Hi-Rawkus

I spent the better part of the day traveling here and there taking care of multiple errands. Surprisingly, I did very well with having only slept for three hours. Naughty, I know! Late morning, around 10:30A, I had a ’50s Style Strawberry Shake’ (recipe here) that kept me sated and energized for hours. It wasn’t until the early evening, about 5P, that I ate my second meal of the day, a large green salad topped with a simple citrus dressing. You know how I go on and on about salads. Well, this one was another makeshift salad that I’ve categorized as “Recipe FreeStyle”. By the time I returned home, I felt somewhat wiped out and, finally, I was also hungry. So, here’s what I did… I chose whatever ingredients I craved. Simple. I knew that I wanted spinach (I had actually been thinking about spinach late in the day), and I also knew that I wanted to eat it with one of my citrus-based salad dressings. Then I thought about the yummy orange cherry tomatoes that I bought weekend before last. They are amazing, like eating candy! They should named “orange candy tomatoes”.

Next I started to think of cilantro, radicchio, and red bell pepper. I wouldn’t normally pair cilantro with radicchio as both taste rather sharp and can work against each other for some palates, but somehow that’s what my body was asking for so I went with it. I added tons of cilantro, maybe even too much. You could say that my spinach salad was literally bursting with flavor, haaha. I was also craving onion so I topped my salad with a bit of chopped scallion. It was perfect. All it need was the citrus-based dressing that I was thinking of adding.

The dressing I chose was my ‘Ginger-Citrus Salad Dressing’ (recipe here). I wanted a savory version so I added a bit of shaved garlic. Raw garlic is pretty potent, so a little goes a long way. I always start with a small amount and build up to whatever strength I prefer at the time. Today, I loved the addition of garlic. Something Helpful: Did you know that citrus helps increase the absorption of iron found in leafy green vegetables? That’s one reason why it’s good to add to your green leafies things like tomatoes or citrus juice like lemon.

Ingredient recap:

Recipe FreeStyle: “Ginger-Citrus and Spinach”

Spinach Salad (freely measured)
- spinach
- orange cherry tomato
- cilantro
- radicchio
- red bell pepper
- scallion

Ginger-Citrus Salad Dressing (recipe here)
- shaved garlic, optional savory version (freely measured)

Apricot-Dressed Anything Salad

Red Kale and Bok Choy Salad

A Bowlful of Yum

And also these posts from the “What I Ate” category:

What I Ate: In The Midday

What I Ate: Leaning Tower of Kimchee

What I Ate: Early Morning Salad

It’s July. It’s hot (for some of us anyway). Whipping up a cool and refreshing smoothie just makes sense! Not to mention the increased vitamin C from pairing the goji berries and peaches together. The chia seeds add a touch of thickness and a nice dose of protein as well as omega 3 and fiber. And let’s not forget the yummy nuttiness of hemp oil with omegas 3, 6 and a tad of 9. I love pairing hemp with peaches (and just about anything else I can hempify), so of course I had to drizzle a bit into this particular smoothie. Even if you don’t adore hemp as much as I do, don’t let that stop you. And definitely don’t leave out the hemp oil. The tiny amount really does add a distinct though mellow nutty undertone that would be missed otherwise.

Since I’m often asked what types of raw products I generally like to use, I figured I would now take the opportunity to compose a brief list with a few of my current favorites. The following list does not denote the only brands of ingredients to use when making this smoothie.

- I prefer Columbia River Organics frozen sliced peaches. You can find them at Whole Foods Market in the frozen fruit section. This brand has been the best tasting and most consistent of the many varieties that I have used. If you can find Columbia River Organics frozen peaches, definitely give them a go.

- I absolutely love the goji berries distributed by Natural Zing. I prefer the ones sold in the red bag as they are some of the best quality goji berries that I have found over the years.

- Living Harvest‘s cold-pressed, raw hemp oil is great. I really like their raw hemp protein powder as well.

- I don’t currently have a brand preference for white chia seeds. I just make sure that I trust the source from where I purchase the seeds. Of course certified organic chia seeds would be splendid but chemical-free, wild-crafted is great too. I chose white chia seeds because of aesthetic value (no dark specks throughout the smoothie) and milder chia flavor. If some some reason you are unable to obtain white chia seeds, feel free to use black chia seeds. It will be okay. Really!

A few tips…

To help limit your exposure to harmful pesticide residues and waxed coatings often associated with conventional produce, try to purchase organically grown fruits as often as possible.

The listed ingredients should amount to roughly 32 ounces of Peaches & Cream smoothie.

This smoothie isn’t overly sweet, however if your peaches are quite tart, you may need to add extra dates to help balance it out. Keeping the smoothie “just sweet” was my original intention, but it’s really going to come down to your individual preference.

The almond milk used for this recipe is a pre-sweetened blend. If you use plain almond milk, you may need to add an extra date or two to suite your taste.

If your goji berries are not soft and pliable, you can soak them in the almond milk for fifteen minutes or longer until they plump up enough for ease in blending. Soaking the goji berries in the almond milk ensures that flavor as well as minerals and vitamins are retained within the smoothie. I could go on here, but I’ll save that for later. [wink]

If your dates are not soft and pliable, you can soak them in a small amount pure water, just enough to cover the dates, for fifteen minutes or longer until they plump up enough for ease in blending. If you store your dates in the refrigerator, they will become stiff from the cold but will usually soften up somewhat after being left out at room temperature for a while. If they still seem hard, then definitely utilize the soak method.

50s Style Strawberry Shake

Morning Spice Smoothie

Island Paradise Smoothie

My ‘lil’ Cacao Smoothie

Basic Green Smoothie

My husband recently found a secret wineberry patch that he took me to this past Sunday. “Oh, the excitement!” If you remember what happened on our first encounter with the mysterious red berries, you’ll be happy to know that things went much better this second time around. It was relaxing to walk down the path, breathe in the fresh summer air and feel the sunshine periodically beam through the trees. Cute chipmunks littered our way as they darted across the path and dug around in the brush. We had never before seen so many chipmunks in one place. They were so fun! Of course there were also squirrels, birds, bees, all sorts of butterflies (yellow, white, periwinkle, orange, black, multicolored), a bunny, and beautiful dragonflies with big black wings and bright blue bodies that my husband deemed to be fairies. I agreed! Then we found the spider…the ginormous creepy-crawly from Land of the Lost.

We also saw four bucks gracefully gallop through the brush, which was a most memorable sight! I really wanted to see some deer that day and I certainly received an eyeful. They looked magical as they leapt with the whites of their tails glowing in the sunshine. Nearby there was a tiny lake with lots of small fish, two snakes (one was fishing!) that were believed to be copperheads, and an adorable little turtle that scurried deep into the water upon being discovered. Where we live we see a few wild creatures on a daily basis but somehow being surrounded by nature makes seeing so many of them feel more special.

It was a rummage fest to say the least. Overall, the berries weren’t as plentiful as they had been when my husband first discovered the patch. We figured that many of the resident creatures had been enjoying a berry feast, so we found ourselves digging deeper to find the sweet, red yumminess that is the wineberry. The blackberries were much easier to locate as they grew higher from the ground, however many that we found were not ripe enough to fully enjoy. But we did manage to pick a few juicy ones.

It seemed like we had foraged all there was until…

…”Jackpot!” Squeals of delight could have been heard by anyone within screaming earshot.

We found more berries hidden underneath some really sinister sticky ivy with tiny stinging barbs.

I’m still not exactly sure what type of ivy it was but it wasn’t too horrible as any irritation we experienced subsided shortly after the tiny barbs were removed. I remember finding the same type of ivy the last time we foraged for wineberries. My poor arms were covered in barbs and I feared the worst, but all ended well.

The wineberries we found were a lot sweeter and more flavorful than the ones from last time. I was amazed at the difference. I thought that maybe the soil had a lot to do with the flavor as the brambles were much more removed than the other patch we foraged. Of course we nibbled a few berries here and there, and then lost all control and ended up gobbling the whole lot before we even made it back to the car. But that’s what we had set out to do, to forage and gobble and enjoy the entire experience. I can’t imagine finding enough wineberries to last more than an hour, but I suppose there’s next time!

Remember when we first discovered wineberries? Check out the following link:

Wild, Wild Berries!