Eat Dance Live

Time for another What I Ate Wednesday post! I've only done one other before... The problem with any WIAW post of mine is that they'd all probably end up looking pretty much the same, changing up maybe only every season... conveniently, my constance means when I forget to take pictures, I can just recycle some old ones. Breakfast: My favourite Green Smoothie (note the obvious photo recycling thanks to the dead giveaway of the Christmas table runner) At this point, I've probably had this smoothie over 500 times in my life considering it's been my go-to breakfast for a few years now. I would do something different, but I don't, because it's just so yummy. Mid-Day Snack: Raw   Granola Crunchies These crunchies have also become my replacement cereal option since I went raw. I now cut the liquid sweetener all together from the recipe and just used pureed dates (dates and little bit of water to make it mixable). The batch I had today were the same ...

I actually find it really bizarre to eat certain foods out of season. I think it's my body recalling the ancestral days when we could only eat what was only readily available given the time of the year. Eating watermelon and strawberries in the winter? As much as I love them, that's just plain wrong... so is eating pumpkin in the late spring/summer. Okay, so I know lots of you out there love pumpkin, so you might disagree and want to eat it at all hours of the day and all seasons of the year. That's totally cool, and also exactly why I busted out this high raw pumpkin ice cream recipe yesterday to make Andrew happy: High Raw Pumpkin Ice Cream Yield: About 4 servings. 2 C cashews, soaked 1 1/2 C canned pumpkin pie mix 2 C water 1 T of coconut oil, melted 2 T maple syrup 1 inch chunk of ginger 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum (optional) 1/2 teaspoon of salt Directions: 1. Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and b...

I had a sudden urge for pesto when I saw some at the Wild Oat Bakery  yesterday. I've made vegan pesto a few times before, but the way I make it, it never tastes as good nor is ever worth the hassle so I usually just buy it. Immediately after I did, I figured out that I could concoct the best thing to do with kale since I discovered the joys of my  kelp noodle kale salad ! Creaminess, oh yeah... Pesto Kale Salad Yield: Serves 1 or 2. 1 head of massaged kale 1/2 to 3/4 C pesto veggies of choice (I used peppers, celery, carrots, and tomatoes) Directions:  1. Once you've massaged your kale (click here for a how-to), stir in pesto. 2. Add in chopped veggies. 3. Eat!  Yep, it's that simple! Have a great weekend!

I don't know what to call these cookies, but they are by far my favourite raw cookie of all time. When it comes to my sweet tooth preferences, I've always been fairly vanilla. I'll choose the fruit pie over the decadent chocolate ganache cake any day. I'll choose the ginger snap over the chocolate chip butter pecan cookie. So for those who prefer those latter choices, this is definitely a fairly understated cookie. However, in its simplicity and elegance lies deliciousness. My Favourite Raw Cookie Yields: 12 cookies 3 C shredded coconut 1 C fresh dates, blended into a paste 3 tablespoons of raw almond butter 1 teaspoon of salt 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract 1 tablespoon of liquid sweetener (I used maple syrup) 1. In a food processor or Vitamix dry blender, blend coconut first  until its powdered and clumping together. (for those who know, the point when it's about turning to coconut butter) 2. Scrape do...

FINALLY! A place to get some raw eats in Ottawa! On Saturday, Natasha Kyssa's Simply Raw Express opened its doors in the Hintonburg neighbourhood (989 Wellington West to be exact). It's a welcome change from the pubs and meat joints lining up the rest of the street, except the Table Vegetarian Restaurant which was our Hintonburg haunt until now. Whenever I check out a new place making the "healthy" claim, I'm always curious to see how far they take their ethic and Simply Raw Express definitely goes the whole mile. Aside from offering fresh and organic raw vegan foods to go, the restaurant really lives up to its claim: reclaimed wood tables and service counter, compostable to-go containers, cork lamps, eco-friendly washroom products, and more. If you're not a raw vegan, don't be frightened! To bring health and veggies to the Ottawa area, Simply Raw also offers some cooked vegan options including a daily soup or a quinoa bowl. If you have any question...

One month, I'll eat collard wraps for dinner every single night. Another, I'll just eat banana soft serves all day long. This week it's cinnamon sprinkled bananas, apples, dates, and granola crunchies every night. Even though I probably have bananas in some form in most of my meals, sometimes the slightest change can make the biggest difference. It's like eating starchy carbs as bread vs. pasta, same thing but big difference. The secret to this recipe? Cutting your bananas laterally instead of in slices... ooOoOOoo, wild and crazy, I know. In my continuous pursuit to remain as LFRV  as possible, this dinner combination definitely fits the mold. The granola crunchies are probably LFRV sub-par, but I need crunchy texture in my food, especially when I mostly eat blended fruits and greens... So yep, this has been my dinner for about a week now. I tend not to question what my body feels it wants to eat at this point, so I just go with it. Banana Apple Date Bowl Y...

Just wanted to share some recent finds from our trip to DC last weekend! Our favourite health food store in Rockville, MOM's , moved to a bigger location down the road. The bonus (aside from a gorgeous new store) is that everything at their old location was 50% off. This was a serious score because MOM's is really conscious about vetting all their products to make sure they are all super healthy to both us and the environment. Essentially, you can really trust anything you buy there! Here are some of my favourite goods: 1. Just Great Stuff's  Peanut Butter Powder With supposedly 85% less fat than peanut butter, this organic peanut butter powder just needs to be mixed with a couple tablespoons of water to turn back in its creamy original state. That being said, this stuff is so tasty, I actually prefer to eat it by the spoonful and have been making ridiculously delicious banana soft serves with it. It only has a few ingredients: organic peanut butter powder, or...

Yay!!! They're finally carrying organic mixed berries at the Loblaws now. We celebrated last week with this recipe. The base of these overnight oats are very similar to the chocolate-chip cookie dough flavoured ones I made a couple weeks ago, but cherry-fied and delicious: Vegan Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats Yields: 1 serving For oats: 3/4 C rolled oats 2 tablespoons of chia pinch of salt 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract 1/2 C frozen cherries, halved 1/2 teaspoon of raw honey/maple syrup (optional) 1 and 1/4 C non-dairy chocolate milk (almond, soy, it's your pick!)  + 1/4 C of milk in the morning (depends on consistency) 1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. 2. Cover and leave overnight. It might look like there's a lot of liquid, but the chia seeds will soak it right up by morning. 3. In the morning, if it's too clumpy, add another 1/4 C of your "milk." 4. Top ...

Just a couple funnies before the weekend, and I'll be back with some "real" content on Monday:  So... this is what my cat does when I'm on the computer. He'll hear clicking sounds and randomly pounce, claws fully drawn, or will slowly creep his paw around the screen like so. He makes a slow grating sound against the metal... and it really creeps me out. Hehehe... saw this on campus. And because there has to be a food-related something,  here's the recipe to try for this weekend: Apple Nachos ! (photo from Manifest Vegan ) Have a great weekend!

Aside from feeling energetic, happy, and awesome, there's something about raw food that really just makes me smile. I've often talked about the Chinese cooking elements of taste, texture, colour, smell, and flavour. The ideal dish has all five, along with being nutritionally maximizing. Raw food is often able to hit all of those things to perfection, but I have to say, our trip to la Belle Verte across the bridge in Gatineau took that concept to a whole new level. We've been wanting to try this place since we moved here, mostly because it's kind of the only raw vegan restaurant in the area right now. On the downside, because it's in Gatineau and we're car-free, it's a little hard to get to. However, since we had to rent a car this weekend to go help out some friends anyway, a trip to la Belle Verte became a top priority. The food there is just so beautiful. I already love my veggies to begin with, but their platage actually made me giggle and do my l...