Sunflower Seed Cheese Collard Wraps

I've mentioned these wraps in my posts before. I like to make them and take them to work to snack on. They're really simple to make and they're delicious. Wash and dry a collard leaf. Cut the leaf in half by removing the stem. Place the outside of the leaf down, spread the sunflower seed cheese across the leaf and then place the cut veggies of your liking on the bottom part of the leaf, leaving about half an inch empty. I used thinly sliced red pepper, zucchini and avocado along with some sprouts and sliced olives. Then roll the leaf up tightly.

The sunflower seed cheese recipe originally came from RAWvolution by Matt Amsden, but I've made changes to it.

2 cups raw sunflower seeds, soaked for 4 hours, rinsed and dried
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Nama Shoyu
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add more water if necessary. Enjoy!


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Raw Mock Tuna Salad

When Dennis took his first bite of this dish, he thought, "I can live on this." This recipe is from RAWvolution by Matt Amsden. The "tuna" is sunflower seeds that have been soaked for a while and then mixed with celery and scallions. Dulse flakes (I actually used kelp) are added to give it a little bit of a fishy flavor. The creamy mayo is made with coconut water, lemon juice, mustard and cashews. The recipe says to mix everything together in a bowl, but I like the sunflower seeds to be macerated, so I put it all in a food processor for a minute or two.

Raw foods are really delicious and healthy. They can bring you more energy, detox your body and help you lose weight. Now that the weather has turned warm, I'm going to be making a lot more raw foods. I just got a dehydrator, and I'm looking forward to experimenting with it. Stay tuned for more raw!


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Greens and Beans!

This is a simple dish from The Urban Vegan. The recipe calls for broccoli rabe, but Whole Foods was out, so I used kale instead. The greens are cooked in olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes, and beans of your choice are added. (I used pinto.) It was delicious and easy to make!

Did you know that greens and beans are the best sources of calcium? Yep, that's right. Contrary to what the diary industry would like you to believe, you're better off eating a nice big plate of beans and greens than drinking a glass of milk. Greens and beans have more absorbable calcium than milk does, and there's evidence that shows that an increase in dairy products actually causes bone fractures and osteoporosis instead of preventing them. Milk is a common allergen, and different people have different allergic reactions to it. In some people it can show up as headaches, with others it can cause rashes. Milk causes the body to produce excess mucus, so if you have seasonal allergies, it will aggravate them. Only about 25% of the world's human population can actually digest milk, since it's actually meant for baby cows. Because it's difficult for humans to digest, people often develop IBS-like symptoms from consuming milk and other dairy products. Read more about the problems with diary in this article by Dr Mark Hyman. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/dairy-free-dairy-6-reason_b_558876.html


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Coming Off the Cleanse

When ending any kind of detox program, it's important to come off of it slowly and reintroduce foods at a gradual pace. I ate pretty much the same way as I did on the detox today. I had a smoothie for breakfast, munched on some peanuts, ate a large salad for lunch and snacked on collard green wraps in the afternoon. I had lots of energy and felt great all day!

I made a basic stir fry for dinner, using whatever veggies were left in the fridge, half a can of chickpeas that were leftover from another meal, and the last of the brown rice from Veggie Heaven. I was craving spicy peanut sauce (it's so good!), but I thought it would be too heavy after coming off the detox, so I added some red pepper flakes and peanuts to the mix.

I cleaned out the fridge making this stir-fry, so I'm off to the grocery store. The weather here has been pretty warm, so I'm going to be adding some more raw foods into my diet in the upcoming days. It'll be too hot in my house with the oven on!


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Spring Cleanse - Day 7

I have reached the end of my Spring Cleanse! I'm so glad I did it. Eating lighter helped switch my diet from winter foods to spring foods. I had lots more energy than usual, and I lost 4 pounds! I'm going to try my best to continue with the clean eating - smoothies, salads and lots of fruit and veggies.

Today was another student counseling day. My first student was at 8:00 and my last at 3:30. I started the day out with a smoothie made with blueberries, bananas, spinach, flax, hemp and maca. For lunch I had another large salad. The modified fast is over, so I was able to add seeds and nuts back into my meals today.



For dinner I made collard green wraps. I made raw sunflower seed cheese from RAWvolution by Matt Amsden, spread it on the leaves and then wrapped them up with veggies inside. I made extras to take to work tomorrow to snack on. They're so good!

I also sautéed a big pile of veggies - broccoli rabe, kale, red peppers, shallots, mushrooms and served them over the rice that was left over from yesterday's Veggie Heaven meal.


Once again, I had lots of energy, which made the day easier. And once again, I didn't need a nap after my student counseling was over!


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Spring Cleanse - Day 6

Day six of the spring cleanse seemed so easy! My body's getting used to the raw food and unseasoned veggies. I had lots of energy yesterday! I spent most of the day counseling students for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. My counseling day started at 8:00am and ended at 3:30. I usually take a nap after my last student, but I had so much energy that I didn't one! Instead, I went down to the Vegan Bake Sale to see how it was going. I was surprised at how well I was able to control myself around so many delicious looking baked goodies. I brought home some raw cookies and brownies and two gluten-free cupcakes, which will just have to wait until after the cleanse to be eaten.

For breakfast, I had a giant green smoothie. It was made with bananas, mangos, pineapples and spinach. I also added flax oil, hemp powder and maca powder for a little extra boost. I made quite a lot and filled my large glass twice.



Lunch was another large salad with olive oil and lemon juice. I was able to eat in between student phone calls. I had snack of fruit salad later too.


Since it was a long day for me, Dennis picked up dinner from Veggie Heaven again. We each had a large plate of steamed veggies. I was pretty hungry by dinner time, but the veggies were very satisfying. It was difficult to pass on the rice that came with them. I put them in the fridge to make a stir-fry with another day.


We had mixed fruit for dessert. I can't believe how much fruit Dennis and I have eaten this week. We've gone through quite a lot. I need to make sure we keep it up next week.


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Spring Cleanse - Day 5

Day 5 of the cleanse gets a little tricky. The menu for both days 5 and 6 consist of nothing but vegetables and fruit - no nuts, seeds, beans or grains. I was worried about making it through the day and being hungry, but surprisingly, I had lots of energy today and I wasn't hungry at all. The day was also dedicated to cleansing the intestines, and psyllium fiber was added to the routine.

I started out the day with a chocolate cherry smoothie made from bananas, frozen cherries, dates, raw cacao and spinach. This morning, I was just set on making a smoothie, and forgot about the guidelines for the day. After making it, I realized I really shouldn't have had the raw cacao, but it was too late. I don't regret it though. The smoothie was delicious and I think it had a lot to do with my energy level for the day.

For lunch I had collard wraps and a huge salad, and I had a large fruit salad for an afternoon snack.


Dinner was a large plate of steamed veggies - broccoli, snap peas, mushrooms and red pepper. They were flavored with a little olive oil and lemon juice. It was a delicious meal. I'm really beginning to love the unadulterated flavors of vegetables.


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