I’m not a fan of Galaxy Nutritional Foods after I tried their cream cheese, maybe you will like their products, they seem to have quite a few. They were kind enough to send me a free product coupon and two $0.55 off coupons. As I have no interest in their products, I’m giving them away.

Image from: couponkatarina.com

How to enter:
Comment below: I want to win a glutenfree vegan prize from Aireater.com

BONUS entries:
1. Tweet at me, “@LidiaLF I want to win a #glutenfree #vegan prize from Aireater.com #aireatercontest”
2.  Like the Air Eater Facebook page and comment on the wall, “I want to win a glutenfree vegan prize from Aireater.com”

Conest details:
- Only Canadian residents as the coupons are not good in the US
- Start date: Jan. 22, 2012 @ 9:30am EST
- End date: Jan. 24, 2012 @ 12:00pm EST
- Winner will be picked at random

Good luck!

I never really liked zucchini much before incorporating more raw food into my diet. Before I used to think: it’s bland, it doesn’t taste like a potato, it’s just boring. These days I go out of my way to buy zucchini to either eat raw as ‘pasta’, or to make zucchini chips. The first time I made these, I ate them so fast I didn’t get a photo.

I made them again and this time decided to take a picture first. Here goes:

Ingredients:
2-3 medium sized zucchinis
3 to 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp finely minced fresh garlic
1 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/4 tbsp Himalayan salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper or more if you like it spicy
1 tbsp fresh basil
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary

Directions:
Slice the zucchini into very thin slices use a mandolin for best results or if you’re super handy with a knife do so by hand. Mix the rest of the ingredients well till all is coated. You can let the mix sit for an hour or so, but if you’re really in a hurry you’ll still have great results if you don’t. Place the mixture onto a Teflex sheet, be careful to spoon the chips as to avoid excess moisture from gathering ont the sheet. Set dehydrator for 115 and leave for 8 hours, then take out, remove the chips from the sheet and place onto the mesh, be sure to turn each chip. Place back in for another 8 hours. Dependant on your crispy tastes you can leave the chips for up to 20 hours, some chips will still be chewy as they are either too thick or have retained the mixture liquid. It’s up to you after the second time around.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed these chips, I guarantee you will want to double this recipe. I managed to get three trays onto one mesh after I came to flip them, but I didn’t crowd the chips the first round either.

Happy eating!

I have been given a Versatile Blogger Award from the lovely Toxic Vegan. Just like in her post I’m going to re-iterate the rules for the award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award on to 15 more bloggers that You enjoy.
4. Contact the bloggers that you have chosen to let them know that they have been nominated!

Here are 7 facts about me:

1)  I was born with a droopy eyelid and had surgery when I was 4, without it I would have probably gone blind in my left eye, I have 20/20 vision as a result.

2)  I am married to @MathieuLLF and I have no intention of having children. I really enjoy my fur babies Yuki and Yoshi. They are enough for me and I really don’t want to hear you’ll change your mind.

3)  My second toe is bigger than the rest, which makes shoe shopping a bit difficult, to boot I am a size 9.5.

4) I was originally left handed, but my mom changed me to right. I do often use my left predominately with foods that require chopsticks/spoon ie Pho.

5)  I’m an ENTJ, I’ve taken the test about four times with the same result.

6)  I share my birthday with my current boss.

7)  My favourite band is Radiohead.

The 15 bloggers that I want to nominate for this award are:

1. http://breadwithoutbutter.blogspot.com/
2. http://www.gingeristhenewpink.blogspot.com/
3. http://itsveganlicious.com/
4. http://jenojoon.com/
5. http://knitsbynat.blogspot.com/
6. http://littlethingsbigthings.com/
7. http://www.martysflyingveganreview.com/
8. http://silkpurse.blogspot.com/
9. http://www.theveganversion.com/
10. http://veganmiam.com/
11. http://vegantriangle.tumblr.com/
12. http://veganvamps.blogspot.com/
13. http://earthremedy.blogspot.com/
14. http://www.yourdailyvegan.com/
15. http://howilost150pounds.wordpress.com/

So now all these bloggers will know that I think they are special and I love what they do. I hope they perpetuate the award onto their favourite/deserving 15 bloggers.

Keep the love going!

I never knew I’d like zucchini so much as I do now. If you asked me a few years ago I would have made a face and laughed. Now, I really appreciate them and their zero calorie content, as well as the base they provide as ‘pasta’ in a raw dish.

I made raw ‘spaghetti’ with three different sauce toppings:

1. Marinara
2. Cashew ‘cheese’
3. Cauliflower ‘rice’

What are the little dots you’re asking? When you spiralize vegetables there’s a small circle tube that comes from the vegetable and I thought to slice it up and use as decoration.

The marinara was dead easy used a recipe from Give it to me Raw, the cauliflower mash was a recipe from Gone Raw, and the cashew cheese was my own recipe.

It was a simple yet satisfying meal. I also had some of my tomato bread, which has become a staple in the house, with the cashew cheese and there you have it; healthy and enjoyable.

Happy eating!

Now that we have a juicer, I am constantly looking to see what pulp I can dehydrate and what it might turn into. I was a huge fan of Craisins, until I saw how many calories were in a serving. Way too many for what I thought was a healthy snack. I figure making my own is healthier and personally satisfying.

Easy as a raw pie really.

Directions:
Wash a bag of cranberries, juice them, then take the pulp and then add whatever sweetener you want to use plus some lime/lemon juice. Mix all that together and spread out on a dehydrator sheet. Set your dehydrator at 115F for at least three hours. Check periodically till they’re dry enough for you. Some people prefer a chewy consistency.

Sorry to no after photo I couldn’t stop eating them.

I am a sucker for Bubble Tea. Every time we go to Pacific Mall I have to have one, my favourite flavour is pomegranate, and I love the texture of tapioca. I figured, how can I make this semi raw? I figure using chia seeds instead of tapioca would work.

Carob Chia Seed Bubble Tea (1 serving)
1/4 cup Chia Seeds
1 tbsp Toasted Carob Powder (or Cacao nib)
1 tbsp Evaporated Cane Juice sugar (or coconut sugar, raw agave, etc.)
1 cup of brewed tea or sun tea
1 1/2 cups of almond milk (or favourite mylk)
1/2 cup of ice
1/2 cup sliced strawberries

Directions:

Soak the chia seeds in the almond milk in a medium sized bowl as they will expand. Stir occasionally for 10 minutes, mixture will thicken slightly. Cover the bowl and soak in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 hours. Make a cup of your favorite green tea, a fruit variety would add flavour, but any will do. Cool to room temperature.

If you have a large shaker cup with a lid, use this, or a container with a tight lid. Pour the rest of the ingredients with the refrigerated mixture. Make sure your container is closed tight and
shake for a minute.

Add the strawberries first and then pour the mixture over and serve.

I decided to try my hand at making ravioli with fresh coconut meat. I figured this would dehydrate nicely and be adaptable to a savoury dish. What’s ravioli without ‘cheese’? I also made a cashew cream cheese that really complimented the coconut: soaked cashews, 1/4 cup of coconut water, 1.5 tbsp minced garlic, a pinch of salt, a bit of fresh basil and blended it up. Worked like a charm.

If you’ve never opened a young thai coconut, I do suggest you check out a few videos as there is really easy way to do so. Plus, you might want to have a hacking knife and not ruin your nice chopping knives.

Once I extracted the coconut meat I cleaned if off with purified water to remove any of the inner shell. I just scraped it with a spoon, but you can buy fancy coconut scrapers if you’re going to be doing this often. Then I added 2 tbsp of the coconut water into a blender with the meat and set the machine to puree. That done, I spread the mixture onto a Teflex sheet, making sure to keep the height at 1/4″. Then I set the dehydrator to 115F for 6 hours and came to check in on it. I did flip it after I found it to be stiff enough to do so and then put it back in for another 6 hours.

When it was done I was able to literally cut the ravioli square with kitchen scissors.

I spiralized some zucchini and made a marinara sauce from a recipe on Give it to me Raw. Then sandwiched the raw cashew spread in between two pieces of dehydrated coconut. It was delicious and I hope you do take the time to make this.

Happy eating!

Thank you everyone for entering! I really appreciate the effort people went to. I tallied all your names in a random order on a spread sheet and asked Mat to pick a number.

Gina was lucky number 6!

There will be another Bob’s Red Mill item give away in March.

Happy eating!

Being on this raw kick has me being inventive and looking for inspiration where I can find it. During our visit to Belmonte Raw, we had a fantastic collard wrap and I just loved it. Carol you are the master of these things! I think I need to get bigger wrap leaves as I really couldn’t close mine, perhaps I over loaded it, but either way I managed to eat it.

So here’s what I did:

1 Collard leaf
1 tbsp macadamia nut cheese (or any “cheese” really)
1/2 red pepper
1/4 cup tomatoes sliced
1/4 cup red cabbage

As I’m rather fond of macadamia nuts I had to try making some kind of nut cheese. I didn’t really think much about what I wanted to make, I just figured let’s do something small and see if I even like it. The great thing about macadamia nuts is you do NOT have to soak them, yes, that’s right, they’re great to eat raw. Which is a bonus if you’re impatient and just want something quick to make.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw macadamia nuts
1/3 of a red pepper
2 Sun dried tomatoes finely chopped
2 Basil leaves

Use a high powered blender or a really good food processor. Add 1/3 cup of filtered water and the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Line a container with cheese cloth and empty contents into the liner – then squeeze! If you have a nut milk bag, that’s good too, I have been meaning to get one; an old school cheese cloth works just as well.

Once you’ve squeezed out the water – that’s it! No refrigeration, no waiting with weights, ready to eat.

Here’s what mine looked like:

It was very crumbly and really tasty as a feta cheese minus the intense salt. Hope you try this, it’s easy to do and fun to squeeze out all frustrations.