Berry Avocado Yogurt

Instead of leaching calcium from your bones like pasteurized yogurt does, this yogurt provides you with vitamins, A, B-complex, C, E, H, K, and folic acid, plus the minerals magnesium, copper, iron, calcium, potassium, all of the essential amino acids (those that must be provided by our diet), with 18 amino acids in all, plus 7 fatty acids, including Omega 3 and 6. And that's just what's in the avocado! This yogurt makes for a delicious and filling breakfast, especially if served with a handful of nuts, seeds, or meusli.








BERRY AVOCADO YOGURT

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 banana
1 avocado
1/2 cup frozen or fresh berries
1 tbspn raw honey (can also use agave nectar)
1/2 cup fresh berries (optional)
1/2 cup muesli, nuts, or seeds (optional)

1. In a blender, blend banana, avocado, 1/2 cup berries, and honey until smooth. (You may have to use a little bit of water to get the blender moving) Taste for sweetness and add more honey if necessary.
2. Serve with fresh berries and meusli, or nuts if desired and garnish with banana slices.

*This yogurt tastes really good if it's a little cold which is why the frozen berries work well. If using fresh, you may want to refrigerate for a bit before serving.

Bliss Balls

The name says it all. These babies can so easily be eaten up daily by my little familia, though that may be a little bit excessive. We're still trying to tell ourselves that we aren't addicted to peanut butter...that we can quit anytime we want, but this recipe makes it hard to do. See for yourself.







BLISS BALLS

Makes around 10 balls

Ingredients:

2 heaping tbspns peanut butter (the all natural and organic kind, of course), or almond butter
2 tbspns raw cacao powder, carob powder, or cocoa powder
1 1/2-2 tbspns raw honey
coconut flakes

1. Mix peanut butter, cacao, and honey until you have a sturdy dough. Start out with less honey and taste for sweetness and add more if necessary.
2. Roll into small balls.
3. Sprinkle coconut flakes onto a plate and roll the balls in the flakes so that each ball is coated.

* You can easily throw in other goodies here, for example hemp protein powder, hemp seeds, ground flaxseeds, oats, etc. If you do this just make sure to mix any dry add ins with the cacao powder first before stirring into the peanut butter and honey.

Live Carrot Coleslaw

This totally raw dish is inspired by my Swedish mother-in-law who always made a similar slaw to ensure her kids were eating veggies at every meal. My version has lemon and ginger which kicks it up a little bit, but both are optional, though I wouldn't opt to leave them out :) It's great on the side of heavier, spicy dishes or just on it's own. It's especially beautiful if you can find organic rainbow variety carrots from your farmer's market.



LIVE CARROT COLESLAW

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

4-6 carrots
2 small apples (any variety will do)
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1/2 a lemon
small knob of ginger

1. Peel carrots (if necessary), apples, and ginger.
2. Using a cheese grater, grate carrots, apples, and ginger. I personally like to use the largest holes.
3. Pour over orange juice and lemon juice.
4. Mix well and enjoy!

Crunchy Sweet Potato Salad with tangy honey mustard, parsley, and tomatoes

Easy and fast, this salad makes a beautiful side dish to any meal. Sweet, crunchy, and perfectly tangy, the walnuts compliment the soft potatoes and the honey mustard offsets the bitterness of the parsley. Not to mention, when vegetarian sources of iron, like parsley, are combined with vitamin C (found in the sweet potatoes and tomatoes) your body absorbs it better!





CRUNCHY SWEET POTATO SALAD

Serves: 3-4 people as a side dish

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato
2 tomatoes, cubed
1 bunch of fresh parsley (about 1 cup), chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 tbspn olive oil
1 tbspn vinegar (apple cider or rice)
1 tbspn mustard
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbspn honey (or maple syrup)
1 tbspn water
juice of half a lemon
salt
black pepper

1. Peel and chop sweet potato into small cubes.
2. Boil potato in small pot of water until soft. Once soft, drain potatoes and rinse with cold water
for about 30 seconds.
3. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, honey, water, and a pinch of salt
and pepper. Whisk with a fork until thoroughly mixed and then stir in chopped walnuts.
4. Coat the potato cubes with the walnut dressing.
5. Add tomatoes, parsley, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and a large pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Toss all ingredients until well mixed and enjoy!

Can be served room temperature or chilled.

Nancy's Award Winning Guacamole

Okay, okay, so my award was just a water gun. Let me explain. My friend Becca had a birthday party that once doubled as a guac-off, which meant that whoever wanted to participate brought a guacamole to the party to compete in a contest to see which one was best. Mine won. And I would have been bummed if it hadn't. I won't lie. It's damn good.





Guacamole:

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados
1/4 red onion
1 large tomato
1/4-1/2 small jalapeno or habanero pepper
splash olive oil
juice of one lime
handful chopped cilantro
sea or crystal salt (to taste)

Dice onion, tomato, pepper, and cilantro. Chop avocados in half and remove pits by inserting sharp knife and then pulling out. (This technique is good because it usually removes the pit clean without wasting any avocado) Set aside pits. Remove the avocado meat with a spoon and place in a bowl. Add a splash of olive oil and mash with a fork for just a few strokes. Add onion, tomato, pepper, and cilantro to bowl. Squeeze half of lime juice, add a pinch of salt and mix with fork until just mixed. Try a bit to see if you want to use the rest of the juice (I usually do) and need more salt. Keep mixing but be sure not to over-mix, as you don't want whipped avocado. If you aren't going to serve it immediately, put the two pits back into the guacamole and refrigerate. When the pits are in, the avocado thinks it's back in its shell and doesn't turn brown.

Peaut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I, more or less, stole this recipe from Recipezaar and tweaked a few things. Like the person wrote there, "These are so delicious. I can't even explain. You just have to try them." It's true. They are delicious, and you should just try them.








Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes: around 30 cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 cup plus 2 tbspns crunchy or creamy all natural peanut butter
4 tbspns canola oil
1 and 3/4 cups raw sugar
2/3 cup soy milk
2 tspns pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose or spelt flour (or mix of both)
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn sea or crystal salt
2 cups oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped dark milk-free chocolate bar

Preheat oven to 375.
In a large bowl, stir together first five ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
In a small bowl, sift together flour, soda, and salt.
Stir into batter and then mix in oats and chocolate chips. Don't be afraid to use your hands!
On a lightly greased cookie tray, drop batter in small spoon fulls.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes on tray, then transfer to a serving plate.

Note: The cookies may seem soft and undercooked, but if you have a trusty oven, rest assured that they are done. After they set for 5 minutes on the tray they should be perfect.

Deliciously Creamy Curry with a vegetable medley and breaded tofu

Made with a small amount of soy yogurt and a tomato base, this curry is perfectly creamy, spicy, and filling. The breaded tofu adds a nice touch. Try experimenting with different vegetables and working with what's in your kitchen at the time. If you get the base right, you can throw in all sorts of stuff. Serve with a side of rice.







Deliciously Creamy Curry

Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes
2 medium carrots
1 package of firm tofu
flour
1/2 head of cauliflower
3 garlic cloves
1/2 white onion
1 red pepper
fresh corn from 1 cob
small knob of ginger
2 large tomatoes
3 tbspns curry powder
1/2 cup plain soy yogurt or soy milk*
1 cup water
2 tspns sea or crystal salt
pepper to taste
handful of chopped cilantro
olive oil

*if using soy milk you should reduce the amount of water to 3/4 cup


1. Start by filling a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. While the water is boiling, chop potatoes, carrots, and caulflower into small chunks. Add to water.

2. While these vegetables are softening, drain tofu and cut into small triangles. Salt and pepper tofu slices. Add a little bit of flour to a plate and bread your tofu by patting it into the flour on each side. While you're doing this, heat a medium size pan with a tiny bit of olive oil and once your tofu is breaded throw in pan. Slightly brown both sides, turn off heat, and set aside.

3. Now start to dice garlic cloves, ginger, onion, red pepper, and tomatoes. In a large pot, add just enough olive oil to cover the pan and heat on high. Once everything is chopped, add to the pot and fry until fragrance is released and tomatoes start to become soft. Then add 3 tbspns of curry to the pot, a pinch of pepper, and 2 tspns of salt. I used 2 tbspns of spicy curry and 1 tbspn of bangalore mild curry. Use curry of preference.

4. Mix at the bottom of pan for a few more minutes to ensure that curry is properly mixed in. Then add water, yogurt, corn, and tofu. Stir and bring to low heat.

5. Drain the water from the potatoes, carrots, and cauliflowers and add to the mix. Let simmer about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt to taste. Add chopped cilantro or garnish each plate with it later.