Homemade Kombucha

For this recipe, you will need a kombucha mushroom or scoby and one cup of already brewed kombucha.  You will also need a gallon-sized GLASS jar with a wide opening.  Ball makes one that is not usable for canning but it is perfect for this.  Really, any glass jar with a wide mouth will do as long as it's a gallon in size.

Clean your jar out very good.  If you have a dishwasher, run it through there.  Let it drip dry upside down.

Make a batch of tea (any kind will work) by combining 1 gallon of water and 10-12 tea bags in a kettle on the stove.  Bring to a rolling boil and let it boil for about 10 minutes. 

After 10 minutes, turn the stove off and add 1 cup of sugar.  I recommend some type organic cane sugar.  Stir gently to incorporate the sugar.  Be careful not to break the tea bags!

Let the tea sit until it reaches room temperature.  You can leave the bags in while it cools.

Once the tea is room temperature, take out the tea bags and pour about 3/4 of it into the gallon jar.  Carefully add the scoby and the 1-cup of already prepared Kombucha.  Make sure your hands are super clean before you touch the scoby!  Also make sure that the tea is completely cooled off.  If it is too hot, you will kill the scoby.

Top off the jar with the remaining brewed tea.  Make sure you leave about an inch of space at the top of the jar.

Cover your jar with a towel secured by a rubber band.  DO NOT PUT THE JAR'S LID BACK ON!  The gases from the fermentation process will cause the jar to explode!

Put the jar in a cool dark place, such as your pantry.  Your kombucha and scoby will not do well in sunlight so keep them in the dark!

In 10 days your Kombucha will be ready.  Pour it as you want it.  You can add ice or more sugar to it if you like.  If it's not as fizzy as you would like it, you can pour it off (without the scoby) into quart-sized canning jars, screw on the lid and let it sit a few days for a second fermentation.

Make sure you don't drink it all!  You'll need a cup left over to start another batch.

You will also see another scoby grow.  You can keep it and start a second jar or you can pass it on to a friend!  Just remember that it needs to also have 1 cup of prepared kombucha!

You don't have to use caffeinated tea every time (my first batch was made using Tazo's Passion tea) however, if you are consistently using decaffeinated tea, make sure that every couple of batches you brew it with caffeinated tea. 

Chocolate Pudding with Cashew Creme

I created a go-to chocolate pudding recipe that I love out of one that was recommended to me.  I had to tweak it a little bit to suit me.  I made it very simple with only 3 ingredients.  I've used it in frozen desserts as well.  Just recently I started following Paul Jarvis at Eat Awesome.  His eBook is fantastic and well worth the 5 bucks.  He has a recipe for cashew cream that I tweaked a little bit for this recipe.

Chocolate Pudding
2 avocados
honey (if you are vegan, then you can use agave but realize that it is not raw)
cocoa powder or cacao powder (not both)

Place the avocados in a food processor.  Add 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of sweetener to the avocado.  Blend well in the food processor.  Taste and add cocoa and/or sweetener until flavor suits you.  This will be different for everyone.  I like mine less sweet and more chocolatey. 

Keep refrigerated.

Cashew Creme
1 cup of raw cashews soaked in water for about 3 hours
Coconut water

Drain cashews and put them in the food processor.  Mix well and slowly add coconut water to thin.  Be careful to add the coconut water very slowly otherwise it will be too thin.

Keep refrigerated.

Grandma T's Pickled Green Tomatoes

This original recipe came from the grandmother of one of my best friends. This is a most delicious treat! You can eat these with bread, crackers, or use them for a topping on pasta. My favorite way is to use them as a topping on shredded raw zucchini.

You'll notice that there are no measurements. It's all going to depend on what you have on hand and what your taste preferences are. My jars are heavy on the garlic and red pepper but I chose not to add herbs.

You will need:
•Ball pint-sized canning jars with a wide mouth
•Green tomatoes
•Sea salt
•White distilled vinegar
•Good quality extra virgin olive oil
•Fresh garlic either crushed or thinly sliced (a lot of it)
•Crushed red pepper flakes
•Fresh herb of your choice from the following-basil, oregano, or parsley. Or you can choose to not use any.

1. Slice HARD GREEN tomatoes very thin.

2. Salt both sides of each piece and put it them in a colander.

3. Put the colander in the sink and put a weight on top of the tomatoes. I used a large kettle of water that fit inside the colander. Let the tomatoes drain over night.

4. The next day put the tomatoes in a GLASS bowl and cover them with white distilled vinegar. Cover the bowl with a plate or a towel. Leave it on the counter for 3 days.

5. On the 3rd day drain the vinegar out of the tomatoes and begin the canning process.

6. Layer in the jar in this order-tomatoes (2-3 slices), 1 tablespoon of olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, herb of choice.

7. Continue this layering process until you are about 1/2 to 1 inch from the top of the jar. The last layer needs to be olive oil and it must cover the top of the tomatoes. Add 1 tablespoon at a time do you don't end up with too much.

8. Put the lid on the jar and then the ring. Push down the middle button to force the seal and then screw on the ring tightly. Put the jars in a cupboard until they are ready to eat. Let sit for a couple days before eating. Once you open a jar you must refrigerate it!

 

You can find this and other great recipes on Allergy Free Alaska!

Cold-Canned Dill Pickles

We make jars and jars of these every year. They last through the winter and they are super easy to make in large batches.

The recipe is for one quart. We line up about 40 Ball quart-sized jars and use about 16-20 quarts of small picking cucumbers.

You will need Ball wide-mouth quart-sized glass canning jars, Ball lids, and Ball bands. New jars come with lids and bands. You can also buy just the lids or the lid/band combos.

Before you do anything you must sterilize the jars and lids. The jars can be run right through the dishwasher. The lids and rings can be boiled on the stove for about 10 minutes.

In each quart jar add:
1/8 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of mustard seeds
1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar
1-2 large fresh dill flower heads
1/4 of a fresh white onion
1-3 cloves of garlic smashed

Once all that is in the jar, add the cukes. We usually quarter them longways. Put them in the jar neatly longways and cram in as many as you can. If there are super small ones then we leave them whole in their own jar. We also make a couple jars of hamburger slices.

Once the cukes are in the jars, fill them up to just 1/4 inch below the brim of the jar. Put the lid on and then screw on the ring as tight as you can get it. Give the jars a good shake and put them in the fridge upside down. The jars will seal themselves.

Every day for the first week, turn the jars, rotating daily from upside down to right side up.

At the second week, stop turning the jars and let them sit for at least another week before you try them. If they don't taste ready, let them sit for another week.

Make sure you test from the same jar each time so that you aren't opening more jars than necessary.

CHERRIES JUBILEE Succo-Frullato

I was making a Beetrice Potters Rabbit this morning and realized after I juiced the veggies that I didn't have any oranges.  After searching the freezer for someting sweet to add, this is what I got!

1 beet, including tops
1 large carrot
1/4 cup of blueberries
1/2 cup of cherries (pitted)

Juice the beet and carrot.
Put the juice in a blender and add the fruit.
Blend until smooth.

If you keep your fruit frozen, this will make a great smoothie.

Cashew Milk Ice Cream

This was a last minute thought the other day as I was craving ice cream. I had the cashews already soaking for milk and decided to make ice cream.

You can flavor this also. I put some cacao nibs in mine. You can add raw honey, fruit, other raw nuts. The possibilities are endless!

1 cup of raw cashews
2 cups of water

Soak the cashews in the water for about 3 hours.

Drain and give a quick rinse.

Put the cashews in a high powered blender with 2 cups of fresh water. Blend on medium high for 3 minutes.

Pour into ice cube trays and freeze.

Once frozen, soften at room temperature for a bit then put back into the blender and blend on high again until creamy.

Put into single serving sized containers and refreeze.

Let soften for a bit before eating.

Super Seeds

Thoughts of fall are sneaking into my head here and there.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm enjoying summer a great deal.  All the green, the frogs and toads int he yard, harvesting things from my garden each day, the heat that we've had.  Love it all!  But every now and then something small happens, like, I get a whiff of something or the sky has a certain look to it and thoughts of fall creep into my head.

Fall is my favorite time of year and one of my favorite holidays is Halloween.  I love everything about it, but mostly the creep-out factor!  One snack I look forward to every year are fresh pumpkin seeds.  It's so gratifying for me.  Carving up our pumpkins, digging out the seeds, cleaning them, roasting them very slowly in the oven over several hours.  The smell permeates the whole house! 

I never knew until recently how good pumpkin seeds are for you.  They're LOADED with good stuff!  Rather than try to type it all for you, read all about pumpkin seeds for yourself!

Another one of my favorite treats is sunflower seeds.  Sunflowers are so big and beautiful.  It's like having the sun right in your garden!  I love planting all kinds of sunflowers but the giant sunflowers are my favorite!  The watching and waiting with anticipation for the seeds to be ready to harvest is just as fun for me as watching and waiting for my veggies to grow.  As a kid, I loved David's brand sunflower seeds.  I'd suck all of the salt off the shell before I broke into it to find the tasty treasure hidden inside.  They are still popular with kids today.  I have to remind my students every year that they are not allowed to eat them in the classroom becuase they have the nasty habit of leaving the shells all over the floor.  Like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds are chock full of nutrients.  Go ahead and read about sunflower seeds  for yourself!

Fiesta Salad

As I was trying to figure out what to have for dinner tonight, the yummy salad, Tomato Avocado Salad came to mind.  I decided that I wanted it again.  When I went to the garden to get what I needed, I noticed that there was lettuce was ready so I picked some.  The creative juices started flowing!

Make the Tomato Avocado Salad but use the whole avocado
Add in a handful of baby lettuce
Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a fresh lime or if you like, you can add the whole lime
Mix well and let sit for about 15 minutes

Check out this recipe and a ton of others on Allergy Free Alaska

Tomato Avocado Salad

I made this great salad today for dinner.  It was just enough for one.  Everything came from my garden except for the avocado.

1/2 Haas avocado diced
1 big handful of cherry tomatoes halved
1-2 cloves of garlic finely diced
12 fresh basil leaves finely chopped
The leaves of 5 stalks of fresh cilantro finely chopped
3 zucchini flowers chopped
3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste

Put everything in a bowl and mix together.  Let stand at room temp for about 15 minutes before eating to let all the flavors mingle.  You can refrigerate this but it tastes best at room temp.

Check out this recipe and a ton of others on Allergy Free Alaska

Raw Almond Zucchini Hummus

I am always at a loss when it comes to the left over pulp from making home made nut milks.  Usually I just dry it in a low oven and freeze it for flour.  The other day I Googled 'nut pulp recipes' and found this gem courtesy of Choosing Raw.  It is delish!  The base recipe is from Choosing Raw but I have modified it a little bit and added some other variations below.

1-1 & 1/2 cups of almond pulp
1 zucchini (clean well.  you can use the skin.)
Fresh garlic (use as much as you want for your taste)
The juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon, again depending on taste
Sea salt to taste
1 tsp of ground cumin

Put everything in a food processor or high-powered blender and mix until incorporated.  Chill for several hours or overnight.  Use with veggies, as a spread, or with crackers.

Roasted Red Pepper-roast 2 large red peppers until skin in charred.  Dice small and mix into hummus by hand after it's been blended.

Garlic-Add a whole head of garlic into the mixer.

Cracked Black Pepper-Add 1/8-1/4 cup of whole black peppercorns to the mixer.

Chive-Add 1/4 cup of fresh chives to the mixer

Raw Cashew Milk

If you like thick, creamy milk, this is definately for you!  When I strained this, there was no pulp left! 

1 cup of raw cashews soaked in filtered water for about 2 hours

Drain the nuts and put them in a blender with 2 cups of cold, filtered water and the insides of a whole vanilla bean.  Blend for about 3 minutes and check.  If there are still nut chunks, blend some more.  Strain through a fine mesh sieve and store in the fridge in a glass jar.

What The Flax!

Over the past several days, I have been listening to The Underground Wellness Show’s free on-line event called Real Food Summit.  One of many the speakers,  Yuri Elkaim, was talking about flax and how good it is for your body.  Well, we all know that, right?  What I didn’t know is that in order for our bodies to process flax properly, it must be ground!  I had no clue!  Here all this time I’ve been using whole flax seeds only to find that they have not truly been benefiting me.  I wonder how many others out there didn’t know this!

It's better to use ground flax because whole flaxseeds just pass right through your body undigested. Eating ground flaxseed allows your body to get the omegas as well as the phytochemicals.  Also, the meal contains fibers that our gut needs.

So short, and sweet, buy ground flax.  If you find that whole flax is cheaper, you can grind it yourself if you have a coffee grinder.

Recovery Monster

I started making this after my workouts. I wanted to give my body a huge dose of protien.

2 cups of water (more if needed at the end)
1 tablespoon of organic, extra-virgin coconut oil
1 banana
1/2 of a Hass avocado
1/2 cup of blueberries
1 scoop of Garden of Life's Super Seed Beyond Fiber
1 level tablespoon of hemp powder (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 level tablespoon of ground flax or flax meal (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 level tablespoon of ground chia
1 level tablespoon of spirulina
1 level teaspoon of maca powder
1 level tablespoon of cacao nibs
1 tablespoon (about 5 full-sized halves) of walnuts
1 tablespoon (10 whole pieces) of raw almonds
1 tablespon of raw cashews
1 level tablespoon of raw hulled pumpkin seeds
1 level tablespoon of raw hulled sunflower seeds

Put everything in the blender and mix thoroughly. I will admit, this doesn’t taste fantastic but it wasn’t disgusting either. If you want to sweeten it, you can add a bit of raw honey.  This recipe makes enough for 2.  You can either share it with someone or you can store half for the next day.  The best way to store it would be to put half in the freezer in ice cube trays.  When they freeze, pop them out and put them in a freezer bag.  Lable it as one serving.  When you want to use it, throw them in the blender with some water!

Garlic Scape Pesto

This time of year, the long green tops of garlic start to appear in gardens.  Gardeners and chefs alike know that this is one of those limited edition spring treats that they have to jump on.  And you can't beat the price!  I paid a buck for a bag of 40!  Cutting back the long green scape from the garlic plants helps grow stronger bulbs.  It also makes a delish pesto!  Normally pestos have cheese.  But hey!  Who says you can't change the rules?

40 garlic scapes
2 cups of slivered raw almonds OR chopped raw walnuts (nuts should be plain...no seasonings!)
3 cups of good quality extra-virgin olive oil

Prepare the scapes by washing them in cold water.  Cut off the seed pod at the top.
Cut them into smaller pieces and put them in the food processor*.
Turn on food processor and slowly add nuts to the scapes.
When the almonds and scapes are well gound, start adding the olive oil in a steady stream.
Process thoroughly.

I used a small ice cream style scooper to scoop out balls and freeze them on a cookie sheet.  When they were solid, I put them in freezer bags.
This makes a great spread with Mary's Gone Crackers Products or as a dip with fresh veggies.  And of course you can always use it with pasta or risotto!

If you feel the overwhelming need to add cheese, no worries!  My Italian roots made it hard to leave it out.  (I made some for friends and I did put in the cheese for them.)  After you add the olive oil, slowly add 1 cup of grated parmesean reggiano or romano pecorino or a combination of both!  If you do choose to use cheese, I recommend a good quality Italian imported cheese made from pastured sheep or goat.

You can find this recipe along with many others on Allergy Free Alaska

*I did try to make this in my Vitamix and it didn't work so well.  It was too thick of a mixture to do it in there and the Vitamix overheated so I highly recommend a food processor for this!

PURPLE PLEASURE Smoothie **Green Monster**

You can just see the antioxidents swimming in this yummy smoothie! 

1 cup of water
1 heaping teaspoon of Spirulina
15 pitted cherries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup black raspberries or blackberries
1 banana

Put the water, spirulina, and banana in the blender and get it whirling.  If your fruit is frozen, add the rest of the fruit a little at a a time.  If it's all fresh, you can put everything in the blender at once and let 'er rip!

**The term Green Monster is a trademark of Oh She Glows

Dandy Dandelions

Growing up in an Italian family, I always had fresh dandelion green salad on the table in the spring. Both of my grandfathers would go out into local fields and pick boxes of them. We'd eat them every day until they were gone for the season. I loved the tangy bitterness accented with just some olive oil and red wine vinegar. Nothing else was ever added to that salad.

Many people turn their noses up at eating "weeds" but that's because they don't know a secret.  Dandelions are one the healthiest greens out there!  Check out 10 Reasons To Eat Dandelions to see for your self!

Dandelions go waaaaaaaaaay back in history.  Much farther back than the weeds people see in their yards.  In fact, some experts think that they date back to the 17th century!  How Dandelions Came To North America

Looking for some other reasons to develop a fondness for this plant?   Check out Some Little Known Facts about this interesting plant.

Try digging some up for yourself and making a simple salad.  If you're not sure about that, throw a plant or 2 in a smoothie.  You won't taste it but you'll still get all the beautiful health benefits this great green has to offer!

NECTARTINI Fresh Juice

I made this really without thinking.  I had to use up the last of my nectarines and I' don't really care for plain nectarine juice so I added a couple other things. 

6 nectarines, pitted
1 orange zested (leave the white pith)
1" chunk of ginger

For the best results with the nectarines, I reccommend putting half the orange in the feeder of your juicer and then puting in the nectarines and then the rest of the orange and then the ginger.  Push it down as slowly as possible.  The nectarines are soft so juicing them in the middle of the orange will help make sure you get the most juice out of them.

MP3 Fresh Juice

1 whole mango, peeled and pitted
2-3 peaches, pitted
1 pear
1" round of pineapple (you don't have to peel if you are juicing but if you decide to blend you will have to peel!)

Process all the fruit through your juicer or if you want, you can put in in the blender for a bit of a thicker drink. 

AFTERNOON DELITE Fresh Juice

As I was making this juice this morning and thinking about when this afternoon I would drink it, the song Afternoon Delight popped into my head so I said to myself, "Self, what a great idea for a name!"

2 kiwis peeled
1 orange zested
1 inch round of pineapple
1 mango peeled

Process all the fruit through the juicer.  If you want a thicker drink, this also makes a great smoothie!  I would not recommend adding milk.  If you need to thin it out, use a little water.  And yes!  That is a canning jar glass that you see.  I use canning jars to transport my juice. 

WALKING ON SUNSHINE Smoothie

I had some extra fruits that I had to use today so I threw them all into the Vitamix with a little flax milk and this is what I got. Wasn't too bad for a throw-together.


2 bananas
1 mango, peeled
1-inch thick slice of pineapple, peeled
5 medjool dates, pitted
1 orange, peeled
1/4 - 1/2 cup of flax, hemp, or almond milk
ice (optional)

Put all the fruit in the blender. Let it mix until all the fruit is incorporated. Add some milk just to thin it out. Once it's the consistency that you want, you some ice to the running blender to chill it a bit.

BEETRICE POTTER'S MONKEY Smoothie

1 cup of almond, flax, or hemp milk
2 bananas
1 packet of Sambazon frozen acai berries
All the tops (stems and leaves) from one raw beet
1 heaping teaspoon of maqui powder
1 heaping teaspoon of maca powder

Blend thoroughly.  You can add ice to make it colder if you like.  It has a light chocolate flavor.

BEETRICE POTTER'S RABBIT Fresh Juice

1 beet, including the greens

1 orange zested

2 large carrots

Process through the juicer.

FRED & GINGER Fresh Juice

2 large, whole carrots
1 large apple quartered
1 roma tomato or 12 cherry/grape tomatoes
1" knob of ginger (2" if you like it strong)

Put everything in the juicer.  Put the tomatoes in between the apple quartered.

Raw Almond Milk

I made this today in the blender.  It's super easy!  And it tastes better than the store bought stuff.  You have the ability to make it thicker or thinner by altering the amount of water.

Soak 1 cup of whole, raw almonds in about 6 cups of water for a couple of hours.  Strain and rinse well.  Put almonds in the blender with 4 cups of water and blend for about 5 minutes.  Taste to see if you need it sweeter.  If you do, add a little raw honey or agave or a couple of medjool dates (be sure to take the pits out!)  Reblend.  Strain using a fine mesh sieve or you can use nut milk bags if you have them.  If you want to make more, you can but for the best results, make it in batches of the above recipe so you don't over-fill the blender.  You can also add cinnamon or nutmeg for flavor if you like.

You'll have some left over pulp when you finish. You can do a few things with it.  You can dehydrate it either in the oven or in qa dyhydrator if you have one.  Youc an use it in place of flour in baked goods.  You can also do what I did and put it back in the blender, add about 3-4 cups of cold water, 1/4 cup of cacao nibs, and some agave nectar and make chocolate milk!  I dehydrated the rest of the pulp in the oven after that.

Store in the refrigerator in a glass container.  Canning jars work well.

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Today's Modern Food: It's Not What You Think

The following videos are a series of 3 shorts that are about a half hour in total.  They discuss the dangers of some of the foods we eat.  This is a great watch!

Today's Modern Food Intro

Today's Modern Food Part 1

Today's Modern Food Part 2

Milk; The Deadly Poison

Check out this short video about the dangers of the dairy. 





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpafipJyDE

MACKENZIE'S MAGIC POTION Fresh Juice

My daughter decided she wanted to throw a bunch of citrus fruit in the juicer to see what happens.  She, supprisingly, added fruits that she won't normally eat.  This recipe makes a lot. 

2 blood oranges, zested
2 navel oranges, zested
2 lemons
2 limes
2 granny smith apples
2 red delicious apples

Juice all the fruit.  Serve as is.

For a lemonade-type drink, add 2-3 cups of water (depends on your taste) and about 2 tablespoons of agave syrup.  Stir well and refrigerate for 2 hours.

ORANGE CRUSH Fresh Juice

1 orange, zest removed
1" thich slice of pineapple
1/2 of a mango
**sparkeling water (optional)

A quick round with a veggie peeler will tkae care of the orange zest.  No need to peel off the skin from the pineapple and mango.  Just make sure the skins are clean.  Just cut and juice!

** If you choose to put in sparkling water, do it at the very end to top off your glass.

Raw Vegan Fruit Tart

I made this yummy treat for a family gathering and I was surprised at how well it went over.  I come from a very Italian family and everything is fried and cooked to death.  And heaven forbid it if you don't have meat and pasta on the table.  I made this tart look so pretty that everyone wanted to try it.

CRUST
12-15 medjol dates pitted and diced
2 &1/2 - 3 cups of raw sliced almonds

Place dates and almonds in the food processor and process until well combined.  Press into a 9" glass pie plate.

FILLING
3 ripe mangoes peeled and pitted

Place mangoes in the blender with the kelp or moss and blend well.  Pour onto crust.

TOPPING
Kiwi, various berries, pineapple, peaches, nectarines, or any other fruit that you desire.

Slice and arrange fruit on top of filling.  Chill for about an hour before serving.

PINKALICIOUS Succo-Frullato

 SUCCO-FRULLATO.  It is the combination of succo which means juice in Italian and frullato which means smoothie in Italian.  It will encompass anything I make that uses both the juicer and blender.  Yes, I can buy bottled juice but I don't because I have no idea where it's coming from.  I'd rather take the extra few minutes and use both machines.  And lets be honest....I just rinse everythig in scalding hot water right away.  I throw stuff in the dishwasher maybe once every other week.

1 apple
2 blood oragnges, zest removed
3 stalks of celery

Juice all of these in your juicer then pour into the blender.  Add to it 1 banana and 6 strawberries.  Blend well!

Flax Milk Is Here!

So wandering the Nature's Market in my local grocery store (Wegmans) I stumbled upon flax milk.  Of course I had to try it.  If you like almomd milk even a little bit, you'll love this!  It's a lot milder than almond milk and not as heavy.  It works well in smoothies, coffee (no separating!), cereal, pancakes & waffles, any recipe that calls for milk, and just in a glass by itself.  It has calcium, omegas, vitamins A, D, & B12.  There is NO cholesterol, NO saturated fat, NO trans fats, and flax is NOT GMO! 

The brand I tried is Good Karma.  I like the brand because, as you can see below, the company supports Sustainable Agriculture.  Listed are a few other tasty things about Good Karma's flax milk.  I'm sure there are other brands, but this is the one my grocer carries.

Ingredients:All Natural Flaxmilk (Filtered Water, Cold Pressed Flax Oil, Evaporated Cane Juice, Tricalcium Phosphate, Vanilla Extract, Canola Lecithin, Sea Salt, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Carrageenan, Natural Flavor, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, Vitamin B12.

Benefits:Natural, Lactose Free, Gluten Free, Non Dairy, Trans Fat Free, Soy Free, Allergen Free, Vegan, Supports Green Farming, Omega-3s

Fun Facts:Good Karma Products Promote a Healthy Lifestyle while supporting Sustainable Agriculture.

Here's the link to Good Karma if youwant to read more about their flax milk and more about the company.  http://www.goodkarmafoods.com/flax-milk-original

PANGAPPLE Fresh Juice

I tried to come up with a name to encompass the 3 fruits I used to make this delish juice.

1 pear
1 mango
1/4 of a pineapple

Put fruits through the juicer.  You don't have to peel the skins off the pineapple or mango if you don't want but make sure you cut the mango away from the pit.

Fruit Prep

People ask me how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  I try to do as much prep as possible when I get my fruit so when it's time to make a smoothie, its quick and easy.  I shop at our local public market every Saturday.  I buy as much of my produce there as I can.  It's cheaper and most of it is local to the area and/or state.  I freeze most of it, much to my husband's dismay.  My freezer is jam packed! 

Below is listed how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  Some of it, like citrus, I leave on the counter.  Any fruit I use for the juicer, I keep fresh on my counter.  I usually go through it pretty quick but if something starts to get soft, then into the freezer it will go. 

Make sure you wash all of your produce well.  There are several products you can buy such as Veggie Wash, Vermont Soap Organics, Biokleen or you can make your own.  I typically use Veggie Wash but if I don't have any then I use fresh lemons.  I just throw one in my juicer and them pour the juice into a sink filled with cold water.  You can also use distilled or apple cider vinegar.  Use about 1/4 of a cup in a sinkful of cold water.  I soak my produce for about 10 minutes then rinse and dry.  The only produce I don't soak are berries.  They are too delicate.  I just rinse them briefly.

BERRIES
This includes blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, boysenberries, cranberries, and grapes.

Gently rinse your berries.  Use the pointed end of a veggie peeler to pluck out the green part of the strawberries and cut them in half.  All others, including grapes you can leave whole. Lay your berries flat on a cookie sheet and freeze.  Once they are frozen, put them in bags quickly and refreeze util needed.  Grapes, cranberries and gooseberries can be put directly into a bag and frozen. 

You can store your berries by kind or you can make a mix of several kinds.

POMAGRANATES
Remove the seeds from the fruit and store them in the freezer.  These will not work in your juicer so save them for the blender.

CHERRIES
De-stone them and bag them and freeze them.  If you don't have a cherry stoner, invest in one.

APPLES & PEARS, PEACHES & NECTARINES
Leave the skins on your apples, pears, peaches, & nectarines!  There is a lot of nutrients in those thin skins!  Chop them into 1" cubes and take the seeds out.  Lay on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags and store in the freezer.

BANANAS
Peel bananas and cut into 1" chunks.  Place on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.

MANGOS, PAPAYA, PINEAPPLE, MELONS
Peel skins off, cut into 1" chunks, layer on cookie sheets and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.  A note on the papayas, you can eat the seeds!  Store them separately in the freezer.  Add some to your smoothies for a burst of protien.

CITRUS
I keep all my citrus on the counter.  Use a carrot peeler to gently peel the zest off of your citrus.  The white pithy part has a lot of vitamins in it so leave it on.  (Juicer note....you don't have to peel the zest off of lemons and limes when you juice them.)

SHAWN'S SAVIOR Smoothie

This smoothie recipe was shared by my friend Shawn who is a stay-at-home-dad.  With 2 little ones and a couple of dogs in the mix he needs all the energy he can get!  Thanks Shawn!

1 orange, zest removed
1 handful of grapes
1small apple cored but unpeeled
3-5 small carrots chopped
1handful of spinach
4 or 5 strawberries
3 peach slices (or use the whole thing if you like)
1handful blueberries
2 handfuls of ice
a little water

If you have a Vitamix or similar, you can put everything in at once, in the order listed.

A New Way To Use Medical Marijuana

Medical marijuana has always been a hot topic.  People who use it for medicinal purposes usually smoke it.  It seems now, that like we see with other vegetation, cooking or heating it ruins the medicinal effects.  Check out this article on juicing marijuana.  Sounds pretty amazing!

http://www.naturalnews.com/035400_juicing_cannabis_remedies.html

GREEN MEENIE Fresh Juice

Talk about a burst of green goodness!  I should have named this GREEN GODDESS!  This juice packs one hell of a chlorophyll punch!  The apple, pear, and lemon combo helps cleanse as well as cut away the bitterness of the greens.  The addition of wild dandelion greens is a great treat or your body during those few weeks in the spring when they start appearing in your front yard.  I don't spray my yard so I know that mine are safe to consume.  Check your local public markets for them too.  Try to avoid the "tame" ones in the supermarkets.  They lose a lot of their natural flavor and nutrients when they are grown deliberately.

1 granny smith apple
1 green pear
1/2 of a lemon, including rind
1 whole unpeeled cucumber
3 stalks of celery
2 stalks of fennel
2 big handfuls of spinach
5 kale leaves
1 small handful of parsely
1 small handful of cilantro
5 green swiss chard leaves
5 romaine lettuce leaves
3-5 good sized fresh, wild dandelion plants, roots too (when in season)
2 frozen wheat grass cubes

Juice the leafy veg first and then everything else except the wheatgrass cubes.  This usually makes enought to fill up 2 pint-sized canning jars or 1 quart jar.  Put one wheatgrass cube in each pint jar or if you are using a quart jar, put them both in there.  Pour the juice over the ice cubes.  Drink immediately or save for later.  If you save it for later, make sure to cap the jar and refrigrate and don't wait too long to drink it!!

MAYAN JUNGLE Smoothie

1 cup of hemp or almond milk

2 bananas

1/4 cup of cacao nibs

1/4 cup of walnuts

1/8 cup of cinnamon

1 heaping tablespoon of maca powder

the greens from one beet

ice

Blend everything together.  Add some ice while the blender is moving.

GAZPACHEO Soup

This soup is a great summer dish but it's even better because it doesn't get cooked!  If you have a Vitamix with the soup setting, you can throw everything in there and put it on the soup setting and not worry.  If not, you can warm it slightly before you eat it however if you warm it too much, you'll lose the nutrients of the raw veg.

3 cups of water

3 whole, large, ripe tomatoes

1 large cucumber

1 red bell pepper

1/2 of a sweet onion (mayan or spanish preferably)

1/3 cup of red wine vinegar

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

black pepper & sea salt to taste

JUNGLE BOOGIE Smoothie

1 cup of almond or hemp milk
2 bananas
1/4 cup of cacao nibs
1/4 cup of walnuts
1 heaping tablespoon of maca powder
the green tops of one beet
ice

Blend everything really good in the blender.  Once it's all blended, add ice cubes one at a time to slush it up.

SALAD BOWL Fresh Juice

This recipe makes enough for 2 pints of juice. 

1 apple
1/2 head of romaine
1 large cucumber
2 stalks of celery
1-2 carrots
3 radishes (optional)
2 wheatgrass cubes (if you split the juice, put one wheatgrass cube in each glass)

Juice everything one item at a time.  You can drink it all at once or split it half.  Make sure to keep it in the fridge.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE Fresh Juice

2 apples
1 pear
1 whole beet, greens included

Process through your juicer. For best juicing of the beet greens, send them through in between the apples.

GRAPE APE Smoothie

1 cup of almond or hemp milk
2 bananas
2 cups of grapes (I freeze mine)

Process in the blender until smooth!

BLOOD LUST Fresh Juice

1 blood orange
1 pear
1 apple
1 red plum
1 lime
1/4 to 1/2 cup of blackberries

Use a carrot peeler to get the zest off of the blood orange. Keep the white pith on. You don't have to peel the apple or pear. If you have a juicer that has a chute big enough for the whole fruit, just juice everything one by one except the berries. Process the berries in the blender with the juice.

THE VAMPIRE'S KISS Smoothie

1 cup of almond milk, hemp milk, or water
13 strawberries
13 cherries, pitted
1 cup of blueberries
1 blood orange
1 honey tangerine, seeded if necessary

Put everything in the blender and whiz until smooth.
This will make enough to share or you can save some for later.

APPLE BROWN BETTY Smoothie**Green Monster**

1 cup of almond or hemp milk
2 cored apples with the skin on
1/2 an avacado
1 banana
1/4 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
1 big handful of fresh baby spinach
2-4 tablespoons of raw honey or agave nectar
ice
Blend all ingredients well. Add ice cubes one at a time.


**The term Green Monster was created by Oh She Glows

CREAMY 7 LILY Soup

I made this recipe spur of the moment to satisfy an onion craving.

2 boxes of organic veggie broth or
1 large head of garlic
2 bunches of chives
2 bunches of scallions
4 leeks
3 large shallots
1 large red onion
1 large sweet onion (mayan, spanish, vidallia)
6 chipolini onions
1 small celery, including heart and all the leaves

SLOWLY bring the broth to a boil.  While it's coming to a boil:

Peel and halve the garlic clove by clove and add it to the broth.
Cut the chives and add them in.
Cut the scallions and leeks, including the green part, and add them in.
Peel and quarter the chipolinis, shallots, red onion, and sweet onion and add them in.
Large chop the celery heart, including leaves, and add that in.

Gently boil veggies for about 15 minutes or until veggies are soft. (no more than 15 minutes!)

Strain out the veg from the soup and put them in the blender.
Blend 2-3 cups at a time until smooth, adding back into the soup after each time.
Repeat until you have blended up all the veg.
Salt and pepper to taste.

You can also find this recipe along with many others on Allergy Free Alaska

CHOCO-BERRY BANANA Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
1-2 sambazon acai berry smoothie packs
small handfull of sliced almonds
6 medjool dates pitted

Blend this one good to really chop up the dates.

TROPICAL TWISTER Smoothie

1 cup of water
2 bananas
1 sambazon acai berry smoothy packet
2 oranges peeled (leave some of the pith if you can)
2 kiwi peeled
1 nectarine (skin too!)

Blend everything together until smooth.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY MADDNESS Smoothie

1 cup hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
1 tsp spirulina powder
1 cup cherries
1 acai berry smoothie packet

The combination of cherries and the choco-berry flavor of acai makes this really yummy!

PRETTY IN PEACH Smoothie

1 cup hemp milk
1 banana
1 cup of chopped watermelon
1 cup of chopped cantelope
1 cup of chopped papaya (you can throw in some of the pips too for some added protein)
1 cup of choped mango

Throw it all in the blender a little at a time. Add some ice to make it frothy if you want. This is also really good as a summer drink. Just use seltzer water instead of the milk.

You can also turn the seltzer version of this into a great adult beverage by adding some rum or vodka!

FALL FANTASY Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk
1 banana
1/2 of an avacado
1 apple chopped and cored
1 pear chopped and cored
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

Put the milk in the blender and get it spinnng. Add the apple and pear first then the banana and avacado last. You may have to add some water. Ice works well also.

BERRY BERRY GOOD Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk
1 banana
1/2 of an avacado
1 acai smoothie pack
1/4 cup each of blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, blackberries

Put the avacado in last. It can make the smoothie a bit thick so you may have to add some water.

DRINKING UP SOME SUN Smoothie

1 cup OJ juiced fresh
2 peaches or 2 nectarines or 1 of each pited & diced
1/2 a mango chopped
4 apricots pitted & chopped chopped
1 banana
a 1-inch pineapple slice
a handfull of sliced almods
2 tablespoons each of hemp and flax seeds

Juice the orange and put the juice in the blender with the rest of the ingredients.  If you don't have a juicer then just put the orange in the blender with everything else.

CHOCO BLAST Smoothie

1 cup of chocolate hemp milk or chocolate almond milk(yes kids! they make it in chocolate too!)
6 medjool dates pitted
1 banana
1 acai berry smoothie pack
1/4 cup sliced almonds
ice

The milk and acai should go in first. Once the acai is broken up, add the rest of the ingredients. Add ice to the glass to chill smoothie.

STRAWBERRY FIELDS Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
15-20 strawberries
1 acai smoothie packet
1 teaspoon of spirulina
2-4 wheatgrass cubes

Blend everything but the wheatgrass. After you pour your smoothie, add the wheatgrass cubes and they will melt as you drink your smootie. If you prefer, you can blend in the wheatgrass cubes.

BERRY BLAST PUCKER Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 cup of blueberries
1 cup of gooseberries
1/2 cup of raspberries
1/2 cup blackberries

This smoothie is very tart so you can add some honey or agave nectar if you want it sweeter

BERRY MANGO Smoothie

1/2 cup hemp milk or almond milk
1/2 bottle of 'Naked' brand Mango Maddness juice
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries
12 strawberries

You can add more of the mango juice or water to thin out the juice. If you want, you can also add some ice.

THE GREEN TEAM Smoothie

1 cup hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
8 medjool dates pitted
1 cup of mixed berries
2 cubes of frozen wheatgrass juice
1 capful of aloe juice
1 tsp of spirulina powder
1 tsp of Garden of Life Perfect Food Supergreen Formula

Put everything in the blender and whiz until smooth.

ISLAND BREEZE Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
1/3 of a pineapple
6 medjool dates pitted
2 cubes of frozen wheatgrass

Put everything in the blender and whiz until smooth.

PINAPAYANGO Smoothie

Well that's a mouthful! And it's delish!

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1/3 of a papaya including the seeds
1/3 of a pineapple
1/2 of a mango

Put everything in the blender and whiz until smooth.  Don't leave out the papaya seeds!  They have a powerful kick of protien!

PROTIEN POWER PUNCH Smoothie

4 clementines
1/2 a pomagranate
6 medjool dates pitted
1 cup papaya
2 TBS of the papaya pips
1 banana
1/8 cup of aloe juice
1 heaping TBS each of hemp seeds, flax seeds & hemp protien powder

I did have to add some water to thin it a little. You'll have to blend this for a while.

CHOCO-BANANA Smoothie **Green Monster**

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
6 kale leaves & stems
1 tablespoon of spirullina
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
1 tablespoon of flax seeds
1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
1 tablespoon of raw, hulled sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon of raw, hulled pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons of cacao nibs
1 handful of walnuts

Throw everything in the blender and let er rip!

**The term Green Monster is a trademark of Oh She Glows










*Green Monster is a trademark of Oh She Glows

SUNSHINE IN A GLASS Smoothie **Green Monster**

1 cup of almond milk or hemp milk
1 apple
1 banana
1/4 of a pineapple
3 or 4 kale leaves

(I also added in my vit B complex and calcium)

Put everything in the blender and let 'er rip!

**The term Green Monster was created by Oh She Glows

CRAZY CRANBERRY COCKTAIL Smoothie **Green Monster**

I made this smoothie this morning. So yummy! And I don't like cranberries!

Crazy Cranberry Cocktail

1 cup of almond milk or hemp milk
1/2 an avacado
1 handful of fresh spinach
1 banana
1 cup of cranberries

put them all in the blender and blend away!

**The term Green Monster is a trademark of Oh She Glows