Needing Some Zest for Life???

A friend of mine suggested a meal blog focusing on breakfast, hoping to find inspiration to start her day. I thought that was a good idea. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet because I was moping through my morning playing internet junkie rather than getting to my "to-do" list that had only about three things on it.

Yep. Even the raw foodies go through the normal ups and downs of life. But hey, we can always turn to food to influence our mood...apparently I've upped mine to at least verbally playful by drinking my nutrients for brunch.

This recipe was inspired by the ingredients in my kitchen and by the fact that I knew that all of them give me some pep, and I sorely needed it today (nothing huge...just lacking discipline in getting things done when home alone, and some sore muscles from my upper body weight training yesterday!).

Here's my recipe for about 14 oz. of "Zest for Life" Juice:

1 heart of Romaine lettuce
1 peeled beet
1/2 bunch of curly leaf parsley (I like its flavor better than the flat Italian style.)
1/2 large cucumber
2 cloves garlic
1 in. cube of ginger
1 med. apple (I am in love with Cameos at the moment.)

I took pictures before the juicing because, frankly, a glass of juice may have a nice color, but it's not as inspiring as the ingredients beforehand. Look how lovely!

Now think about this when you look at the lovely purple juice below. Yummmmm. And so, so, good for you.

Ok, so there's a short to-do list with my name on it. Oh, and painting is on the list for today, so hopefully I'll have a new "painting in progress" to post to my other blog by tomorrow!

Oh wait! Don't have a juicer? Oh gosh! I so recommend them. There are much better ones now. My Juiceman is from about 15 years ago and spent about ten of those on the top shelf in my pantry (guess I knew I'd get back to it someday!), and I don't hear any of the raw foodies saying anything about this brand. They all seem to like the Champion, but they like the pricey, last forever stuff, so if you just want to give it a whirl, I'd try anything that your budget can handle.

I do know that not all juicers can handle parsley and such (mine didn't like it a whole lot because it was a wee on the dry side). But I hear there are hand juicers that give you a nice workout AND work great on the green stuff (especially wheatgrass, which I have yet to try). And those are REALLY inexpensive.

And the leftover stuff can go straight into your compost pile (I'm working on one and will be sure to let you know when I get it going) or if you like feeding the wildlife, birds enjoy it.

Give juice a try! (Did I mention it's really good for your skin?)

Let me know what you think too! =)

Raw Corn Is SOOOO Awesome!

I'm in love with raw corn and avocados right now, so I decided to finally put them together. I made my famous corn salad and added in some avocado cubes. And tonight, I used both red and orange peppers, and red onion because there were no more green onions in the bin. Still tastes great.

Here's tonight's recipe:

2 ears of raw corn kernels, cut off cob

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 small orange bell pepper, chopped,

1/8-1/4 C. red onion, chopped (depends on your preference for onion...we like a lot)

2-3 T. Bragg's vinaigrette to cover the vegs, but not pool in the bottom of the bowl

4-5 shakes of Bragg's liquid aminos

1/2 t. sea salt (about 10-12 twists of a grinder, ours at least!)

1 small avocado, cubed (the best way is to cut it in half, remove pit, then cut checkerboard pattern in flesh and then scoop out of skin with a spoon)

Eh, Voila!

It's so yummy. Usually, I say one ear of corn per person, so this would serve two unless you just wanted a little on the side of something and then it might serve four.

Enjoy!

SunBurgers and Corn Salsa

What this blog needs today is a new picture of some scrumptious raw food, so here's a house favorite (at my house that is!): Ani Phyo's Sunburgers with Sun-dried Tomato Catsup, topped off with home grown mung bean sprouts, and accompanied by a personally modified variation of her corn salsa!
Leave me a comment if you'd like the recipe! =)