This recipe was inspired by things that are good for your heart and my mom. Don't tell anyone, but I wrote it without ever actually making it! Shhhhhh... I'm confident that it's delicious. Thanks to John, Micah, and Ulrik for giving me this opportunity!
Also, I enrolled in a program to become a holistic health counselor! The program is through Integrative Nutrition, they've sent me a bunch of exciting goodies I'll post pics in my next post. Ultimately I would like to have a degree in nutrition or dietetics but this feels right for now and their philosophy on diet is almost entirely similar to mine. I need to thank my mom, my dad, Micah, and the world for making this possible for me!
On to food, I'll begin with sugar. I've mentioned countless times how much difficulty I have controlling my sugar intake and how dramatically it affects me. You think I'd have learned my lesson by now, huh? Alas, no. Here is a story about sweet treats and food adventures...
I went to the farmers market before work on Sunday. I haven't been eating enough vegetables, the summer selection felt strange and unfamiliar! I left with summer squash, cherry tomatoes, corn, lettuce, fresh figs, squash sprouts, an avocado, and a freak cucumber.
I made a delicious salad with spiralized squash and squash sprouts briefly sauteed in garlic and olive oil served over romaine lettuce and cherry tomatoes.
And seemingly innocent fig tarts...
The dates in these were too much for me. I took most of them to work because there's no way I could eat more than one, but for those of you who can handle it, here's the recipe!
Raw Vegan Fig Tarts
Crust
1 cup walnuts or pecans (I used walnuts but would use pecans in the future)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 dates
1/4 tsp sea salt
Filling
2 cups cashews
1/2 cup filtered water
6 dates
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch sea salt
Topped with thinly sliced ripe figs or fruit of your choice
Pulse the crust ingredients until nuts are grainy then spoon into tiny tins or muffin cups. Press down to coat the bottom. Blend filling until smooth then spoon onto the crust.
Top with fruit, chill, and serve!
This is the first raw vegan dessert I've made using only fruit and nuts. I didn't realize that dates have an almost caramelly custard flavor to them when blended with nuts. It's nice to know I have that flavor option even though I can't use many dates in my cooking or uncooking. I really need something low-glycemic. Even if agave is processed and dates are raw, agave is still a better choice for me.
Monday night, Jesse and I brought vegan veggie lasagna to a friends house. I also made some strawberry banana tofu pudding for dessert. 1 banana, 1 handful strawberries, 1 block organic silken tofu, blended.
My mom made this all the time when I was a kid. I try not to eat too much soy... but I really love it. This in particular seems relatively harmless, as there is no additional sweetener other than fruit but at this point in the week I've made dessert Sunday and Monday.
Tuesday Jesse and I weren't feeling particularly hungry. We had corn on the cob for dinner.
Or pina coladas, Jesse pointed out after I'd given them a fancy name.
I usually prefer drinks to be at room temperature, but in lieu of summer heat I've been blending ice into my drinks and smoothies. The blendtec gets such a great consistency out of the ice!
Let's see... now we're at Wednesday. My lovely friend Chrissie's birthday! I decided to try my hand at a banana cream pie! Almost the same as the fig tart, only I used pecans and coconut sugar in the crust and layered banana slices under and on top of the pie. It was very rich but good!
I also had a grey hound cocktail made with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, heavenly!
Okay, so many delicious, exciting, wonderful, and seemingly healthy things. I woke up Thursday feeling HORRIBLE. Fatigued, dehydrated, discouraged, distant etc. etc.
Where did I go wrong?
Food Wise:
Too much sugar, too frequently
Alcohol combined with sugar
Too much coffee
Not enough water
Not enough vegetables
Not enough amino acids and b12
Life Wise:
Not enough down time
Carrying more than I need to: holding onto past, and potential future circumstances instead of taking things moment by moment
The solution: Start taking better care of myself food wise so I have the energy to take care of everything else! I had acupuncture treatment today with John Simmonds, he told me my blood was thin, also possible problems with my spleen and pancreas. (He can tell these things just from looking at my face, pretty amazing!) He recommended beets and kale for my blood. I'm sure he had many other insights I missed as I was so very very gone this afternoon. Scary gone when I think back on it. He also recommended cloves and cinnamon.
I stopped at Whole Foods on my way home to purchase kale and beets. I made this salad using kale, beets, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and sea salt. (Note the out of focus photo due to shaky hands!)
I washed it down with a green pumpkin pie spice smoothie.
I used a few spoonfuls of Whole Soy & Co's plain organic soy yogurt, a tbsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, a tbsp of Vitamineral Green Powder, and a bunch of ice.
I'm feeling mostly better, just tired. I haven't been sleeping well, so something else to work on. I've been having nightmares and anxiety dreams! This has been an intense couple of months, mostly in good ways but I can't help but feel a bit knocked over. I think I just have to let go and float for a bit. It's a good time to remember my innate harmony.
And now sleep, at 9:15 on a Friday! Goodnight all <3
Congrats on making the newsletter. That's fantastic, and the recipe looks deliciously heart healthy. I like coconut pineapple rum slurpies better than pina colada anyway. Have a great week friend!
ReplyDeleteHoly Moly! Congrats! That is SO awesome!
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