli, in a very light, slightly tangy and sweet, dressing. Barely-there dressing, but just enough to bring it all together. Crunch+sweet+fresh veggies= filling healthy meal love.

Power Energy Bites and "Super Foods"

These little bites are packed full of nutrients. Small and mighty. Easy grab & go. A little bit chocolatey, chewy, and just a hint of sweetness. Perfect for popping before a trip to the gym, a long run, or just when you need a little energy kick.

Kamut-Apricot Bars

Have you tried Kamut? It's one of those "ancient grains" - a type of wheat called khorasan wheat, and has more fiber, protein, and vitamins that your average "modern day" wheat. I've had pasta made with Kamut before (which I also recommend trying- it makes for a nice- and healthy- change), but hadn't tried other Kamut products. When I saw a bag of Kamut puffs at my grocery store, I knew I had to try them. And it got me inspired to try a new variation of my snack balls & bars.

Avocado & Pinto Bean Salad

Nothing fancy or complicated here. Think: open a can 'o beans and have easy yummy dinner/lunch/snack/salad ready in 5. Sound good?! Good!

AM Green Machine!

I have been having my pumped-up oatmeal consistently for breakfast for a whiiiiillllllleeeeee... but as the weather's getting warmer, I've decided to mix it up a bit. Literally.

This green smoothie is super healthy, and a great way to jump-start the day!

Vitamin C Pie!

I never get sick. At least, I say I never get sick. This week, after coming back from a long weekend away with too little sleep, I felt it coming on. I downed one of those vitamin C smoothie drinks, along with some Cold-Eeze pills, but it was useless. Hellloooo cold/flu from hell. The last time I was sick (about 3 years ago), I remember my sister giving me kiwis, because they contain more vitamin C than an orange. And then I thought of this fruit-filled raw pie, and how refreshing it would be to soothe my sore throat, and I was on my way to kiwi pie heaven...

Vegan Cremecakes

My husband hates it when vegan foods use words like "cheese" or "steaks" - and, I guess I understand. Don't promise something that you aren't... so, I'm calling these mini vegan "cheesecakes" creme cakes! That, and cashew-or-tofu-based cakes just doesn't have such a good ring to it ;-) I included these in my Vegan Valentine's Dinner Party menu post, sans recipe.... so it's about time for the recipe, right?!

Healthy Snack-Balls and Bars

I realize there are about a million recipes for these little snack-bites out there... but I thought I'd still share mine, for my friends & family who haven't seen them yet, and to hopefully provide some new ingredient ideas. If you haven't ever seen or tried these little bites, they basically taste just like cookie dough, but are healthier. These little bites are also incredibly quick & easy to make, and can be varied in hundreds of different ways. It's impossible not to love them. Call them bites, babies, or balls.... whatever you name them, they taste great!

Vegan Summer "Pasta"

I found this recipe for vegan raw spring pasta through Finding Vegan (my new favorite site! the pics are awesome and always inspire me to try new dishes). The picture made my mouth water - it just looked so deliciously creamy! But, surprise, that's not pasta- it's spiralized zucchini!

I had never used - or for that matter heard of- a spiralizer before, but I have to say, I got pretty excited about using it for the first time. I can make noodles out of vegetables??!! No way!!!

The epic virgin spiralizer experience:

I can't wait to try out other things, too - like sweet potato fries and homemade veggie chips. But back to the "pasta" dish. The recipe comes from Vegan Culinary Crusade, so I can't take any credit. But I'm glad I found it! Here are the ingredients and steps, copied from VCC:

Pasta ingredients:

• 1 large zucchini, peeled or spiralized into noodles
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup asparagus
  

Sauce

• 1 avocado
• 6 TBSP water
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 TBSP fresh thyme

Steps:

1. Wash & cut fresh asparagus into bite-sized pieces and place in the freezer. Keep the peas in the freezer as well until you are ready to use them.
   
2. Peel & spiralize the zucchini (it's easy!) and mix in the salt & pepper. Set aside.
   
3. Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a blender or processor and blend until creamy.
   
4. Boil a pot of water. Remove the asparagus & peas from the freezer and place in a large bowl. Once the water has reached a boil, pour it over the asparagus & peas so that they are completely covered. Let stand for ~ 2 minutes.
   
5. Drain the water from the asparagus & peas and mix in with the zucchini noodles.
6. Add the sauce & toss!
   

Notes:
Just a little bit of a warning: raw veggies can be a little harder on the digestive system (sometimes they make you... bloated), so moderate your portion sizes.

This dish looks creamy and rich, just like an alfredo pasta. But looks can be deceiving! The avocado does give the sauce a nice creaminess, but obviously it doesn't taste like a cream sauce. But, the dish is summery and refreshing with the lemon and thyme. This would be a good accompaniment to a summer meal, but I'm not sure I'm sold on raw zucchini.

Bon appetite!

Coo-Coo for Kale

Not too long ago I posted a kale salad I found while exploring some vegan blogs. Here it is again, featured on its own. I used the original kale salad recipe, along with some leftovers of Kathy from Health.Happy.Life's mushroom recipe from trio of bruschettas. The result is a really filling salad with a lot of flavor. The dressing (a miso sesame) has that Asian peanuty flavor, the kale is just the right amount of crisp, vine ripe tomatoes provide the color pop, and the truffle salt thyme mushrooms add that extra flavor that really complements the salad and dressing! I think this salad could also work with some tempeh added in.

After loving this delicious raw kale salad, my eyes popped at this yummy version with beets, apples, and avocado from The Happy Go Lucky Vegan. So I had to make that too! I changed things up a bit by using golden beets (they are so pretty and have such a great flavor!) and pomegranate seeds instead. Whereas the first kale salad listed above has a rich creamy dressing and Asian flavor, this second kale salad has a really bright, light, citrusy flavor to it, which I loved. It works really well with the pomegranate seeds too! And I LOVE that avocado is the primary ingredient in the dressing.


Ingredients (for the beet version pictured directly above):

• 1 bunch of kale, de-stemmed, washed, and coarsely chopped
• 1 ripe avocado, chopped
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 and 1/2 Tbsp olive oil (I used only 1 Tbsp)
  
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp brown rice syrup (I subbed about 1/2 tsp agave syrup instead)
  
• 5-6 small beets sliced (I used golden beets, and steamed them... but roasted beets would be great too!)
  
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
• 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (I used pomegranate seeds instead)
  

Steps:

1. Whisk together the olive oil, salt, and brown rice syrup in a large bowl. Add the chopped avocado.
2. Add in the raw, cleaned and chopped kale and massage it with the dressing and avocado mix (ie, just take your hands and mush it all together for about 3 minutes or so! This helps break down the kale, and, admit it- it's kind of fun too).
   
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss gently. Add pepper to taste, and chill in the fridge prior to serving.
   

Notes: As mentioned by Gena, kale salads are great because you can make them a few hours in advance and take them to a picnic or dinner party later on and they won't wilt and get mushy. Actually, I even have it the next day and it still is nice and crunchy- no soppy salad leftovers with these kale salads! Plus, kale is a super green- it's got tons of fiber, vitamin A, C, K, and lots of other healthy nutrients, all while weighing in at a measly 33 calories per cup. Who wouldn't be coo coo for kale when it tastes so good in these salads?