Raw Vegan Smoothies

Good Morning Smoothie - raw, vegan and gluten-free

I'm getting a bit more creative with my raw vegan food and am having a blast!  I have several to blog about, but will do a few at a time. 

Have to say that my little creations are just a drop in the bucket compared to what I've seen on Instagram - amazing and inspiring to say the least.  Speaking of Instagram, I'm becoming more active on my page and as I told Mark... "there's no stopping me now!" You can find me at Raw_Rocki.

Let's get right to the quickie recipes.  Above is my Good Morning Smoothie! I'm simply going to give the basics for this one because you really can't go wrong with smoothies.  So let your taste be your guide, experiment and have fun!

Good Morning Smoothie!

Bottom layer: banana, mango, pineapple, coconut water, flax meal and warrior blend protein powder - natural flavor

Top layer: baby spinach, matcha green tea powder and coconut water
- you can add a banana with this part for a thicker consistency

Guilt-Free Chocolate Shake - raw, vegan and gluten-free

You can't say no to a healthy chocolate shake in the middle of the afternoon, can you?  No way!  Especially since it is raw, vegan, gluten-free and nutritious with no processed sugar.  Say it with me: "GUILT-FREE!"

Guilt-Free Chocolate Shake

Step 1:
2 very ripe frozen bananas
1 cup pure coconut water
1 Tbs protein powder
1 Tbs hemp seeds
vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla
1 cup ice

Blend the above.  Pour half or more of this vanilla mixture into a tall glass and leave the rest in the blender. 

Step 2:
Add 1 Tbs or more of cacao powder to the remaining mixture in the blender and blend briefly until combined.  Pour slowly on top of the vanilla mixture.  I garnished mine with coconut and cacao nibs, but you can garnish any way you want or not.

Note: if you do not have very ripe bananas and/or like it more on the sweeter side, simply add sweetener of choice in Step 1.

I'll post more of my raw vegan smoothies soon.  Enjoy!

Peace,
Rocki

Raw Vegan Taco Night

Raw Vegan Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas

 

Who says you can't have tacos when living a raw vegan lifestyle?  Not me!  Mark and I LOVE tacos and we practically devour them once we sit down.  

 

We used to eat them on greens, but I've been playing around with a variety of flat breads from sweet to savory, Italian to Mexican, etc. and finally came up with a version of what I call my Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas.  I haven’t gotten to the point of measuring everything exactly for this recipe, mainly because I change it a little here and there depending on what the meal is and what I want it to taste like.  Besides, with raw food creating it isn't exact science - which I love - so experimentation is the key. 

 

Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas

 

Approximate measurements:

 

1 ¼- 1 ½ cup flax meal

¼ rounded cup nutritional yeast

Pinch of sea salt

Put into large bowl, stir to combine and set aside

 

1/3 cup sundried tomatoes - soaked in 1 1/2 cups water to soften, drain and reserve water

1 ½-2 cups roughly chopped tomato

½-3/4  cup chopped onion

1 very full cup of corn

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ancho chili pepper

1 tsp cumin powder

 

Put all of the above into a food processor and process until blended smooth.  There will be little bits and that is perfect.  I do a taste test in case I need to add more spices.  If you do not like spicy, then omit the cayenne and ancho chili pepper.

 

Add 1 cup of the reserved soaked water to the flax meal bowl and combine well.  Add the above mixture and stir until combined.  It will be thick, but if it seems to thick to spread then add the extra water a little at a time - NOT too thin or watery.  It needs to remain a thick spreadable mixture, so you be the judge.

 

I usually can fill up 3 dehydrator trays (2 almost to the edges and 1 smaller) but this varies.  Line the mesh tray with a teflex sheet or similar then spread the mixture out evenly until it’s around ¼” thick or so - you don't want it too thin.  You'll need to work with the mixture, it will be kind of gummy.

 

Dehydrate for 1 hour at 145 then lower to 115 for several hours, around 4-8, but this varies due to location, weather, etc.  I turn the trays around during the dehydration process just to get them evenly dehydrated.  Once they are pliable enough, remove them from the teflex sheet onto the mesh sheet.  If you haven’t done this before, simply put a mesh sheet on top of the tortilla along with a tray, flip it over then slowly peel the teflex sheet away from the tortilla.  Put them back into the dehydrator until done. 

 

Cut into desired pieces and once cooled, place them in a Ziploc bag or other container - this will soften them to be more pliable.  

Raw Vegan Taco Night!

Yum yum yum!  Cashew queso "cheese", soft spicy corn tortillas, mushroom taco filling, pico de gallo, avocado and lettuce.  See?  Raw vegan meals are not just lettuce and carrot sticks.  But those are good too :)

Enjoy!

Peace,
Rocki

Fun Day at Butterfly Wonderland

Owl Butterfly on my finger



Butterfly on Mark's hat




Gorgeous Owl Butterfly riding along on my pants



Butterfly stayed on my pants for over 5 minutes while walking through the atrium



Perfect a place for this beautiful butterfly to land!



Gorgeous butterfly near the koi pond



Variety of butterflies.  The blue one on Mark's shirt is also a Pink Floyd Fan ;)



So many beautiful butterflies!



Butterflies galore!



No these are not butterflies, but the fish and creepy crawlies can also be seen there.



Fluttering butterfly on my arm - so sweet!

I took a ton of photos when we went to the atrium and have only shared a few here.  I know, they're just butterflies, but being able to walk through the atrium along with the butterflies flying all around you and landing on you multiple times is an awesome experience!

If you are in Arizona, I highly recommend visiting Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale.  There is a lot to see there including a 3D movie, a small gallery where you can see the metamorphosis stage of the butterfly and much more.  Definitely worth the fair admission price as you'll spend a few hours there.  We truly enjoyed our day and will be going there again.

Peace,
Rocki