My "thankful" Thanksgiving day!

This year my Thanksgiving Day had to be one of the best Thanksgiving Day's I have had in a very long time. It was a super nice day, spent with family and friends. Although the traditional roasted turkey, bread stuffing, and mashed potatoes, with "processed" pies were served, I took the time to make several raw food dishes to bring and share.

I prepared the following dishes, which were all a great hit! In fact, most of the dinner guests did not even realize they were eating "raw food" until after they were half way done and asked. There were no leftovers - unbelievable! It was super exciting. Although I took pictures, they didn't come out that great. I'm in dire need of a new camera, amongst other things...who knows, maybe Santa will surprise me this year with some new goodies!

Anyway, this is what I served:

• Corn, Heirloom Tomatoes, and Basil Salad
• Arugula, Crimini Mushrooms, Pine Nuts, and Cranberries Salad
• Pecan and Cranberry "Raw" Stuffing
• Mock Turkey (Nut Pate)
• Raw Cranberry relish with Orange Juice
• Green Bean Casserole - all raw (raw cream of mushroom soup, raw onion rings, raw beans with raw shitake mushrooms, grated pine nuts)
• Raw Sweet Potatoes with Agave, Vanilla, and Pecans
• Raw Pumpking Chocolate Swirl Pie
• Raw Chocolate-Vanilla Swirl Ice Cream, with Raw Cacao Sauce
• Cashew Cream Topping
  
• Raw Eggnog

Yes, I made all this stuff for the dinner. I was up till 3am in the morning the night before getting things ready, and then finishing up on Thanksgiving day before we went over to my mother-in-laws to celebrate. It was a lot of work for one person (me), but well worth it! Everyone enjoyed it, including me!!! =)

A few days before I made raw sweet rolls with cinnamon date pudding, and my own version of manna bread - nanamana bread. I also made some delicious and simple banana pancakes with cinnamon and blueberries, and a drizzle of organic maple syrup Grade B on top. Yummo!

I feel like I've pack on the pounds in just a few days from eating all this glorious raw food! Lol! =)

You can get some of the recipes from my holiday cooking at my raw food recipe blog, www.RawRifficFood.WordPress.com.


Well, thank you for letting me share my fun and raw food with you. Till next time, I bid you peace and happiness, and good health! =)

- Debbie


Here are a few "yukky" pics from this past holiday season. Again, sorry for the poor quality. It will have to do for now!

Thanksgiving bliss...

I hope all you had a wonderful and blissful Thanksgiving - sure did!

In fact, the whole holiday week has been very nice. We had a holiday luncheon feast at work, which everyone brought a dish or two. I made a kale salad (imagine that), a raw butternut squash pie, and some chocolate carrot-orange mouse cakes with chocolate pudding frosting...all so very yummy! I was also happy to see that someone at work made a raw tabbouleh (not sure of the spelling) salad, and a spinach salad, and a cranberry relish (almost raw, except for the sugar) - yum!



For our family Thanksgiving we went to my Mother-in-law's house, and I knew we would be serving the traditional turkey, mash potatoes, stuffing and gravy. So I complimented the meal with two new kale salads, and I made my version of the cranberry relish, and then this awesome creation of a pie, the "coconut cream, strawberry cheesecake pie". Oh my gad! This was the bomb! I mean...goood! The family loved it! Even those that were not into raw at all!

It was probably the most peaceful and enjoyable Thanksgiving we shared as a family in a long while.

I still have the weekend to enjoy! Hope you all enjoy it too! I will be spending a lot of my time this weekend reformatting my smoothie book for print. I'm moving forward with having it published in print, so I have made modifications. I have changed some of the photos, and the size, etc. It is still the same great book that I'm proud of, just ready for print...I'll update you more about soon. For now you can check out my smoothie book as an e-book.



I have to tell you, the past 10 days I have not been as high raw as I would like. I don't know what's going on. I haven't been bad per say, just not as disciplined. I have a small addiction to Trader Joe's organic corn chips (made with corn, sea salt, and organic sunflower oil), and I have had a few sushi dishes - which I need to stop! It's good - but not vegan, and it's pricey - not in my budget right now! I think it's because of the holidays, the cold air, and just me...

I just need to make a lot more snack foods so I don't do that! Well, speaking of making food, I promised some of my Raw Fu friends that I would share my Thanksgiving recipes with them, so let me do so.

Now for the Thanksgiving recipes!

Broccoli and Kale Salad:
2-3 cups baby broccoli chopped
3-4 large leaves kale stemmed and chopped into strips
1 yellow bell pepper seeded and chopped into chunks
1 cucumber peeled and chopped into chunks
2 handfuls sunflower sprouts
2 handfuls baby heirloom tomatoes sliced
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1 T EVOO
1 T Bragg's Amino Acids
drizzle ACV
sea salt
garlic powder
onion salt
mixed dried herbs
handful of chopped pecans

Mix all very well and let marinate. Serve it up - yum-yum.




Sweet Red Kale Salad:
5-6 thick red kale leaves stemmed and chopped into strips
2 red delicious apples cored and chopped into small pieces
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup dates pitted and finely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1T or more balsamic vinegar
drizzle EVOO
drizzle agave
sea salt
Mix well and let marinate. Serve up some sweet kale goodness!





The Big Kale Salad:
5-6 large kale leaves stemmed and chopped into strips
1 red bell pepper chopped into chunks
2 small carrots sliced into small pieces
1 large cucumber peeled and chopped into small pieces
2 handfuls of mini heirloom tomatoes sliced
1-2 handfuls fresh micro herbs
1 T hemp seeds
1-2 handfuls pine nuts
1 T Bragg's Amino Acids
1 T EVOO
mixed dried herbs
onion powder
garlic powder
sea salt
drizzle of AVC

Mix well and marinate. This is a very filling salad. You could add sliced avocado or mushrooms for an even meatier salad. Very good!



Cranberry Orange Relish:
1 bag frozen or fresh organic raw cranberries
1 large naval orange with peel left on, but seeded
3-5 pitted dates
1/4-1/3 cup agave nectar or maple syrup or mixed
dash of sea salt

Place all ingredients in the food processor and blend until a nice relish is formed. Place in a sealed container and chill for about 30 minutes. Serve with any dish raw or cooked! The non-raw foodies loved this one with their turkey!





Butternut Squash Pie:
Crust-
3 cups pecans
1 1/2-2 cups pitted dates
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. sea salt

Blend ingredients in food processor until texture takes on a crumb/dough like consistency. Press into bottom of a pie pan - going up the sides of the pan a well. Chill while working on the pie filling.

Filling-
3 cups or more of raw ripe butternut squash (about a medium to large size - interior of the squash only. Discard shell and seeds)
1 1/4 cups coconut water
2-3 T coconut butter
6 T agave nectar
1 T maple syrup
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla liquid (recipe below)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice or cloves
1/8 tsp. turmeric
2 T lecithin
3/4 cup coconut oil
1/8 tsp sea salt

Vanilla Liquid-take 1 T vanilla powder, or 1-2 vanilla beans scraped and chopped fine, grind in a coffee grinder. Place in blender and add about 1/4-1/2 cup purified water and blend till very well combined and liquid. Store up to a week in the fridge.

Combine all pie filling ingredients into the food processor. Blend very well until very creamy and smooth. Pour into pie pan with crust. Place back in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes. Garnish with pecans. Place back in the fridge and let set for about 3-4 hours or overnight. It's ready to serve, and it's yum-yum good!





And now for my most favorite dish of the week, my very own pie inspired by so many pies I have had and enjoyed...Hope you love this one as much as I did, and the rest of my family did! Enjoy!!!:)

Coconut Cream, Strawberry Cheesecake Pie:
Crust - (inspired by Pure Vegan)
2 1/2 cups soaked pecans and walnuts (1/2 and 1/2)
1/3 - 2/3 cups pitted dates
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Himalayan salt
dash of cayenne pepper

Blend ingredients in food processor until texture takes on a crumb/dough like consistency. Press into bottom of a spring form cake pan. Chill while working on the pie filling.

Cheesecake (layer 1) -
1 cup purified water
1/2 cup agave nectar
Juice of half a large naval orange
1/3 cup soaked cashews
1 cup dried cashews
2 T soy lecithin
1 T coconut oil
2/3 cup coconut butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp vanilla powder
dash Himalayan salt

Combine all ingredients into the food processor and mix very well till very creamy and smooth. Pour on top of the pie crust.

Coconut Cream (layer 2) -
Coconut flesh (meat) of three young Thai coconuts
1/4 cup or more of agave nectar
1/4 cup or more coconut butter
1-2 tsp vanilla extract

Place in blender and mix and puree on high until smooth and fluffy. Adjust sweetness and thickness by adding more agave and or coconut butter. If too much, add a little coconut water. The consistency should be very creamy and fluffy with a flavor of coconut sweetened cream.

Add sliced/cut strawberries on top of cheesecake layer, making a pattern. Pour coconut cream over top and spread evenly within the pan, using up all the coconut cream. (Scrape the inside of the blender and eat -- yummy cream!). Let set in the freezer for a bit. Top with more strawberries, and freeze cake overnight or for at least 4-5 hours. Serve it cold! It's 'da bomb!

Blend ingredients in food processor until texture takes on a crumb/dough like consistency. Press into bottom of a pie pan - going up the sides of the pan a well. Chill while working on the pie filling.





Well, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed all the lovely recipes, and that you have a fabulous week to come! I'll write back real soon!

- Peace :)

Debbie

The Raw Holidays

Today we had a potluck at work to celebrate Thanksgiving. I work with several vegans, and a few vegetarians. The remaining staff eats healthy but basically S.A.D. food. (I love saying that, it cracks me up). Anyway, I knew there wouldn't be much for me to eat, so I brought my own food. Plus I made a raw pumpkin pie with topping to share with anyone who cared to. They did have a bowl of fresh fruit, so I did eat that. But in addition to that, I ate seaweed with edame beans and bragg's amino acids, as well as my pie. That was very satisfying to me. The cool thing was, that several people did try my pie and topping and actually had to admit that they indeed loved every bite. That's what really made the potluck special to me. The fact that people were willing to try something new, and good for them too.

Another cool thing that happened, was that my husband had a doctor's appointment today. He happened to mention to his doctor how I have taken on a raw lifestyle. Well, the doctor confirmed to him that the raw diet was definitely the most healthy diet to have, and that everyone should worked towards that type of eating. That really made me feel good, since it's been kind of a battle at times.

For the most part I am getting lots of support from friends and family as it relates to my raw lifestyle - even if they don't conform to this themselves...and that's okay. They need to decide for themselves what is important to them.

Now for the daily raw breakdown:

Today, Nov. 20th: 6oz breakfast smoothie, 16oz raw protein shake, 2 vegan raw bars, what I had at our company potluck, green juice feast, and lots and lots of water.

On another note. I plan to make another raw pumpkin pie with topping for our family Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law's. My mom will be there to, and she's been waiting to try some of my recipes. I hope to have time to make raw mashed potatoes, raw sweet potato muffins (new recipe), and another veggie salad. I'll let you know how it all turns out at that time.

Well, that's it for tonight. Have a great evening, and a great tomorrow. Oh, and for those who may not log in until after the holiday, "Happy Thanksgiving!"