Sprouting

I bought a mixed bag of seeds from one of the health food stores here in Bristol, but I found the sprouts to be too tough (it included ones like chickpeas). So, I tried a pre-sprouted bag of alfalfa and radish sprouts. I can now say with certainty that I am not a fan of radish sprouts >_<

But I wasn't going to give up on sprouting just yet. At the bulk store, I grabbed myself a small bag of organic alfalfa seeds. And voila! 6 days later I had wonderful, tender, CHEAP sprouts! This glass is on day 4 - sunlight day. It's amazing just how quickly green appeared. This was about 2 Tbsp of seeds and it made a LOT of sprouts.

On day 6 I rinsed out the hulls with my salad spinner and placed the still slightly damp seeds on a cookie tray to dry out overnight, then popped them in the fridge the next day. I think this is a good amount for one person for the 5-6 days it takes to create another batch. I usually eat them with my salads.

To sprout or not to sprout: what do you do? What are your favourite kinds?

Local Fruit & Veg

I have found my new place to buy fruit and veg in Bristol: Alex's Fruits. I picked up a huge bag of stuff - kale, green onions, zucchini, cucumber, mushrooms, red pepper, avocados, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, STRAWBERRIES - for only £5 (at Sainsbury's this would have been around £15!) , so I saved myself a ton of money AND it's better quality. Plus, I'm supporting small business, which is always a good thing.

Yesterday a few of us headed up to Stratford-upon-Avon for the day to check out the Bard's old haunts.


I knew we would probably stop for lunch, so I brought along a giant green smoothie with bananas, green cabbage, apple, cinnamon, and vanilla (I was quite happy with the cabbage as it blended really well). One of my travel buddies gave it a go and like it! (they've been hesitant to believe that any drink that's that green can taste good).

Zucchini Pasta with Marinara Sauce

Hey all. Last night I had an amazing zucchini pasta with a delicious marinara sauce:

Basic Marinara Sauce
3 medium tomatoes
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (soaked)
2 dates (soaked)
1/2 clove garlic
1 tsp of Herbes de Provence
salt & pepper


I used my blender, but I suppose you could use a food processor instead (mine leaks when it's anything too liquidy).

I've had a wonder week! Today is my 1-year Veganniversary ^_^ And last Monday for my birthday the Boy took me on a surprise birthday adventure to Newquay:

The sky cleared up and it was a gorgeous sunny day for the afternoon we were there. The tide was out so we were also able to walk along the beach. A wonderful way to spend a birthday :)

Something I'm looking forward to in the next few days: my first batch of alfalfa sprouts! Stay tuned ;)

Pineapple Walnut Date Bars

The Blueberry Walnut Date Bars on Addicted to Veggies looked so good, I had to give it a go myself. I made half a batch and didn't have everything on hand, so I had to make a few adjustments:

Pineapple Walnut Date Bars
0.5 cups dates (pitted and soaked in warm water for 5 minutes)
0.5 cups dried pineapple
0.5 cups walnuts (soaked)
0.5 cups almonds (soaked)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of sea salt

Blend, blend, blend! (All I have is a mini-processor, so I had to do it all in two batches and it took quite a while to get everything to an okay consistency. Blerg. The nuts were still rather chunky; I would suggest going for a smoother consistency ala AtV's bars).


Right now I'm enjoying a couple with a banana chocolate smoothie ^_^

Cabbage Salad

I threw this together to take with me to work today. I think it may be my new favourite salad concoction.

(sorry for the poor quality phone photo,
but I wanted to get a pic before I ate it all!)

sweetheart cabbage
shaved carrot
green onion
mixed sprouts
raisins
chopped pecans
nutritional yeast
fresh lemon juice
sunflower pate
(in a food processor: soaked sunflower seeds, lemon juice, sea salt, paprika, water - all to taste)

Quick snack: Pecans with Almond Butter and Raisins

Sometimes I just want a quick bite to eat between meals. I've found this treat to be both filling and to satisfy my sweet tooth. It's simply pecan halves with some raw almond butter on top. Feel free to add some raisins, too :)

Apple + Raisin Salad

Dinner last night:

Leaf lettuce
1 large apple
raisins (soaked briefly)
1/2 avocado
chopped pecans
green onion
lemon juice + balsamic vinegar
celtic sea salt

Green Smoothie

My birthday blender has finally arrived! (Thanks Mom and Dad :D).

My first creation: a basic green smoothie. I've missed these so much! I had a small, personal blender back home in Canada, and I found it to be really restricting as to how much I could blend at once. I also had a juicer that I loved. I would juice beets, greens, you name it. So I was really hoping that this blender would be able to handle most of what I threw at it.

And here is the result! This smoothie is simply:

1 banana
1 orange
2 large handfuls of kale
water

Banana Breakfast

I was in the mood for something quick and a bit sweet this morning:

banana(s)
raisins (soaked overnight)
dried coconut
cinnamon (I used a bit too much. Just a (small) pinch next time)

Transition Foods

Halfway through my walk home from watching rugby with the gang at my bf's place (Wales lost, boo!), I started to feel really light headed and weak. Generally when this has happened before (usually when I hadn't eaten for a while and was starving), I would just eat a spoonful of peanut butter and I would feel better. Tonight I was also craving cooked foods a bit, like crisps or chips (chips and french fries for the non-Brits ;).

So when I got home I made myself a salad with lentils. A healthy transitional meal, yes? I have to say, I'm not feeling so hot right now. Not in that light-headed way, but in that too full, lethargic way. The last few nights I've been alternating between an all-raw meal (usually a large salad) and a raw one with cooked veggies meal (salad plus a sweet potato or maybe some peas, etc).

I think that tonight I've learned to lay off the lentils for a bit, and if I want something cooked, to give some root vegetables a go (I do love my sweet potatoes). Maybe I'm ready to go more raw than I thought. I think I will at least be listening more to what my body tells me.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics from some of my dinners the last few nights (I just love the colours!)

Romaine, beets, red peppers, organic mixed sprouts, nutritional yeast, lemon juice + balsamic vinegar

Sprouts from my first batch!

Romaine, carrots, beets, red pepper, organic alfalfa sprouts, sunflower seeds, nut. yeast, lemon juice + bal. vinegar

PS It seems my allergies have started to kick in. They haven't been a problem for a while, but I think moving to a new place may have triggered them again. I don't particularly want to take allergy pills - anyone have a more natural method for a runny nose, sneezing, and itchy eyes?

Choco-Pecan Date Balls

My first recipe post! I've been craving chocolate, but since I decided to go raw last week I've been staying away from the over-processed stuff (ie. the sugary consumer crap). Here's a simple, moist, chocolate treat:


Choco-Pecan Date Balls

1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup dates (soaked for 5-6 hours)
2 Tbs cocoa + a bit for rolling in
1/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

1. Process pecans until broken up into small bits
2. Add dates, cocoa, vanilla, and salt. Process until smooth
4. Shape into balls
5. Roll in cocoa

Makes: 6 balls

Simple, quick, and it takes care of that chocolate craving.

A New Start

Hello folks, and welcome to my new blog. Why did I decide to make another blog about being raw, when there are already a million others out there? Mainly to help keep myself on track, and also to share with you how I'm managing raw on a bit of a budget.

Background info:
A year ago I was living in Toronto, doing a 9-5 for a television production company. I'd been vegetarian for over four years, but decided that it wasn't enough. I was going to become vegan. After a while on the forums I started to hear things about raw food. I didn't know what that meant, and the more I researched, the more I got excited. In the summer of 2009 I tried to go high raw - and it worked for a while - but then the evils of cooked food (mainly bread) lured me back to my old ways.

Fast forward to 2010. I'm in the middle of my MA at the University of Bristol in the UK, so once again I'm a poor student. After a few months on the course I started to notice some weight gain, tiredness, and a general overall lack of energy. I knew how good I felt when I was high raw, so I decided that I would give it another go. However, there seems to be a few obstacles on my road to raw: mainly my limited budget, having to find new suppliers for those things I loved back home, and being tempted while out with friends.

I don't have a dehydrator. I don't have a Vita-Mix. And I don't have an unlimited budget.

What I do have is the infinite resource that is the internet, the support network of blogs and forums, and a real enthusiasm to make this work. I've just ordered a blender (only 700W, but it will do for now), I have a small food processor, cutting board, knife, and a regular old peeler.

I'll be posting photos of what I've been making, problems that I'm encountering (like finding good raw food sources in Bristol!), and hopefully be a resource for those of you who find yourselves on a budget, whether student or otherwise.

Peace,
Kx