Habari Gani? (What's the news?): Babies, showers, and greens

Babies, showers, and greens

Trying to get better about posting. I've got some O photos from the last two months, and I thought I'd start sharing some gluten-free, vegan, and raw recipes. I've slowly gone vegan over the last 6 months or so. I just wanted to eat healthier, and was inspired by several old longtime-vegan friends I saw recently who either hadn't aged a bit, or aged really beautifully. Over the years I've really cut out a lot of processed and refined foods that just don't make any sense to eat. This was just the next step.

Since I can't have gluten, that makes vegan a little harder. I don't really eat soy because it isn't good for people with thyroid problems (and it's super GMO'd), and what's left? Fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, chocolate, and coffee. Oh, and tortilla chips. I will never give up tortilla chips. I figured I'd try to eat as much raw food as I can. So, here I am, sharing some of the amazing recipes I've found over the last few months.

I'm thinking I'll make you read the recipes before getting to the cute kid photos, 'cause I'm mean like that.

Today's recipe is for a really great green juice I've been making. I found the concoction on The Lunchbox Bunch, a fantastic vegan food blog that features pretty simple food recipes and the best food photos I've seen around.

She has a Green Juicing 101 blog that you can find here.

I've tried a few of the juices, but so far this is my favorite:

Sweet Garden Greens
vegan, serves two --> I drink it all myself, personally.

3-4 ounces green chard juice
*About 3 medium leaves
1 extra large bosc pear OR 1 1/2 medium pears
1 orange, peeled
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled
1 lime, peeled

Directions:

1. Wash your ingredients well.

2. Peel the rind off your lime and orange - discard. Slice your fruit.

3. Juice your chad greens, orange, lime, pear and ginger.

4. Serve immediately.

My Sweet Garden Greens Juice:

I don't get the "buzz" that people talk about getting from drinking green juices, but it makes me feel really good, hydrated (a.k.a. makes me pee a lot), and I actually crave these now.

I've also been saving the pulp from my juicing and making cookies out of it. Yes, that's right, cookies. I took the pulp from this juice and stuck it in the food processor just to mince some of the bigger chunks of pear and greens. In a bowl I mixed it with some raw almond butter, almond meal, and agave nectar. I didn't measure any of it, but just went by the feel. Once it's mixed up really well and seems like really fibrous "dough," take hunks of it and make flat cookie shapes. Put them in the dehydrator at 115 degrees for about 12 hours.

With the ginger and lime from the juice, these came out pretty tangy and good! I took some to work and tried them out on guinea pigs. Everyone who tried one liked it, and one co-worker who is a diabetic said that if I got the recipe just right and added some more protein, he'd eat it as an energy/protein bar. So now I've been saving up juice pulp to do just that. I'll let you know how it goes.

And now for photos!

Today's photos are from my dear friend Mandy's baby shower in early January. Her baby girl is due in April. She came in from Texas, her sister came in from NYC, and others (like Mary) came from KC and beyond. We had a great time at her mom's house, and the spread was ridiculous. I made gluten-free, vegan, no refined sugar cupcakes. I'll share that recipe one of these days.