Easy being green.

This week I've made a huge shift in what my body craves. I was hoping this would happen naturally over time, and it did, but in a big way! I've been CRAVING greens like crazy. Tuesday night I came home from work and had a big salad with romaine lettuce, kale, scallions, beets, carrots, mushrooms, & avocado along with a big green smoothie. The smoothie is a bit mossy in color as I used beet stems and leaves along with cucumber, kale, celery, parsley, and half an apple.

The next morning I woke up craving protein. I made my first chia seed pudding, wow have I ever been missing out!

Vanilla Coconut Chia Pudding

1/4 cup chia seeds

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/8 tsp ground vanilla beans

Mix ingredients together and wait at least 15 minutes before eating. I topped mine with banana slices, cinnamon, and leftover Raw Chocolate from my chocolate covered banana hearts. Holy freaking yum.

Last night I made apple cinnamon chia pudding to eat for breakfast this morning. It was about 1/8 cup chia seeds, 3/4 cup apple sauce, and 1 tsp cinnamon. I put it in an old almond butter jar and let it sit over night. It was the perfect boost to get me through work!

Yesterday I also made One Pot Gluten Free Vegan Mac -n-Cheese from the Pure2Raw Twins guest post on Averie's blog www.LoveVeggiesandYoga.com. Wow. That's all I have to say. This is such a delicious treat, and so healthy! This is by far the best quinoa I have ever eaten, and now one of my favorite all time dishes.

I liked it so much that I went out to buy more quinoa so I could make it again for dinner. This time I added some shredded collard green at the very end of the cooking process.

I even made my own tahini to make this dish possible! It's 5 parts sesame seeds to 1 part olive oil.

I paired the Mac-N-Cheese with a simple green salad, just romaine lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes.

And Raw Tomato Beet Soup. I wasn't crazy about the soup, but my friend Chrissie really liked it. I'm kind of particular about beets, but maybe if I were a beet person, I'd love this soup!

Raw Tomato Beet Soup

4 tomatoes

1 small beet

1/4 red onion

1 clove garlic

4 tbsp parsley, minced

1 diced tomato (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Puree all ingredients except the parsley, and the diced tomato, add them in while gently heating.

For dinner tonight I sauteed some leftover quinoa with a dressing I'd made for the salad. It was one part yellow mustard, one part red wine vinegar, two parts olive oil, and salt & pepper to taste. It was so yummy and was a nice change of pace as I ate the quinoa for lunch and dinner two days straight. I also wanted some red wine, I usually won't open a bottle by myself and it wasn't like I was craving the taste or the feeling, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, in the spirit of listening to my body, I also had a small glass of red wine. I didn't even finish the glass, but it did help me feel grounded and centered.

I bought four grains from the bulk bin and stupidly, did not label any of them.

There's wheat, barley, spelt, and oats. Can you tell the difference? I had to taste a few to make sure I got them all right.

I bought them because I've been wanting to try to make real Ezekial bread based on the passage listed on their breads. Ezekiel 4:9 "Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself." So, I did just that.

This was mostly experimental, I used 2 cups of the flour which I ground up in my blender, 1 cup of water, 1 tsp yeast, and 2 tbsp turbinado sugar. I'm not sure this is what Ezekiel would have made, I actually imagine his as more of a porridge. But here's mine!

Surprisingly enough-it tastes pretty good. The only issue is that it's kind of dry and dense, but I plan on trying this again because it has a rich hearty flavor and it's a complete protein.

Now I'm in the mood to make bread! Any suggestions?