Ravishing Raw » Anti oxidants

Super Chia Smoothie

Marie-Claire — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:26:06 +0000

You will love, love LOVE this smooth smoothie! I do! I am enjoying it right now while I am writing. I simply have to share this wonderful recipe which started in some kind of a minor because I was out of bananas and leafy green vegetables and didn’t feel like going out in the rain. My throat was feeling soar since last night and I felt tired when I woke up this morning so I had to make a super smoothie fast!

I was wondering how to replace the smoothness of a banana in my smoothie. I opened my fridge, hm, soaked chia seeds could do the trick. And ripe pears for some sweetness. My favorite loyal coconut oil would help too for sure. This is how I brew this overnice super boosting smoothie. After drinking one glass I feel the energy coming back and the sourness has gone.

This smoothie is packed with essential fatty oils (3 to 10 times the oil concentrations of most grains), proteins (one and a half to two times the protein concentrations of other grains), linoleic (the unsaturated fatty acid which the body can’t produce) and calcium ( it contains the important mineral boron, a catalyst for the absorption of calcium).

TOOLS YOU NEED

A blender
A sharp knife
A cutting board

INGREDIENTS FOR ALMOST 1 QUART

About 3-4 cups rejuvelac (you can also use water, tea or coconut water… but the rejuvelac is so great!)
1 C soaked chia seeds
2 C blueberries (when you take frozen berries in winter, you don’t have to add ice)
2 ripe pears
2 TBS coconut oil
2 tsp maca
1 tsp bee pollen
2 TBS supergreen powder (Amazing Grass is very good and tasting lovely!)
2 TBS hemp seeds
2 TBS honey

THE MAKING OF…

Blend until very smooth ( a bit longer to break down all the chia seeds) and soak all the goodies in this goddess drink…

TIPS

Chia seeds have no taste so you can easily add other flavors while enjoying all the great nutrients of chia (EFA’s!)
You can add chocolate, goji berries… their rich flavors will always take over from the chia seeds
Soak a few cups of chia seeds overnight and store what you don’t need in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator; they stay good for two weeks
Chia seeds can help you to lose weight because of their good fats. Moreover they are very filling and help you control hunger in a natural way

Alive Smoothie

Marie-Claire — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:04:45 +0000

I make smoothies every day. But sometimes you have that one smoothie which exceeds all others. It is a combination of factors and you don’t have them always under control. Each smoothie tastes different, even with the exact same ingredients. Simply because all vegetables and fruit add their own personal flavor. One banana can be soothing sweet and another hardly have any taste. Same with juices; one pound of carrots can taste like heaven and another will be rather bitter and spoil your sweet soup. So a lot depends on that willing touch of your chosen fruit of that day.

Notice the oxygen bubbling up in this smoothie! Ready to shake you up and make you come alive!

Sometimes you think you are brewing the greatest smoothie ever and when you take your first highly expecting sip, it turns out you can hardly swallow it down. It happens to everybody. So what can you do then with that rich smoothie, full of nutrients and expensive superfoods and greens and fruit? Drink it up with two fingers shutting your nose? Because the last thing you want to do is throw it out!

I discovered how to save those “failures” and have a wonderful drink after all. Just pour that smoothie in your nut milk bag and sssquuueeeze out the juice. The pulp is a great fertilizer for your wheatgrass (mingle it under your soil, all those minerals will be soaked by the grass and provide you strong shots!) and the juice… the juice is just great! The taste changes and you can pour all the glorious nutrients down to your body.

But now more about my Alive Smoothie. I always use what I have laying around and was lucky with the combination and the great tastes of the greens and fruits. My mustard greens were soft, the banana sweet, the spinach soothing, and then… my secret weapon: rejuvelac! You know how much I am into this elixir of life. I always use it to make my smoothies the best, both taste and content.

When you use rejuvelac instead of water, you add an extra dimension; life. And that is what you will feel in your body; life. You can make a whole lot of rejuvelac and store it easily for two weeks in your refrigerator or in your basement so you don’t have anything else to do but grab and smooth away.

Alive Smoothie

TOOLS YOU NEED

A blender

INGREDIENTS

One sweet banana
A handful of mustard greens
Two leaves of kale
A grab of parsley
Fill up the rest with spinach
A handful of Goiji Berries
A TBS Maca
A TBS bee pollen
Fill up the blender until halfway with rejuvelac

THE MAKING OF…

Blend and taste. Not sweet enough to your taste? Add a juicy pear…

Drink, chew and be alive!

Mustard Green

Killer Carrots

Marie-Claire — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:15:43 +0000

Juicy Stuff

If you are still wondering where to get your proteins from when you go raw you can stop now and be reassured that you will get all you need with raw food. And with raw juices. This is one of the reasons why you have to eat a varied scale of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and sprouts. Also eat all the colors in the rainbow to receive all the antioxidants you want to look younger and feel better.

Carrots are sweeties. Not just because of their soothing taste but because of the treasure of nutrients they are offering us in one glass of juice. They provide vitamins A, B1, B6, C, D, E, G and K, minerals such as calcium, potassium, iron and phosphorus, traces of carbohydrates and proteins.

Color your life

If you dream of a smooth skin; carrots make it look healthy! They have extreme properties for skin health.

Carrot juice contains carotenoids which reduce risk of a heart attack and regulate blood circulation
The phytonutrient ‘falcarinol’ helps in the protection against colon cancer
And yes, it is true that they are good for vision, especially for night sight because of the beta-carotene
Drink more carrot juice and notice how much better your hair, skin and nails will look
Carrot juice also contains essential oils. They help digestion and therefor are fighting acne.
Drinking carrot juice in summer will help you to protect against sunburn. It heals damages caused by the sun
The antioxidants slow down the aging process and protect you against free radicals
It lowers high blood pressure and cholesterol
A load of iron helps to reduce anemia

And again, this is a list that goes on and on. It is good to know what vegetables and fruits can mean for your body. Just juice what you need to jazz up your health and you will feel the difference soon!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer, a sharp knife and a cutting board

INGREDIENTS

8 to 10 fresh organic carrots
A big chunk of ginger

THE MAKING OFF…

Juice your stuff and feel juicy…

Carrot Ginger Juice

Orange With A Twist

Marie-Claire — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:26:50 +0000

It is the season of the oranges. They are juicier and sweeter than ever during this time of year. I almost forgot how nice a simple orange juice can be. Then I saw that last piece of lemongrass and thought; “What if I …?”

Juicy Stuff!

A very simple juice, but only one glass is covering five fruit servings. We are so used to squeezing oranges but what do we know about them? That they are rich in vitamin C, yes. But did you know that they also…

… have high levels of magnesium and potassium? So one glass a day will balance high blood pressure!
… have inflammatory properties and help relieve joint pains?
… contain folate and increase growth of skin cells and blood cells?
… contain enough nutrients and minerals to boost your immune system?
… are very good for your bones and teeth because of their calcium?
… are very rich in antioxidants and the carotenoids fight free radicals to reduce damage to your cells?
… enable a good DNA in your body with their niacin content?
… are a rich source of phytonutrients who make the nutrients work optimal?

A lot of good reasons to make that fast juice in the morning when you are out of time!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer
A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

Three oranges
One stalk of lemongrass

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and twist!

Orange Twist

Upbeet

Marie-Claire — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:26:01 +0000

Juice Up Your Health!

I never was really fond of beets until I started juicing them. They are now on my list of favorites. Not only because they make the loveliest juices, but also the best ones for your health. Drink one glass of beet juice every day and it will beat high blood pressure. Beets also increase the body’s production of glutathione, the most important antioxidant we have. Without glutathione, our most powerful detoxifier of cancer-causing poisons, you can’t absorb other antioxidants or can’t pull the environmental chemicals into the colon where they can be removed. So they will stay in our precious body, causing serious health problems.

High cholesterol? Too low cancer-destroying CD8 cells in the colon? Skin problems? Stress? Digestive disorders? Beet juice takes care of you and ‘upbeets’ your health with its rich content of antioxidants, vitamin A, C, B6, B1, B2, calcium, sulfur, sodium, iodine, bioflanonoids, potassium and natural sugars. Oh and don’t forget the source of dietary fiber, carbohydrates, folic acid, magnesium, biotin and niacin.

When you start drinking beet juice, you might experience some diarrhea in the beginning, red stool and urine. Don’t worry and remind that you have been drinking red beets before running off to the doctor. It will go away by itself and when you drink it more often and is purifying you, you will notice less or no coloring as time goes by.

Beet Before...

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer
A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

One beet, unpeeled if it is organic
Two apples, cored

THE MAKING OF…

Cut, juice and get your upbeet!

Beet After...

Good Mood Juices

Marie-Claire — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:17:36 +0000

Dark weather all day long, rain, cold wind, the birds stopped singing: winter can’t be far away. I feel like looking at colors… and drinking them to juice up my mood. I took what I could find in the refrigerator; beets, carrots en fennel. I grabbed apples and oranges and decided to make very simple, pure drinks. Oh, this beauty!

Color your mood!

I have to share these good mood juices. Even if you can almost predict by looking at them what they are. Some got a little twist.

Sweet Fennel Juice

Have you ever thought of drinking fennel just as it is? I mostly add it to salads or to mixed juices to sweeten and freshen it up. But eaten on its own it can be a quiet overwhelming after a while. As a juice though, you can’t get it enough. With its extraordinary anise flavor, it is like no other juice. A great choice if you are longing for a drink in the evening. You can leave that bottle of Ricard; juice a fennel and you have the same taste. With much more benefits! Fennel is very rich in phytoestrogens and therefor helping with a lot of issues such as…

colic, wind, irritable bowel
spleen
liver
lungs
kidneys
digestive system
menstruation
increased urine flow

Fennel Green

But fennel is also used to treat…

asthma
anxiety
depression
high blood pressure
decreased libido
coughs
heartburn

And the list goes on. But let’s juice now and “feel” instead of read about benefits.

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer
A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

One big fennel

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and enjoy heaven!

Sweet Fennel Juice

Amazing Grape

Marie-Claire — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 17:10:26 +0000

Another day, another juice! I am improvising and jazzing. That’s what a true musician does. So what did I come up with today? A very simple pink grape juice. Later on I used this juice as a basis to add other fruits and that was a delicious surprise. Here they come.

AMAZING GRAPE

Amazing Grape

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer

INGREDIENTS

A bunch of pink grapes

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and Jazz!

JAZZY JUICE!

Jazzy Juice!

Leave some of the grapes so you can make fresh juice and improvise with that basis.

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer
A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

One or two cups of amazing grape juice
One or two apples
One kiwi
One orange
Half a lemon
One stalk of lemon grass (a most lovely add!)

THE MAKING OFF…

Juice, share and sing! Cheers!

Jazzy Juice!

Juicy Stuff!

Marie-Claire — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:03:19 +0000

After two days of wiggling from juices to smoothies to salads, I had a very juicy day! And guess what; I wasn’t hungry for one moment, or even craving. Once you flow with the clean feeling you get when you add more an more juices, it all goes by itself. I am now thriving and feeling so much better. It is amazing in how a short notice juices can calm down the body and uplift it to more energy and clarity!

Juicy Stuff!

I am starting my day very simple: with water. I even keep drinking water and herbal tea until noon before I make my first juice. It has a great effect on my body. It feels very clean and light when I give it a chance to get rid of all toxins of the day before. Because this is what happens in the body in the morning until noon; it is awakening and releasing all the toxins of previous meals. This is also the reason why it is best to start your day with a light meal.

But let me share this great juice with you, because it tasted so heavenly!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A Juicer
A sharp knife and a cutting board

INGREDIENTS

Two big apples, cored
One pear
One kiwi
About 6 to 8 carrots
A BIG chunk of ginger (I love ginger! so if you don’t, you can leave it out or add less)
One lime

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and slurp!

You will be amazed how filling this juice is. Leave one hour between several juices to give them a bit of time to digest. But that will no problem. It took me hours to feel the first hunger and make a very green juice of cucumber, celery stalks, kelp granules, dandelion and spinach. Enjoy!

Orange Without "Orange" Juice

Pink Pineapple Smoothie

Marie-Claire — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 06:47:41 +0000

As promised here is the pink smoothie you saw a picture of in my post of the pineapple tool. It is a very easy and fast recipe and you don’t need much. This can serve four people if you use smaller glasses than I did. One drink delivers you lots and lots of antioxidants and a boost of Bromelian. Pure Food for Radiant Health!

Pink Pineapple Smoothie

TOOLS

A sharp knife or a cool pineapple peel tool
A blender

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients

One pineapple, peeled
A bunch of strawberries
Some mint in fine slices

THE MAKING OF…

Glorious colors!

Cut the pineapple in large pieces
Throw about two hands full of strawberries (with green tops if they are organic) into the blender
Blend

Pink Pineapple Juice

Pour in a nice large wine glass and top with a cubed strawberry and mint
Yum!

This must be the shortest post I ever wrote. But I wanted to get something up before leaving for my organic farmers to buy my weekly supply. I will show you later what I purchase for a week. If you are new at raw you might want to know how much you need. You will love this abundance!

Drink it Wild!

Marie-Claire — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:40:13 +0000

Stinging Nettles

Last week when I working on my website while drinking a lovely smoothie, my father came in. His first question with frowned eyebrows and a disapproving expression around his mouth: “Why are you drinking mud?” I am still laughing when I think of this. I must admit, the color was dark but only because it was a very wild composition.

One of the great things about smoothies is that you can throw in them whatever you have. Open your refrigerator, check out your deep freezer for frozen fruits, get some fresh wild edibles out of your garden (or your neighbor’s if it isn’t sprayed: they won’t be angry with you for weeding their yard), get your favorite superfoods out of the cupboard and start creating.

This is what I do every morning and wow, does it feel good to pick your weeds and looking forward to the energy they will recharge you with! All these greens filled with chlorophyll mean that you will be drinking direct sunlight. What else can fuel your body more than sunlight?!

What did I have in my frig? Kale and Rejuvelac and some fruit on my counter. I have to go get new supplies today! But no worry, nature offers enough to complete your smoothie when your refrigerator is almost empty: wild edibles! I came back with a basket filled with the arousing scents of mint, dandelion with roots and the soft tops of stinging nettles. Put together they make a wild thing!

Dandelion

Oh, almost forgot to give you my great tips.

When you have a blender with horsepower, throw in a half (organic) avocado pit. It is a very powerful ingredient in the prevention of cancer, a booster of your immune system. It also thickens your smoothie a bit when you like it more creamy.
When you have a large can on your blender, you can make two different tastes when you get bored easily. I often pour one liter in a bottle as a green smoothie, then add blueberries to the rest of it and blend again. You will now have two different smoothies to consume according to the mood you are in that morning.

You will see, you can’t impossibly eat all these greens from a plate in one day. Liquefied it provides you more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and proteins than you would probably get in a normal week. What am I saying… in a few weeks for the S.A.D eater. You can now understand where your new energy is coming from. Moreover because when you drink a smoothie, the digestion process is halfway, your body can keep its energy for itself and you can go wild!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A blender
A sharp knife

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Wild Kale Smoothie

THE GREENS

3 leaves of kale without stem
2 big dandelion plants (leaves and roots)
About 6 tops of stinging nettle
2 or 3 sprigs of mint
1 pear
1 banana
1 kiwi (with skin if organic)
Pure water, Rejuvelac (which is the best in your smoothie! It makes it come even more alive with enzymes and pro biotics) or coconut water. You can also make a combination of liquids.
Ice (made from pure water, not tap water) if you want it cool right away.

Superfoods!

SUPERFOODS of your choice. (I wanted some superpower today so added 2 tsp. Maca for energy, a handful of chocolate nibs for concentration, 1 TBS Beepollen for immunity before winter, a handful of Goji Berries for testosterone, 1 tsp. kelp granules to maintain healthy thyroid functions, 1 TBS. Green Superfood powder for more chlorophyll, 2TBS. Hemp seeds for proteins.
A dash of cayenne to spice it up, get the antibacterial benefits and get a deep body glow (it is cold today and my throat hurts a bit)
If you want it sweeter, add a medjool date (pitted)

THE MAKING OF…

Superfoods on top

Wash and throw your fruits and greens in your blender
Add the superfoods of your choice

Filled with abundance!

Add pure water or rejuvelac till about halfway the content

Up and Running

Blend, taste and adjust to your own taste if necessary

Two Tastes in One Effort

That’s it! The most nutritious breakfast you can think of and enough valuable content to live on all day long if you have to. Buy a well sealed bottle and take the rest with you to work for a pause. You can drink your smoothie out of a large tea cup if you want to avoid questions or comments from your colleagues.

By the way, don’t pour smoothie away if you can’t drink it all. You can freeze it in ice cubes and use later. Or give it to your pets; they love smoothies and will thrive on them just as much as you do.

Ravishing Breakfast!

Grooving Ginger Granny

Marie-Claire — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:38:35 +0000

Grooving Ginger Granny

This juice is rocking! It all starts with Granny apples. They have that particular mix of acidity and sweetness when they are in the middle of their season. A good reason to make a fresh juice of them, moreover because apple juice is such a healthy drink when you are longing for something to replace that soft drink in the back of your mind. Your granny will groove on apple juice: it prevents and helps fight Alzheimer disease when consumed on a daily basis.

Scientific research shows that apple juice can boost the brain function because of its increased production of the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine. “We anticipate that the day may come when foods like apples, apple juice and other apple products are recommended along with the most popular Alzheimer’s medications,” according to Thomas Shea, Ph.D., director of the UML Center for Cellular Neurobiology and Neurodegeneration Research. What are you waiting for?

Apples For Overall Health

But there is more to say about apple juice. It is very rich in antioxidants and we all know what that means; they help prevent the development of cancer, heart disease, they reduce high cholesterol levels, slow down the aging process and promote weight loss. Other benefits are a high content of riboflavin, thiamine, carotene, vitamin B6, biotin, folic acid and vitamin C. So let’s make that juice!

To spice it up and give it the character of a fancy cocktail I like to add ginger and lemon. You won’t long for a canned version after tasting the pureness of your own juiced- in- a- minute long drink.

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer
A sharp knife

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Grooving Ginger Granny

4 Granny apples
Juice of 1 lemon
A chunk of fresh ginger (about 1 inch)

THE MAKING OF…

Just juice all ingredients, shake it up, pour in your favorite glass, finish with a slice of apple or a sprig of mint and enjoy!

Grooving Ginger Granny

Pure Temptation!

Marie-Claire — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:28:53 +0000

Love Chocolate Caramel Bar…

Pure Temptation Within Reach

As promised here is a tasty preview of how tempting raw food can be. If you thought you would have to forsake all your beloved food you had it all wrong! Insatiable hunger? Eat some chocolate and you will feel immediately satisfied. One of these chocolates is enough to ease your restlessness while looking in your cupboard for that little ‘something’. Provided you have the pure natural ingredients- raw, without milk, gluten or sugar- this chocolate feast is one you can enjoy without guilt.

You won’t gain weight because raw chocolate contains many valuable nutrients. It satisfies your eternal hunger for more and therefor will help you losing weight. It will provide you energy for the rest of your day, magnesium, a wealth of antioxidants and make you happy with its high serotonin levels. Too much of a good thing is never good, even with this chocolate. You can end up being constantly over- active when taking large doses every day, not being able to fall sleep when eating it in the evening. But in moderation you will only benefit from this divine food.

Make your own chocolates in ten minutes, or some crunchy chocolate bars with a hint of creamy caramel. For this first recipe I will guide you step by step. What are we waiting for?

Measurements;

C = A cup or 25 cl.

1 / 4 C = 1 / 4 cup or 6 cl.

TBS = tablespoon

tsp = teaspoon

Quantity; this amount is sufficient for a tea with some guests or just for you during the week.

Storing; This chocolate will keep well for a few weeks. If you add the caramel layer use it within one week. Always store in the fridge. These products are purely natural and melt faster than the usual chocolate you buy in the supermarket.

Tips;

* Always add sweeteners, spices or seasonings by bits, and taste, taste, taste. These flavors can be so intense and sometimes surprise you with their strength. You can always add more if you need to.

* Rinse your kitchen tools immediately with warm water, especially bowls or batches of electrical equipment such as your blender or food processor. It is done in a few seconds and will save you a lot of cleanup work afterward, when the food sticks under the blades.

Tools you need

Tools you need; a food processor, blender or hand mixer, a large and a small bowl, a scale or measure cups, measure spoons, a grater or a paring knife, a spatula, a large spoon and a whisk.

Ingredients for raw chocolate

Ingredients for your raw chocolate:

* 100 g. raw cacao butter, grated or cut with a knife

* 6 TBS raw cacao powder

* 2 TBS Agave Nectar

* A pinch of sea sea salt

* A pinch of cayenne will make your chocolate sensual and ‘hot’

* For love ahead and exaltation; add 1/4 – 1/2 tsp maca powder, depending on your taste.

Ingredients for the 'caramel' layer

Ingredients for the caramel layer;

* 1/4 C raw pecan nuts

* 3 medjool dates (I didn’t need the fourth one on the picture…)

* About 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, to your own taste. I usually use more in winter, to make my body glow.

Scrape or Grate 100 g. of Cacao Butter

Start with scraping or grating the cacao butter. (watch your fingers!)

Melt Cacao Butter "Au Bain Marie"

Fill your large bowl half way with warm water, put the small bowl with the grated cacao butter in it. Now you can start making your caramel layer while the butter is melting.

All ingredients for your caramel layer in the food processor

Throw all the ingredients for the caramel layer in the food processor and mix until you have a crumbly but sticky texture.

Fine and sticky texture

This is how your texture looks like. To test if it will stick, take some between your fingers and knead it. If it stays together it is ready, if not, add another date and mix again.

: Put some household foil into your mold

Put some household foil into your mold so you can easily remove the bar later. Certainly when you are not using a spring form, you will appreciate this little trick.

: Push the crumble firmly into your mold

Push the crumble firmly into your mold.

: Your first layer

This is how your first layer looks like. You can also build up the sides if you like to. Now put it in the refrigerator while you make luscious chocolate in no time.

: Your melted cacao butter

Look at this fluid gold! Keep the small bowl in the warm water while you are proceeding to keep it smooth and fluid.

: Mix all dry ingredients into the melted butter

Whisk all dry ingredients in your melted cacao butter until you have a fine, smooth structure. Ready!

: Poor on top of the first layer

Now poor this luscious brown desire on top op your first layer. Take another lick out of your bowl…

: Ready to let sit in the refrigerator!

Ready to let it sit. No patience anymore? Ten minutes in the freezer and you can put your teeth in your creation. (but don’t forget to take it out! Set the timer) Or let it cool off slowly in your refrigerator for an hour.

You will find the recipe of the following delicious chocolates in my FREE eBook “Raw For 3 Days!” To receive my eBook, sign up and I will send you the link where you can download it.

: Note your creations

Buy a lovely note book and always write down your trials

: Time to spoil yourself

Pick some lovely fresh mint and make yourself a nice cup of tea. Spoil yourself with your first chocolates…

: … and your Pure Temtation.

… and with your Pure Temptation.

: Food for Love!