Raw Food Cleanse

So I felt like I needed a reboot so I did a five day raw vegan cleanse. I started every morning with a fresh juice and then around lunchtime I would eat a raw meal and then again for dinner. For snacks I would eat fruit/veg (usually blueberries, cherry tomatoes or grapes). One night I was craving something sweet so I made some "nice cream" from bananas, medjool dates and mango which turned out pretty runny because the bananas were the only frozen part. Here's a recipe for one I've made before which was pretty good though (just replace sweetener with dates and soy milk with homemade nut milk). I still had a black coffee most mornings but beside that I had ALL raw. I lost about 4lbs which I was happy with and I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Especially the juices in the morning. I LOVE JUICE!!! Even though by day five I was craving a homemade pizza and GF beer I definitely think after my cheat night I'll continue next week. I got most of my fruit/veg from a local company that delivers local product (you choose what you want) so it was very convenient!

Fresh juice every morning (a combination of what I had in the fridge; carrots, kale/spinach, orange, apple, pineapple, cucumber, ginger, lemon, radish)

Fruit Salad with banana, raspberries and mango. Sprinkled with orange blossom water.

Cucumber Avocado Rolls

Butternut Noodles with Tomato Basil Sauce

I used left over of the butternut noodle sauce with some romaine in a nori sheet.

Raw Caprese Salad (recipe for raw mozzarella)

Avocado Cucumber Soup

Zucchini Noodles with avocado pesto

I made my own cashew nut milk for the Chia Seed pudding :)

Simple Chia Seed Pudding (I used dates in the nut milk so I had no sweetner (chia seeds, cashew milk, vanilla extract, raspberries)

Simple Guac (Avocado, lemon juice, tomato, salt & pepper) with cucumber, green peppers and carrots for dipping.

Raw Butternut Noodles with Tomato Basil Sauce

Recently I did a raw cleanse and I haven't eat raw for a long time. I remembered these combinations working well together so I invented my own raw pasta sauce. It was really nice as a spread for raw nori wraps. If you don't have a spiralizer you can just grate or even shred with a potato peeler. This probably serves two but I ate the whole thing :)

Raw Butternut Noodles with Tomato Basil Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup cashews

1/4 cup basil

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes 

2 medjool dates

1/2 butternut squash

Method

Soak your cashews overnight if possible but if not soak in boiling water for an hour.

Use a potato peeler to remove the skin from the butternut squash and spiralize into noodles and set aside.

Add all other ingredients to a food processor/high powered blender or bullet and blitz adding water when necessary until you get the desired consistency.

Pour over noodles.

Onion & Herb Crackers

I got this recipe from One Green Planet - originally posted by Julie Van der Kerchove.  They are so delicious on their own!

Almond Cashew Cheese

Ingredients

1 cup of white almonds*
1 cup of cashews
1/2 cup of water
6 tablespoons of lemon juice (around two lemons)
5 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan crystal salt or sea salt
1 small red onion, minced
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1 tablespoon of dried basil
1 tablespoon of dried rosemary
2 teaspoon of dried thyme

Method

Combine white almonds, cashews, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and salt in the blender. Blend until smooth.
Use a spatula to spread the almond cashew cheese mixture onto a dehydrator tray lined with a Teflex sheet or a fire-resistant tray if you are working with a regular oven. I just used a baking sheet over the tray.
Top the mixture with minced red onion, oregano, basil, rosemary and thyme. I made cuts in mine because the first time I did them I made them too thin and didn't put the cuts and they just crumbled.

Dehydrate the crackers at 115°F (or the lowest temperature of your oven & hot air circulation) for 12 hours or longer, until the top of the crackers is completely dry and crunchy.
I didn't do this next step and they still turned out perfect.
When the crackers are dry enough, flip them over by placing a second dehydrator tray (without a Teflex sheet) on top of the crackers and turning both around. Now you can easily remove the Teflex sheet that is still covering the moist side of the crackers. This will allow them to dry more quickly and efficiently.
Dehydrate the crackers for another 10 hours or more until they are completely dry on both sides. They will still be slightly soft on the inside

* To make your own white almonds, just soak your raw almonds in warm water for a couple of hours then the skins will peel right off!

Chocolate Hazelnut Balls

Chocolate Hazelnut Balls

Ingredients

2 cups medool dates, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup Roasted Hazelnuts
1/4 cup Cacao
1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds
2 Tbls shredded coconut
1/2 cup shredded coconut for coating.


Method

Place all ingredients except 1/2 cup coconut into a food processor and blitz until well combined and nuts are chopped.
Form 1 Tbls mixture into a ball, roll in coconut and place on a cooking sheet.
Repeat until all mixture is gone and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
You can freeze these as well :)

Cherry Ripe Bliss Balls

These are named after a candy bar we have back in Australia that I think they taste like! SO GOOD!

Cherry Ripe Bliss Balls

Ingredients

3 cups Dates, chopped
1 cup Cashews, crushed
1/2 cup Cocoa
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries, Cherries or Blueberries (or a combination)
1/4 cup shredded Coconut (unsweetened) + extra for coating


Method

Blitz everything except the coconut coating in a food processor. This mixture gets very thick that's why it's easier to do the pre-chopping!
Take around 2 tablespoons of mixture and roll into a ball, coating in the coconut.
Place balls in the fridge for 20 minutes to harden and enjoy :)

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

This is a great last minute easily whipped up dessert and delicious...plus pseudo healthy ;)
This original recipe is from Food Network. I halved the recipe to two servings (but still proceeded to eat them both in one night). Shown with Soyatoo Vegan Whipped Cream and vegan chocolate shavings. Can easily be made raw.

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

4 very ripe (8 ounce) avocados, peeled and pitted

1/2 cup agave

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

Method

Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl. 

Place over a small saucepan of barely simmering water. 

Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 3 minutes. 

Set aside to cool slightly.

Place the melted chocolate, avocados, agave, cocoa powder, almond milk, vanilla and salt in a food processor. 

Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Spoon into glasses and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (can be prepared 1 day in advance). 

Note: I waited around 30 mins and it was still fine :)

Easy Homemade Nut Milk

For this you will need a nut bag or cheese cloth and a container large enough for 3-4 cups of liquid to drains. I find this recipe make the milk quite light - like skim milk. For a thicker milk edit the ratio of nuts to water or leave nut pulp in. To sweeten or flavor you can add agave, cinnamon etc.

Easy Homemade Nut Milk

Ingredients

1 cup nuts (almond or cashew work well)
4 cups filtered water


Method

Soak nuts over night, then drain and rinse.
In a high powdered blender, mix the filtered water and nuts until completely liquid.
Place nut bag or cheese cloth over your glass jar and secure with an elastic band or two!
I had to use a funnel as my spout was small :)

Pour nut mixture into nut bag/over cheesecloth and allow to naturally drain - can a few hours.

Replace jar lid and store in fridge for a week or two.

Almond Milk

Cashew Milk

Montezuma's Raw Salad

This house salad was always one of my favourites at a Mexican restaurant called Montezuma's. I love that it's all raw vegetables but still tastes amazeballs!

Montezuma's Raw Salad

Ingredients

Broccoli, broken into small florets
Cauliflower, broken into small florets
Carrot, diced or shredded
Green apple, diced
Cabbage, shredded
Vegan cheddar shreds (omit if being healthy)
Vegan French dressing (the clear kind, not American kind)
Red radishes, sliced (optional)


Method

Mix all salad ingredients together in a bowl and toss through dressing.
So easy!

Two Week Raw Food Cleanse

My weight and fitness has spiraled out of control of what I am comfortable with so I'm taking control and owning it!
First up was an overall cleanse. I though being vegan and gluten free that I was eating relatively healthy but apparently not! I've always wanted to be buff - really toned and strong looking so this is the start of my journey.

Starting in at 144lbs I hope to get down to at 125-128lbs which is what I was a year ago.

I'm starting with a three day fast cleanse, just drinking water with lemon and herbal tea.
After that I will switch to eating only raw for two weeks. At least that's what I'm going to try to do.

Fasting is really great for your body because it gives it time to fix everything that's wrong and get rid of toxins - digesting takes a lot out of your body and doesn't leave it much time for anything else.
Fasting is perfectly healthy - just remember to stay hydrated!

I found this Full Body Cleanse page on Dr. Ben Kim's website very helpful.

It's no secret I love food - I love finding recipes, making it, eating it and finally blogging it so to start thinking of food as just a healthy fuel supply for my body and little more is very difficult for me but I feel like that's the mind set change that has to happen right now. Just like people have to ween themselves of cigarettes, I have to ween myself off food - the unhealthy kind anyway!

I know the first couple of days will be hard because I'm used to eating all the time (seriously my husband says he's never seen someone eat so much food LOL) but I think for me eating raw will be harder - I love hot food! At least I own (never used) a spiralizer so that's a start right?
Food processor and blender are also very handy tools for raw eating. Dehydrators are super expensive and you can get a similar result in the oven on the lowest setting.

Once my two week cleanse is over my plan is to start eating right, using an app to be accountable every day for what I put into my mouth and how much exercise I do. Also for me, portion control and eating slowly are two huge things that can radically reduce the amount of calories I'm putting into my mouth.

I love bowls, so I think I'll be making a lot of those...just have to limit my dressing on them!

This website was helpful in determining raw from not so raw foods.

Day 1
I normally wake up starving so I think for me morning was the hardest part. I drank a lot of lemon water and herbal teas. My daughter was sick and requested vegetable soup which I made but wanted to eat so badly!
I did eat a couple kernels of corn buy accident - just habit nibbling as I cook!
I started feeling head-achy and nauseous so I totally caved by the afternoon and had a spoonful of the soup and then later that night - oven fries with homemade ketchup - SO DISAPPOINTED!

Day 2
I felt very cranky today and still wanted to eat. Drinking a ton of water and herbal tea, the lemon helps the hunger cravings.
I know I ate something on this day around the afternoon because I caved again but I can't remember what :(

Day 3
Generally feeling fine. I felt great all day and not at all hungry.
I was motivated so I went shopping for raw veggies and seeds etc for when I start eating raw.
Made myself a green juice when I got home (red lettuce, baby spinach, mint, celery, carrot and orange). Could have definitely have gone all day without eating anything.
I went for an hour walk as it's normally my workout day but I didn't want to do anything to strenuous while fasting.
Ended up making some almond milk and using the left over almonds to make a vegan pate which wasn't good but when I mixed a bit of it with some broken up homemade crackers.
I feel like Day 3 was the turning point for me.

Day 4
I weighed myself on the scales this morning and I was already down to 138lb which is way better that I was hoping for.
Today I felt fine and not hungry but as it was my first day of technically eating raw (even though I totally failed the fast) I had a Garden of Life raw meal shake using my homemade almond milk (which was pretty watery honestly).
For lunch I made a salad with the old vegetables in the fridge that were needing to be eating - red lettuce, asparagus, mushrooms, cilantro and 1/2 lemon for dressing.
For a snack I had 1/2 avocado and some of the almond pate mixed together.
For dinner I had 1/2 avocado on two large homemade seed crackers.

Day 5
Felt really good today.
Started the day with a Garden of Life Raw Meal smoothie using almond milk and a banana.
For snack I had 4 celery sticks topped with the almond pate I made.
For lunch I finished off the raw salad that I couldn't finish yesterday but I wasn't even hungry!
For dinner I made raw nori rolls with nori paper, avocado, carrot, cucumber, basil, cilantro, red pepper and kale. I had a homemade peanut sauce to dip.
Finding raw food sites and YouTube very helpful. Loving This Rawsome Vegan Life (not fully raw though) and Fully Raw Kristina for recipe inspiration.

Day 6
Having PMS so fighting the urge for bad food - plus it snowed all night so really want hot food. I'm having a lot of herbal tea to keep me warm :)
Had the Raw Meal smoothie for breakfast, raw nori rolls for lunch and had a zucchini pasta for dinner. Sauce pureed tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, kale, mushrooms, zucchini and basil.
I did my first epic workout (my Crossfit-ing friend put together a strength and toning set of workouts for me)
I had some seed crackers with sun dried tomatoes and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast for snack.

Day 7
Woke up with a sore throat and feeling like I was coming down with something which is not good! I have not been sick since going vegan 5 years ago and I don't intend to start now! The weather has been changing rapidly and my diet has changed dramatically in the last week so really it could just be those shocks to my body - not to mention the shock of an intense workout!
My legs hurt from my workout but other than that I feel pretty good. Raw smoothie for breakfast, zucchini pasta for lunch and collard green wraps (with walnut based filling) for dinner.

Day 8
Felt fine today except got my period so all I wanted was bad food...but abstained. Yay!
Don't feel like I'm getting sick anymore which is great! I was worried about that.
I had the raw meal shake for breakfast, collard wraps filled with the carrot filling and avocado and for dinner I had celery filled with the walnut pate.
I did have a late night snack of avocado on seed crackers....oops ;)

Day 9
Started the day with avocado on seed crackers and a green tea.
For lunch I had a portobello mushroom sandwich (the mushroom as the bread and a raw nut "curried egg salad", carrot spread and avocado).
For dinner, Montezuma's Raw Salad without dressing.
Made this delicious raw chocolate mousse for dessert too...

Day 10
Breakfast - raw smoothie, lunch -  Montezuma's Raw Salad with  vegan vinaigrette dressing, dinner - raw spicy mushroom burritos. Did my workout today and felt fine.

Day 11
Breakfast - raw smoothie, lunch - Montezuma's Raw Salad with  vegan vinaigrette dressing, dinner - raw spicy mushroom burritos (YUM!!!)

Day 12
Actually noticed a huge difference in the mirror this morning which was very encouraging - tummy definitely had gone down and my hips had slimmed down too - yay! Breakfast - raw smoothie, lunch - Montezuma's Raw Salad with  vegan vinaigrette dressing, dinner - Raw Rainbow Goji Salad - love this! Late night snack - avocado on raw carrot crisp bread.
May have had a couple of spoonfuls of Justin's Choc Hazelnut butter - whoops!

Day 13
Breakfast - raw smoothie, lunch - Raw Rainbow Goji Salad, dinner - raw tacos in lettuce leaves filled with avocado and a turnip, red pepper and tomato blend. Spoonful of Justin's Choc Hazelnut butter again - it's just so hard to resist! Made some No Bake Energy Bites which were great - had one for dessert.

Day 14
Breakfast - raw smoothie, lunch - last nights raw tacos and total cheat tonight - I'm having a homemade tomato & basil pizza with no cheese. The base is not raw because I don't have the 8 hours to dehydrate one and I'm throwing a mini pizza/ice-cream party for the kids tonight and didn't want to be totally left out! I was loving those raw balls as a snack though!

More raw recipes under the "raw" label to the right.

I lost a total of 6lbs and definitely noticed a difference to my skin and tummy although I have yet to measure.

So after two weeks I can definitely say that I would try to keep up with having a raw vegan diet as at least 50-80% of my normal diet. Not sure I could go 100% just yet but I'm certainly more motivated to have it be a part of my vegan lifestyle than I was before. The prep work takes a while but because you don't have to wait for anything to cook you can eat it straight away - so it really evens out time wise. Yay for raw!

Carrot Cumin Spread

When I juice I am left with so much pulp - this is a great way to use up all the carrot pulp.
This is a great snack on raw crackers or on lettuce leaves.

Carrot Cumin Spread

Ingredients

1/2 cup carrot pulp (or grated carrot with liquid squeezed out)
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbls nutritional yeast
2 tsp Braggs Amino Acids/Coconut Aminos
1 tsp Italian herbs


Method

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth and mixed.
Add more nutritional yeast or amino acids to taste.

Date & Nut Balls

This is an easy and healthy snack, especially for kids! Adapted from a Catherine McCord recipe seen in Parents Magazine.

Date & Nut Balls

Ingredients

1/2 cup GF oats
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup pitted dates, chopped
2 Tbls agave syrup
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbls shredded unsweetened coconut


Method

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
On a baking sheet place nuts and oats and bake for 10mins and let cool.
In a food processor add nuts and oats and blitz until all blended and chopped finely.
Add in all other ingredients except for the shredded coconut and process until all mixed well.
Take small amounts of the mixture and roll into a ball in your hand.
Dredge in coconut shreds and leave to cool.
How many balls you make depends on how big they are.
Keep in sealed container for a few days.

Atlantis Rolls

I got this recipe from Matt Amsden on Raw Food Recipes. I found it really heavy on the mustard so I added some Follow Your Heart Tarare sauce which I know isn't raw but they tasted amazing! Real seafood flavor. I also found the original recipe very watery so they rolls were very limp and hard to cut - I think I would just reduce the amount of coconut water next time.

Atlantis Rolls

Ingredients

FOR THE MAYO:
2/3 cup coconut water
1/2 cup of your favorite raw nuts (macadamia, cashew, pine), soaked
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1 teaspon sea salt
2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard

FOR THE MOCK TUNA:
1 cup soaked raw sunflower seeds, ground in a food processor
1 1/2 stalks of celery, diced
2 green onions, diced
4 teaspoons of dried dill
2 teaspoons dulse flakes

FOR THE ROLLS:
2 sheets Nori
2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard
1 raw pickle, diced (I used dill pickles).


Method

To make the Mayo, in a high speed blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
To make the mock tuna, in a mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients with the blended Mayo. Mix well.
To assemble sushi rolls, lay out 1 sheet of nori on a clean, dry surface.
Place half of the mock tuna in a narrow layer along the length of the sheet, about 1/2inch from the edge closest to you.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of mustard across the mock tuna layer.
Layer half of the diced pickle along the top, keeping all the ingredients in a narrow line.
Fold the edge of the nori closest to you over the filling.
Gently roll the nori away from you, tightly and evenly, into a snuggly wrapped roll.
Seal the exposed edge of the nori with a little pure water and repeat for the second roll.
Cut each roll into 6 pieces with a sharp knife.

Mock Tuna Salad

This recipe was amazing...to me anyway! I was a huge seafood fan before I went vegan so this really hit the spot! Plus was raw and healthy - winning! Recipe by Rachael Campbell.

Mock Tuna Salad

Ingredients

1 cup sunflower seeds (soak for 2hrs, rinse and drain)
1 cup almonds blanched (soak 24hrs, change water twice a day, rinse and drain) blanched meaning skinned
3/4 cup lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup celery finely chopped
1/2 cup red capsicum finely chopped
1/2 cup spring onion chopped
1/2 cup coriander chopped fresh
1/2 cup dill chopped fresh
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
dulse flakes to taste
celtic sea salt and pepper to taste


Method

Soak sunflower seeds for 2 hours in bowl with cold water then rinse.
Soak almonds for 24hrs in bowl with cold water, celtic sea salt, change water twice a day, rinse and drain into large bowl.
Take a kettle full of hot water, pour it over the almonds, let them sit for a minute or two, and then drain water. Find an almond that’s skin seems to have slipped away a little from the nut, squeeze the nut between your thumb and forefinger, the nut should squeeze its way out of the skin. Now you have a blanched almond, continue this for all almonds.
Blend sunflower seeds, almonds, lemon juice and water in food processor or thermomix to a paste consistency. Place ingredients into large mixing bowl.
Chop celery, red capsicum, spring onion, coriander, dill, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, dulse flakes and chili flakes, mix through paste. Add celtic sea salt and pepper to taste.

Raw Stir Fry

This recipe is by Lisa Viger of Raw on $10 or Less. This recipe was too spicy for me so next time I would cut down on the cayenne and red chilli flakes.

Raw Stir Fry

Ingredients

6 spears asparagus, chopped
4 oz mushrooms
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
6 leaves kale, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium zucchini (keep separate for last step)

Marinade:
juice of one orange
1 inch piece ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons braggs liquid aminos
2 tablespoons agave
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes


Method

Put the asparagus, mushrooms, carrots, celery, kale, and onion in a lidded tub.
Combine the orange juice, ginger, garlic, olive oil, liquid aminos, agave, cayenne, and red pepper flakes. Whisk to combine, or use a bullet type blender.
Pour half this marinade over the vegetables in the tub and place the lid on. Set aside the other half of the marinade for later. Let sit, stirring or shaking every so often, for about an hour.
Then pour onto lined dehydrator tray and dehydrate for an hour or two, until the vegetables are slightly soft and warm.
Slice the zucchini into noodles and top with the vegetables.
Dress with the remaining marinade.

Raw Stuffed Avocados

The stuffing was delicious as a salad as well. Recipe from Jodi Burke. I added a bit of avocado to my mayo because you can never have enough avocado ;)

Raw Stuffed Avocados

Ingredients

Avocados Stuffing
1/2 cup finely chopped Celery
1/2 cup chopped Parsley
1/2 cup Sunflower Seeds
1 Green Onion finely chopped
1 Red Pepper finely chopped
1 small Cucumber finely chopped

Chipotle Mayo
1 cup Cashews ( can soak in water for approx 15 mins or while cutting and mixing other ingredients)
2 tbsp Olive oil
juice of 1 Lemon
1 clove Garlic
pinch of  Sea Salt
2 tsp Chipolte seasoning
1/2 cup water (approx depending on how thin or thick you would like it)


Method

Avocados Stuffing
Mix together in a bowl and add in Chipolte Mayo approx 1/2 – 1 cup (to your liking)
Approx 3 Avocados – cut in half and set aside when mixture is complete spoon in to cut halves and enjoy!!

Chipotle Mayo
Throw all ingredients in Vitamix or blender slowly pouring in water and mix until smooth and desired consistency is achieved.

Raw Stuffed Mushrooms

 I loved the pâté filling as arugula lettuce leaves wraps as well...yummy! Recipe was from chef Mikaela Shafer on Raw Food Recipes.

 

Raw Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

2 bunches of basil
1 cup Raw sunflower seeds
1/4 c sundried tomatoes
1 red pepper
1/4 olive oil
1/4 c braggs or soy sauce
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp sesame seeds
juice of 1 lemon
3 cloves of garlic
20 Mushrooms, if you will not be stuffing them  you only need 5 whole mushrooms


Method 

Add sesame seeds, lemon juice  and a tablespoon of olive oil in a food processor and blend until a paste
Add nutritional yeast, braggs and the rest of the olive oil and blend
Take stems out of all the mushrooms and add stems to blender, if you are not stuffing mushrooms add 4 whole mushrooms to blender.
Add basil, sundried tomatoes, garlic and sunflower seeds and blend until it is a paste, add a but of water if it is too thick
Chop red pepper and add to blender and blend just until it’s a bit mixed in.
Fill mushrooms with pâté  and top with a basil leaf and sunflower seeds.

Macro Bowl

This recipe comes from Real Raw Kitchen. Delicious and healthy!

Macro Bowl
Serves 2 large servings.

Ingredients

For the salad:
1 head of kale
1 large carrot
1 large zucchini
1/2 cup raw sauerkraut
handful of sunflower sprouts
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
2-3 green onions
handful dried seaweed
1/2 lemon (for the kale)

For the dressing:
1 tablespoon raw tahini
1 tablespoon raw miso paste
1 clove garlic
handful fresh basil
2-3 tablespoons of water


Method

For the salad:
First, peel the zucchini and run through a spiralizer/or grate.
Then let the noodles sit on some paper towels while you prepare the rest.
Take the dried seaweed and put them in water to soak and re-hydrate. After it has soaked for 15-20 minutes, rinse with a colander to remove any particles and extra fishy taste.
Next, wash and de-stem the kale. Pat dry or run through a salad spinner (a new gadget I got for Christmas!). Tear into bit sized pieces.
Squeeze the 1/2 lemon over the top and massage with your hands until the kale shrinks. Set aside.
Peel the carrot and run through the spiralizer/or grate.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
Combine everything in a bowl.

For the dressing:
Mix everything in a mini chopper. Pour over the salad.

Raw Nori Wraps

This recipe comes from Raw Eva. I loved these so much I could eat them for days!

Raw Nori Wraps

Ingredients

Cashew spread

1 cup soaked cashews

¼ cup water

3 tbsp tamari

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

½ red capsicum

2 tbsp olive oil

tsp turmeric

½ tsp paprika

Lemon juice of one lemon (optional)

Pinch salt and pepper

Nori wraps

Cashew spread (see recipe above)

4 Nori sheets

1 capsicum

1 cucumber

Sunflower sprouts

Method

Cashew Spread

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Nori Rolls

Lay each Nori sheet on your cutting board.

Spread your cashew dip over, make cucumber and capsicum stripes and lay on your spread. Put the sprouts on the top and roll the sheet carefully.

Cut wide pieces with sharp knife. The size should be just right to go to your mouth.

Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding

I got this recipe from Minimalist Baker. I love that it's healthy but tastes naughty! Great for the kids...

Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding
Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 ripe avocados
1 large ripe banana
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder
1/2 cup salted creamy or crunchy peanut butter + more for topping
1/2 cup sweetener of choice i.e. maple syrup, agave etc
1/4 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk


Method

Add all ingredients except coconut whip into a food processor and blend until creamy and smooth. Add more dairy-free milk to thin/help blend. Add more cocoa powder for a richer chocolate flavor. Add more sweetener of choice to enhance sweetness.
Divide between 6 small serving glasses, cover with plastic wrap and chill for a few hours, or overnight.
I put mine in one container and ate a little each night...yum!