Raw challenge day one

Konbanwa! First day done and so far I'm loving all the foods. And I'm SO far from starving! Just take a look at the size of this "snack" :) Reading the menu I thought I'd need a lot of extras during the day, since losing weight is obviously not the goal here, but at least today I have been more than fine. Only extras have been a couple of bites of raw chocolate. I'm thinking all raw goodies are definitely included in the challenge :)

An apple, a mandarin, two figs, kiwi, dried mulberries, dried coconut flakes and honey. 


ps. I'm not planning on posting every meal and thought here, I'm just so excited today that I cannot help myself :)

Good raw morning!

Thinking about having "just a green smoothie" for breakfast doesn't sound that tempting. Nor filling. But just take a wild guess how this was, yes, both tasty and very filling (yes, the portion is also huge). Think of it as a combined bread with veggies and a fruit salad :) Just that it is all pure, natural and in a form that is easy for your body to digest and to absorb all the nutrients. You know, that after a night of "fasting", the body is like a dry sponge. It is happily looking forward to efficiently use all the things you give it in the morning. So while a french breakfast with white bread and nutella might sound awesome, it's not the best choice. At least not every morning :)

You also must know people that skip breakfast in an attempt to lose some weight. Or maybe it's just a habit not to eat. Or maybe your body just does not take in anything (or it feels like it). But the truth is, that you should eat something within the first 1-2 hours you are awake. This sends the body a message, that it is time to wake up, start to burn the fuel that it is given and to function in all the magnificient ways it does. Not having breakfast tells something more like "Gosh, dude, it seems we are NOT having any fuel today! It's not yet for certain, BUT we better now start to hold on to the fats, just in case. And let's also start to slow down all the preparing work; inflammation curing, diseace protection and cell renewal."

So if you happen to be one of those breakie-skipping-folks, maybe you could start tomorrow by having a glass of juice. Or blend a small smoothie with juice, yogurt and fruits/berries. Think about that you are doing your body a huge favor.

Pineapple Spinach Smoothie
3 handfuls of spinach
1 dl hamp seeds
1/2 dl coconut flakes
a big chunk of pineapple
an orange
water

from Raw Food for Dummies by Katja/Moments

Raw two weeks

Katja threw a challenge in her blog last spring about eating raw food for two weeks. Personally, I think it's pretty extreme to go from a meat - white flour - sugar -including diet into 100% raw. So, careful if you think about trying this. I even don't think 100% raw diet suits everybody. For me, I think the good ratio is about 50-50. Now, however, I'm so tempted to try this challenge out of curiosity. I want to see, how my body feels about this chance to inhale so much nutrients and less "useless" stuff. Any piece of additional energy (+ reduced stress levels) this dark time of the year is welcome. My main goal is NOT to stick to the food plan like a stupid monkey - I just try to listen to my body and give it what it needs. I'm pretty sure at the end of the first days, I hear a strong request for milk and muesli. If that's the case, so then be it. A bowl of muesli with milk coming right up :)

I went shopping yesterday/today and was kind of terrified with the costs of all these veggies and stuff. And (I'm afraid to admit) not even all of them are organic! Well, this is an experiment and in the future, I'm sure I'll reduce the amount of raw - and try to increase the amount of organic. But I have to admit that I love the way my kitchen table and fridge look right now.

Tomorrow is the first raw day. I'll let you know how it goes :)

Here is the link to the Raw Food for Dummies -challenge. 

Greek meets Finnish

Sour crack bread, chevre and home made rhubarb jam

Riceless sushi

Today I made some sushi without rice. This would be a good meal for a carb-avoider, but for me the reason was just that there wasn't any rice vinegar in the fridge :) As I also had only fresh ginger (instead of what you normally have with sushi), I made a lovely ginger tea with honey as a warm drink. For dessert I had a piece of that amazing raw orange chocolate cake.

Sushi (nori, cream cheese, tahini, salad, carrots, surimi sticks), ginger tea and soya sauce.

New address

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Welcome to the new home address for my little blog <3

Raw versus Traditional

I found this comparison when cleaning my computer desk top. Remember when I posted the raw rum raisin ice cream? Well, if you had to choose the traditional rum raisin ice cream or the raw version by the ingredients list - which would it be?

Rum raisin ice cream (Valio)
Non fat milk
Cream
Sugar
Water
Raisin (5%)
Milk protein
Lactose
Glucose
Non fat powdered milk
emulsifier E471
Thickener E401
Thickener E412
Thickener E410
Thickener E1422
Rum (0,7%)
Vanilla aroma
Vanillin aroma
Caramelized sugar syrup
Acidity E331 


Raw rum raisin ice cream
Cashew
Banana
Rum
Raisin
Honey

Raw Ben&Jerry's

This was supposed to be quite something else, but ever since the first taste, I fell in love and forgot there were any other ideas in my head. OMG, it's like melted chocolate cookie dough Ben&Jerry's!!

Raw chocolate cookie dough Ben&Jerry's

frozen banana

soaked cashews

lucuma

raw cocoa powder

raw cocoa nibs

honey

vanilla

water

and one raw brownie in bits

Good morning porridge

Oatmeal, apple, vanilla soya milk <3

Winter snack

Hey hey hey, it's been a while. I was spending time in my home town and other than that, I've just been busy and eating mostly very boring and/or unhealthy food that certainly doesn't qualify for a post. In Joensuu we did make some delicious lemon risotto and salmon, that I was supposed to post, but the hunger (once again) was stronger than the thought of taking photos. Also, my sister made this amazingly sweet and yummy baked ice cream!! I was asking her to quest blog, but she wasn't too eager.

Today, I finally have some free time in the evening at home. Went jogging, cleaned a bit and practiced some songs for the weekend. Hey, when did this food blog turn into a diary, haha. Sorry. So, back to the track. Here's just a small snack that I had in the evening while watching Svenska Hollywood Fruar and Grey's Anatomy.

Milkshake with banana and cinnamon, dried plums, cashew nuts, almonds and dried mulberries

Raw orange chocolate cake

This cake is the real thing! Not for sissies. Not for those who prefer milk chocolate and coffee with heaps of sugar and milk. This cake is for serious flavor lovers who can handle the sweet avalanche of orange and chocolate with every bite.

Raw orange chocolate cake

Crust:

2 dl raisins
2 dl almond flour
2 tsp psyllium-fiber
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coconut oil

Blend everything into a smooth dough that sticks together. Start with raisins and almond flour, then adding the rest. This recipe makes a very small cake, so for a normal size - double it.

Filling:
3 small organic oranges (use the juice and the peel)
10 dates
2 dl raw cocoa flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp honey/agavea
1 dl coconut oil
5 tbsp cocoa butter (melted)
2 tbsp lucuma powder
2 tbsp toco powder
2 tbsp carob powder
a touch of salt
a bit of cinnamon

Blend the orange juice (+shredded peel) with the dates. Add the other ingredients.Blend. Don't eat it all yet.

Let it stay in the fridge over night (if you have the patience) for the flavor to really come out.

PS. How hard would it be to write down the source for the recipe when you print it out? I really would like to give the credits to the person who has created these recipes (unless they are my own, of course). And MAN have I now tried to trace back this recipe - with no success. So, in case you are, or you know the person whose recipe this is, feel free to trace me back and kick my big ass. I'd appreciate it :)

Little Christmas party

We had a lovely little christmas party yesterday. Only one raw cake, everything else was traditional. I'll make a post for the cake later. Baking (and eating) these made the weekend just perfect, cosy, happy and christmassy.

Ginger bread house

We bought a ginger bread house from Ikea. Felt the irony on the cashier :) Well just think about it.. how is it with assembling Ikea furniture :)

Anyhow, my boyfriend did an amazing job with this little house - I'm so proud! But kinda happy this is the only home we are building together :) The damage list includes one burnt finger, one ruined frying pan and one damaged spoon. And one eaten chimney :) So little cost for such a cute house - don't you think! We are ready for the little christmas party tomorrow!

ps. notice the little gekko on the wall :D

Colors for lunch

A light lunch with lovely colors: steamed carrots, avocado and surimi sticks. Bits.

Favorite breakfast

Every other morning I feel like I have found the best breakfast in the world and this is the thing I'll have for the rest of my life :) This one is just too fab to be true - and very good for you! Green smoothie has baby spinach, celery and a banana in it. On the two pieces of organic oat bread I have regular butter and peanut butter. Now hop on the bike and off to the gym before work. The morning outside seems to be so beautiful, the sun just rising up..