Juicing - Day 2

It's Day 2 and I'm feeling like myself again.

No longer in pain and my head is clear, less foggy. So happy to feel normal again, so I'm finishing off Day 3 tomorrow and will slowly return to grains over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I'll stock up on proteins, vegetables, and fruits. I've been craving stuffed vegetables, so this would be the perfect time to experiment with some dishes.

My breakfast today, the Green Lemonade, was a bit strong like yesterday's lunch. However, the Green Apple was delicious. If you need a new juice recipe, I would recommend it. And dinner was even better with the addition of chocolate, so this recipe is a keeper as well. The substitution of raw milk for the water would make it even more divine.

Green Lemonade

Printable Recipe

1/2 head Romaine lettuce (blanched)

4 medium stalks celery (washed well)

6 kale leaves (washed well and blanched)

1 lemon (washed well)

1" fresh ginger (washed well)

raw honey, to taste

Cut all vegetables into pieces that will fit through a juicer. Juice all ingredients together, add raw honey to taste, and enjoy.

Green Apple

Printable Recipe

2 cups spinach (washed well and blanched)

6 kale leaves (washed well and blanched)

2 green apples (washed well)

1/2 cucumber (end cut off and washed well)

1 lemon (washed well)

1" fresh ginger (washed well)

parsley, to taste

Cut all vegetables into pieces that will fit through a juicer. Juice all ingredients together, add parsley to taste, and enjoy.

Chocolate Nut Milk
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup raw cashews
2 cups filtered water or raw milk
3 tbsp raw cacao
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tsp raw honey
sea salt, pinch

Soak the raw cashews in 1 cup filtered water and 1/2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar for 12 hours (start in the morning). Drain the water and add the cashews to a blender. Next add all other items to the blender (ice cubes are optional to chill and thicken). Liquefy and enjoy.

Juicing - Day 1

Raise your hand if you love juice!

I love juicing foods. My fiancé bought me a juicer as a gift a few years ago and I love creating my own concoctions of vegetable and fruit drinks every so often. Sometimes food tastes so good, I can't waste time chewing.

However, I also use juicing when I'm not feeling well - which would be today. I ate something wacky a few weeks ago (which I still cannot figure out what it could have been) and decided to drink juice for a few days to reset my digestive system. I have been eating well, but still just haven't felt like myself. The last time I drank juice, or had a juice fast, was several years ago, so this is not something I do often. I should also caveat that this is not to lose weight or do anything hokey. This is more or less to give my digestive system a break. I had great success the last time, and thus far today I'm feeling much better already.

I thought sharing some new juice drinks I discovered in case anyone else likes juicing would be fun, and maybe you can share your own juicing tips as well.

Also, I blanch my greens in hot water on the stove until they are completely wilted to rid them of any antioxidants. All the other foods are fine to eat raw, but the greens can actually be counterintuitive without blanching them.

Breakfast: 8 oz filtered water with 1/2 juiced lemon

                   Great Eliminator

Lunch: Powerade

Snack: 8 oz Green tea with 1/2 juiced lemon

Dinner: Nut Milk

The Great Eliminator tasted like carrots and ginger, which wasn't bad, but the Powderade was a bit much for me. Too many competing flavors and the ginger was stronger than the first juice. Neither really impressed compared to my regular rotation of juices. The Nut Milk was decent, but also not impressive. It was surprisingly not sweet at all, which disappointed my wicked sweet tooth. Tomorrow brings some new juices, so hopefully they're more tasty - either way, I still feel better which is my goal.

Great Eliminator

Printable Recipe

2 small beets (ends cut off & washed well)

1 medium cucumber (ends cut off & washed well)

1/2 head Romaine lettuce (blanched)

10 skinny carrots (ends cut off & washed well)

1" fresh ginger (washed well)

Cut all vegetables into pieces that will fit through a juicer. Juice all ingredients together and enjoy.

 

Powerade

Printable Recipe

7 kale leaves (washed & blanched)

1 lemon (washed)

2 small beets (ends cut off & washed well)

1/2 medium cucumber (end cut off & washed well)

4 medium celery stalks (washed well)

1" fresh ginger (washed well)

raw honey, to taste

Cut all vegetables into pieces that will fit through a juicer. Juice all ingredients together, add raw honey to taste, and enjoy.

 

Nut Milk

Printable Recipe

1/2 cup raw cashews

2 cups filtered water

1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp vanilla

2 tsp raw honey

sea salt, pinch

Soak the raw cashews in 1 cup filtered water and 1/2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar for 12 hours (start in the morning). Drain the water and add the cashews to a blender. Next add all other items to the blender (ice cubes are optional to chill and thicken). Liquefy and enjoy.

Project Food Blog #7 - Grape Dumpling Purses

This entry for Project Food Blog is to put one of my favorite recipes on film. I chose to demonstrate how simple the Cherokee Grape Dumpling recipe is to make, and even personalized it for the holidays.

The intriguing aspect of Cherokee cooking is the fact most of the known recipes are post-The Trail of Tears.  This recipe traditionally calls for Possum Grapes, which are found growing wild along river beds in Oklahoma - not the original tribal grounds of the Cherokee Nation, as they are historically in the North Carolina region. Many of the recipes tribes came to use and pass along today are from survival techniques in their new territories, and I respect their strength.

The original recipe has two parts: dough and a grape reduction sauce. Although using fresh grapes is best, this adaptation is to make introduction to Cherokee cooking easy and possible for anyone new to this genre. This new recipe calls for organic phyllo dough to create 'purses' for the grape dumplings, perfect for the upcoming holidays.

I hope you enjoy my first video recipe: Grape Dumpling Purses.

Le Grand Fromage, Grape Dumpling Purses - Project Food Blog from Kylene Gay on Vimeo.

This project would not have been possible without the wonderfully multi-talented Kylene of Forever by Kylene (long time readers will remember her from my first post Panini de Chocolat et Brie). Thank you, Kylene!

We had a wonderful time making this video together, and hope you all have enjoyed it as well.

Thank you all so much for your support throughout this process. Voting for this round is Novemeber 15th - 18th, so please visit my profile to vote!

Grape Dumpling Purses
Printable Recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp turbinado
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 1/4 cups grape juice, divided

4 layers organic phyllo dough
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp turbinado
4 pieces of 6" kitchen string

Mix dry ingredients together, then add the coconut oil. Next stir in 1/4 cup grape juice. Roll the dough out to 1/4" thick and cut into 1/2" strips.

Bring 2 cups grape juice to a low boil and add the strips, cooking for 10 - 12 min and stirring occasionally.

Lay the phyllo dough on a flat surface and coat with melted butter on one side. Then sprinkle the turbinado over the melted butter. Carefully flip the phyllo dough over so the turbinado caramelizes on the outside of the purses. Add 1/4 cup grape dumplings in four pockets on the plain side of the phyllo dough. Use a pizza cutter to cut the four individual purses. Gently gather the corners of the phyllo dough ensuring none of the grape dumplings can leak out and tie the purses loosely with the string.

Place the purses on a buttered baking sheet, transferring with a spatula to keep them intact. Bake in a 400*F oven for 10 min until the phyllo dough is brown and caramelized on the outside. Serve immediately.

~Yields 4 purses (with extra grape dumplings left over).

~Original by Brie.