March 28, 2010

 

Breakfast

Banana Pie

serves 1 ~ $1.15 per serving

ingredients

1/4 cup nuts ($.50)

1/4 cup raisins ($.50)

pinch salt

1 banana ($.15)

pinch cinnamon

This little personal sized pie is, for me, a perfect way to start the day. It's a bit heavy for those who like something substantial to get going ... or can be shared.

In a food processor with an "S" blade, process the nuts, raisins, and pinch of salt until the mixture starts sticking together. Because this is such a small batch, it may not work in a bigger food processor. I have a 5 cup processor and it worked fine. Press the pie crust into a small tart pan or just press it into a plate. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to set up a bit. In the food processor, again with the "S" blade, process half the banana and a pinch of cinnamon until it's creamy and fluffy. Slice the rest of the banana. Layer the banana cream and sliced banana in the crust and top with another pinch of cinnamon.

calories: 406

fat: 18 gr
carbs: 63 gr
protein: 6 gr

 Lunch

Salad with Lemon Tarragon Dressing

serves 2 ~ $2.98 per serving

ingredients

dressing

1 avocado ($1.49)

1/2 large cucumber ($.69)

1/4 medium onion

juice and zest of one lemon ($.69)

1 tablespoon agave ($.10)

1 teaspoon tarragon ($.10)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper 

1/2 -1 cup water for blending

salad

1 head green leaf lettuce, chopped ($1.89)

1/2 large cucumber, sliced ($.69)

2 carrots, grated

3/4 medium onion, diced ($.05)

6 radishes, sliced ($.25)

salt and pepper to taste

I'm starting to really love salads to the point that they're what I picture in my head when thinking about yummy food. And lemon and tarragon is my current favorite flavor combination. Oh yeah, this is going to become a staple.

In a blender, puree all the dressing ingredients until smooth and creamy. This can be a very thick dressing or a bit thinner, depending on how much water is added. I used all the dressing on two salads, but any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to a few days.

The salad is just the salad ingredients tossed together and topped with the dressing.

 

calories: 315
fat: 15 gr
carbs: 43 gr
protein: 8 gr

Dinner

Mushrooms with Zucchini Pasta

serves 2 ~ 3.81 per serving

ingredients

veggies

10 ounces mushrooms ($2.29)

1 head broccoli ($.99)

2 carrots, grated ($.20)

1 medium onion, chopped ($.05)

2 tablespoons agave ($.20)

2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or bragg's liquid aminos ($.20)

1 clove garlic, pressed ($.05)

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

noodles

2 zucchini, sliced into noodles ($1.29)

1 tablespoon agave ($.10)

1 tablespoon olive oil ($.10)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar or bragg's liquid aminos ($.10)

1 clove garlic, pressed ($.05)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Zucchini makes an awesome pasta. For the noodles, grate the zucchini, use a spiral slicer, or what I've done here is sliced them into 4 or 5 strips and then used a vegetable peeler to shave off fettuccine style noodles. 

First, place the mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, and onions in a bowl or container. Whisk together the agave, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and red pepper flakes and pour over the veggies. I use Zip Lock boxes, which are easy to shake and coat everything with the marinade. Let these sit for about an hour and then put in the dehydrator for about an hour to warm.

Cut the zucchini into noodles and whisk together the olive oil, agave, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and salt. Toss together and let sit until the veggies are done, stirring to coat every so often. The zucchini will soften and pick up the flavors of the marinade.

Mound the zucchini noodles on a plate and top with the veggies. Top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and red pepper flakes.

calories: 484
fat: 22 gr
carbs: 63 gr
protein: 14 gr

Dessert

Double Chocolate Truffles

makes 8 pieces ~ $.41 per piece

truffles

1/2 cup nuts ($1.00)

1/2 cup raisins or dates ($1.00)

3 tablespoons cacao powder ($.60)

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch salt

coating

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted ($.10)

2 tablespoons agave ($.20)

2 tablespoons cacao powder ($.40)

These are so simple to make for an easy dessert. 

In a food processor with an "S" blade, process the raisins, nuts, cacao, vanilla, and salt until the mixture starts to stick together. Using a rounded spoon, form eight truffles. Put in the freezer to chill for at least a half hour.

Make the chocolate coating by melting the coconut oil and adding to the agave and cacao powder. If this becomes stiff, just warm again slightly in a barely warmed oven. Spoon the chocolate over the bottom of the truffles. This should set up almost immediately as the sauce contacts the cold truffle. Then spoon over the top, letting it cool to set. The chocolate sauce will harden into a semi hard shell over the truffles for maximum chocolate impact.

calories: 234

fat: 16 gr

carbs: 24 gr

protein: 3 gr

Total cost for the day: $8.76

total calories: 1439

total fat: 71 gr

total carb: 233 gr
total protein: 31 gr

And the winner of the cacao nibs giveaway is .......  College: Raw!

eBook Giveaway!

One more giveaway ... This week I'm doing a giveaway of a copy of my eBook. There are some recipes, but also sections on creating your own original recipes, photographing food, growing wheat grass, etc.

To enter, just leave me a comment here and let me know what you've found helpful or enjoyable about this blog.

For extra entries (leave a comment for each):

•  Tweet this giveaway (but not more than once a day)
• Post this giveaway on your blog or Facebook
• Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect

Deadline is Sunday, April 4 at 10 pm! 

Affiliate Linkage ...

if you'd like to affiliate link my eBook on your blog or website, just let me know and I can set you up ... just send me a message at lisacole690@aol.com and I'll give you the details ...

March 21, 2010

 

Breakfast
Buckwheat Coco Puffs
4 servings ~ $.73 per serving

ingredients

1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked ($.75)
2 ripe bananas ($.30)
3 tbsp coco or cacao powder ($.15)
1/2 tsp vanilla ($.10)
1/2 tsp salt

Have you ever wondered what a full day of chocolate would look like? It seems so decadent and surely is nutritionally deficient, right? Not really, it turns out. These are reposts of my favorite chocolate recipes and are in keeping with the cacao nib giveaway below. In the macronutrient count, this menu isn't greatly different from any other I've done. It's actually lower in fat that many of them. So yeah, get your cacao on :) (I used cocoa powder for many of these recipes, which is about $.05 per tablespoon, but even the best raw cacao powder is only about $.20 per tablespoon).

Rinse one cup buckwheat groats and then soak in about two cups water for 5-6 hours or overnight. Rinse the buckwheat groats well. There will be a gooey or gelatinous coating on the groats and and they will need to be rinsed several times. Once rinsed, drain well and pat with a towel to remove most of the water.

In a food processor with the S blade, add the banana, cocoa or cacao powder, vanilla and salt. Process for a minute or two until very creamy. Fold into the buckwheat groats. Then spread the mixture in clusters about 1/4 inch thick on the teflex or plastic sheets in a dehydrator. Dehydrate for about 4 hours, then turn over and dehydrate for another 2-3 hours, until the clusters are dry but pliable. They don't seem to get brittle dry, but stay a little bit pliable. Break up into smaller clumps. These can then be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Serve with 1/2 cup almond milk ($.40).

calories: 333
fat: 10 gr
carbs: 50 gr
protein: 7 gr

Lunch
Soft Serve Chocolate Ice Cream
makes one large serving ~ $.95 per serving

ingredients
2 bananas, frozen ($.20)
1 cup nut milk ($.40)
2 tbsp powdered rawcocao (or cocoa powder) ($.20)
1/2 tsp vanilla ($.15)
1/2 tsp salt

Break frozen bananas into pieces. Puree until smooth in blender with the nut milk, cacao powder, vanilla and salt. This will have the consistency of a very thick chocolate shake or pretty loose soft serve ice cream. Pop into the freezer for an hour or so to firm up, if desired.

calories: 320
fat: 10 gr
carbs: 54 gr
protein: 4 gr

Dinner
Chocolate Spaghetti
1 serving ~ .$40 per serving

ingredients

1 banana ($.15)
1 tablespoon olive oil ($.10)
1 tablespoon agave ($.10)
1 teaspoon cacao or cocoa powder ($.05)

My three year old granddaughter, Alexandria, requested "chocolate spaghetti" for breakfast. Being the grandma, I had to say yes. It's probably quite a bit too sweet for regular consumption, but worked perfectly for us as a fun and fanciful treat.

For each serving, grate or slice one banana. If slicing, make long thin strips that look like noodles. I used the food processor with the grating plate. Less ripe works better in this case. A very ripe banana would be too mushy.

In a small cup, whisk together the oil, agave, and cacao or cocoa powder. Arrange the (sticky!) banana noodles on a plate and top with the chocolate sauce. Sprinkle with a few crushed walnuts.

calories: 304
fat: 14 gr
carbs: 48 gr
protein: 1 gr

Dessert

Triple Chocolate

serves 4 ~ $.96 per serving

ingredients

brownie bits

1/3 cup walnuts ($.50)

1/3 cup raisins ($.50)

2 tablespoons cocoa or cacao powder ($.20)

pinch salt

chocolate chunks

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted ($.20)

2 tablespoons agave ($.10)

1 tablespoon cocoa or cacao powder ($.10)

ice cream

6 bananas, sliced and frozen ($1.20)

1 cup almond milk ($.40)

1 teaspoon vanilla ($.20)

3 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder ($.30)

pinch salt

This isn't quite as complicated as it seems, and boy does it hit the chocolate spot. 

Make the ice cream first. In a blender, puree all the ice cream ingredients until smooth and creamy. This will be like soft serve ice cream and is wonderful as is, but for this recipe pour into a container and freeze, stirring every 20 minutes or so until stiff. This can also be processed in an ice cream maker.

Make the brownie bits in the food processor, using the "S" blade. Process all the brownie bit ingredients until the mix starts sticking and clumping and can be pressed into a ball. Spread out on wax paper, about 1/4 inch thick, and refrigerate for at least a half hour to harden.

For the chocolate chunks, stir together all the chocolate chunk ingredients until smooth and creamy and well incorporated. Spread out on wax paper and refrigerate until hard.

To assemble, just break the brownie into bits and the chocolate into chunks and stir into the chocolate ice cream.

Store any leftovers in a covered container in the freezer and allow to soften slightly before serving.

calories: 404

fat: 16 gr
carbs: 73 gr
protein: 5 gr

Total cost for the day: $3.04

total calories: 1361

total fat: 50 gr

total carb: 225 gr
total protein: 17 gr

Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the Cuisinart Blender is ... (drum roll please)

Kelli from over at her animal friendly eating blog!!!

 Yay, Kelli! Shoot me a message and we'll get the shipping details arranged!

and now ...

Raw Cacao Nibs Giveaway

The folks over at snubbr.com are sponsoring this giveaway for some yummy raw cacao nibs. Snubbr.com is an online answer service, kind of like is Yahoo Answers but for shopping advice. "If you're looking to buy a new cookbook or blender, you can just ask the experts at snubbr.com, and we'll search the entire web for the ideal product for you, saving you time and stress."

To enter, just leave a comment below. It doesn't have to be about chocolate, but I'd love to hear what some of your favorite raw chocolate treats are!

For extra entries:

• Follow @snubbr on Twitter
•  Tweet this giveaway (but not more than once a day)
• Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect

Deadline is next Sunday, March 28, at 10 pm.

March 14, 2010

 Breakfast

Green Smoothie 1

serves 1 ~ $3.88 per serving

ingredients

1 orange ($.40)

1 small bunch kale ($1.69)

1 mango ($1.49)

2 bananas ($.30)

1 cup water

ice cubes

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays, right up there almost with Christmas. When my kids were little, every year on St. Patrick's Eve (yes, there was an eve involved) they would make leprechaun houses, for any visiting leprechauns to camp in if they happened to stop by. The next morning the kids would find all sorts of little leprechaun artifacts in their cardboard houses; walking sticks, pipes, blankets, coins, letters that had to be read with a magnifying glass ... as if the leprechauns had left just minutes before. So the night before St. Patrick's Day I was usually busier than I ever was on the night before Christmas. I kept our leprechaun tradition until my youngest was 14. He never did say exactly when he stopped believing in leprechauns, he just let me enjoy myself. 

So, in honor of the green ... and in keeping with the blender giveaway below ...

This is a very basic green smoothie recipe. In my smaller blender, I find that blending the orange and kale first can help this turn out smoother, but really it's just about pureeing all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add some ice cubes at the end if a chilled smoothie is desired.

 

 

calories: 528

fat: 0 gr
carbs: 132 gr
protein: 8 gr

 

 Lunch

Green Smoothie 2

serves 1 ~ $2.89 per person

ingredients

5 ounces spinach ($.98)

6 leaves romaine ($.75)

1 cucumber ($.49)

1 apple ($.40)

2 bananas ($.30)

1 cup water for blending

ice cubes

I had thought about doing a day of green smoothies, to see just how much something like a green smoothie feast would actually cost. I didn't do a full day, but it would be very possible to do a day of green smoothies for $10 a day (or less!).

The directions for this recipe are the same as the one above, just puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

 

calories: 436

fat: 0 gr
carbs: 106 gr
protein: 12 gr

 

Dinner

Green Soup

serves 2 ~ $1.31 per serving

ingredients

5 ounces spinach ($.98)

1 avocado ($.88)

1 small cucumber ($.45)

1/4 onion

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)

1 cup water for blending

salt and pepper

2 green onions, sliced ($.10)

Raw foods are really so flexible. If it's green and sweet, it's a smoothie ... green and spicy is soup. And I'm really enjoying raw soups lately. The avocado really makes this creamy, too.

This, again, is a very simple blended recipe. Puree all ingredients in a blender, except the green onions, until smooth and creamy. Salt and pepper to taste, and top with sliced green onions. Pour extras into a canning jar for later.

 

calories: 310

fat: 32 gr
carbs: 28 gr
protein: 2 gr

 

Dessert

Green Parfait

serves 6 ~ $1.38 per serving

ingredients

green ice cream 

1 small bunch kale ($1.69)

1/2 pineapple ($2.00)

2 bananas ($.30)

1 avocado ($.88)

3 tablespoons agave ($.30)

macadamia cream

1/2 cup macadamia nuts ($2.50)

1/2 cup water

2 dates, soaked to soften ($.30)

3 tablespoons agave ($.30)

pinch salt

I know, I know ... I did green ice cream last week. I'm doing it again, mostly because my grandkids love it so much, but we added some macadamia cream and made a parfait.

In a blender, puree all the green ice cream ingredients until smooth. Process in an ice cream maker (thanks again Heidi!) or put in a container in the freezer and stir every twenty minutes until firm.

Puree the macadamia cream ingredients until very smooth and refrigerate until chilled and thickened. Layer into parfait glasses or another suitable dish.

 

calories: 304

fat: 13 gr
carbs: 28 gr
protein: 2 gr

 

Total cost for the day: $9.46

total calories: 1,578

total fat: 45 gr

total carb: 280 gr
total protein: 27 gr

Blender Giveaway! 

... sponsored by the folks over at CNS Stores ... winner to be announced next Sunday night ...

Just by coincident, I'd been shopping for a new blender on the CNS Stores website several weeks ago. I was pleased with their reasonable prices and extremely fast shipping. Plus, they accept PayPal, which is always cool ... so, I'm already liking this place.


  Cuisinart SmartPower 7-Speed Electronic Blender

Powerful motor crushes ice instantly with no liquid added. It blends, purees, chops, mixes, and liquefies all with the push of a button! This very smart and versatile SmartPower(tm) 7-Speed Electronic Blender has enough power and speeds to do it all. 

Features: 

• Powerful motor crushes ice at any speed
• Easy to read/easy to clean 7-speed touchpad controls with indicator lights
• 40-ounce glass jar with dripless pour spout
• 2-ounce removable measured pour lid
• Ice crush button
• Pulse at any speed button
• Innovative Italian design

Specifications:

• Instruction/Recipe book
• Limited 3-year warranty
• Overall Dimensions: 12"H x 8"W x 6.5"D

 

Open to US and Canada residents only.

TO ENTER ... take a look at CNS Stores' barstools site and tell me in a comment what you like about their products or website.

EXTRA ENTRIES! 

(please make a new comment for each entry)

POST the giveaway on your blog. Leave a link to your blog in the comments. 

FOLLOW my blog using Google Friend Connect. Let me know here in the comments.

TWEET about the giveaway ... (i.e. "Win a Cuisinart Blender at Raw on $10! http://rawon10.blogspot.com #giveaway deadline 3/21") ... (but no more than once a day).

Deadline ... 10 pm Sunday, March 21