{Meatless Monday} Banana Berry Hemp Butter Lettuce Wrap!

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Hello lovelies!

Happy Meatless Monday!

Yesterday, I was in the kitchie doing a lot cooking and uncooking up a storm! I had 2 kinds of beans in two different crocks…black and lentils. I also made more coconut lime cookies, hemp seed butter, and cut and sliced up two watermelons, a cantaloupe, carrots, and celery!

It was a busy day! On top of that, I did some laundry, cleaned the bathroom all while the hubby watched the boys and tended to the outside of our home. It worked out really well. I took a few breaks to enjoy some much needed sunshine though which is when I realized my neighbors were BBQ’ing (it also smelled like they were cooking something in a crockpot too!).

Yesterday, our meal theme seemed to be tostadas/open faced taco related … breakfast… lunch… and dinner!  I didn’t intentionally plan out this way but funny how things work out.

It started with brekkie; where I made what I’m calling a banana berry butter tostada aka lettuce wrap  (see pic above)… then at lunch we had hummus tostadas and for din-din we had black bean tostadas with fresh gauc! See, I told ya, it was a tostada day.

All three versions were refreshingly yum for summer meals.  I wish I would have taken a photo of the black bean tostadas…damn! I was so proud of myself for not frying the organic corn tortillas in oil. I decided to use the toaster oven instead and was so happy with the results.  I put the toaster oven on broil and let them heat up until they were crisp and a little browned but not burnt by any means. No fuss, no mess and a crispy tortilla.  Anywho, I digress…

back to the main feature…

The idea for the banana berry butter lettuce wrap  came from Kristen Suzanne. Kristen is a raw vegan chef and has her own website known as Kristen’s Raw where she blogs about raw vegan foods and shares recipes. I happen to follow her updates on Facebook and  a few times she’s mentioned having something similar to the banana berry lettuce wraps.  I couldn’t locate the update in which she has the ingredients… but it went something like this…

(all organic, of course!)

cashew butter on a piece of romaine with sliced bananas for breakfast…yum!

After seeing the update it’s been stuck in my head since. I’m a huge banana and almond butter fan so, to say the least, I had to give this a try. Plus, it seemed like a quick and easy meal.

QUICK + EASY = SOLD!

So, while I was in the kitchie gettin’ all my ingredients together I realized we did not have any cashews… (could have sworn) so, hemp butter it was. Yes!  Hemp butter and NO! you can’t smoke it…haha!

If you have unhulled hemp seeds in your pantry just process them down into a butter…it only takes a few minutes. It’s very, very, tasty and VERY nutritious. The hemp seeds turn into a beautiful green color which in turn makes buttery GREEN goodness… it was SO meant to be! haha!

After the hemp seeds were pulverized down into a butter using my food processor; the rest of the recipe was a cinch! I also figured it wouldn’t hurt to add in the fresh strawberries from the farmer’s market…so in they went!

Banana Berry Hemp Butter Lettuce Wrap

2 leaves of Romaine

1 banana sliced

2-3 strawberries sliced

1/2 cup of hemp butter

sprinkle of cinnamon

And if you want you can sprinkle on some hemp and chia seeds for a little extra nutrition punch.

Directions:

Take your romaine leaves and using a knife, smother them with hemp butter or nut/seed butter of choice.  Next, add in sliced bananas and strawberries. Sprinkle on a little cinnamon, fold together and enjoy! These lettuce wraps are so filling and delicious. Believe it or not,  both boys ate them right up! I could not believe it. They LOVED it.

Too cool!  Honestly, this would be a great meal any time of the day or snack!

Thank you, Kristen, for all your wonderful raw vegan meal ideas!!! This one is definitely a keeper.

YUM!

I also made more Coconut Lime Cookies. I made a small batch of them last week but they were so damn good I had to make more.

& because I was once addicted to cereals….I found a little way to make these cookies into a fun bowl of yummy cereal. I confess, it was a late night snack, but nonetheless, a healthy one.

I crumbled up a couple cookies and poured homemade hemp milk over them…HOLY MOLY…it was like I was back in Fruit Loop heaven. SUPER good and no guilt!

Sarma’s Coconut Lime Cookie, Living Raw Food

Alone, these cookies are fantastic and remind me of  Key Lime Truffles from See’s Candy. Back in the day, my husband Tyler, would spoil me with a box of Key Lime Truffles from See’s …and guess what… I’d eat them all up, every single one! *gulp*  Shameful, I know.  I MUST say, lately, anything too sweet, like, fake sweet is starting to taste like CRAP. Seriously. Slowly but surely this candy craving of mine is diminishing. YAY!  Pass me the greens, please….

The hubby and I have had numerous discussions about our newly clean diet (approx 6 mos +) and we’re really starting to notice a difference in the way we feel as well as when we eat something that’s processed, refined, fried…etc. It’s been an amazing journey for us and I love comparing notes about how eating less meat and including more and more greens into our diet has made a significant difference.

On Friday night, we were craving a good stir fry meal and by accident my poor hubby added a little too much water so it really steamed down the veggies and made them mushy!  Of course, we all know stir fry veggies are usually a little firm and al dente, if you will… lol!

It was a tiny sweet mistake but in the end we both couldn’t believe we truly, in our heart of hearts, wanted our veggies closer to raw and the mushy-ness factor was not pleasing…even though we ate as not to waste food. It was great knowing this though.

AND then all weekend after this mushy dinner… I was craving celery!

Is that weird?! Haha! (NO, I’m not pregnant!)

Alrighty, well, I’ve gotta run…

looking forward to tonight’s yummy’s

Mushroom Burgers and Quinoa Pistachio Salad…

Hope you have a fabulous Monday!

and as always, please feel free to share any meatless recipes in the comments or on our Facebook page!

What are you having?

Collecting natural spring water: my kind of bottled water!

Hello!

How are ya? All is well here, just playing a little catch up. The laundry/unpacking is the worst part to tackle after being away for a few days or more. sheesh!

Oh! How I miss the view of Mt. Shasta! Isn’t is gorgegous?!!? I definitely would not mind having this view on my daily drive everyday. I’ve never seen so much snow on it this time of year. The drive we took from Redding up to Mt. Shasta city is picturesque. Absolutely stunning everywhere. When out on the road were big fans of natural hot springs. A natural hot soak from nature is the best thing ever. I highly recommended the experience of enjoying a natural hot spring. It’s a nice way to end the day after a hike in the wilderness.

Before, I digress, I’ve always known about “hot springs” and “spring water” but it never really occurred to me that it was available for the masses. I learned about the importance of collecting natural spring water last summer after listening to Daniel Vitalis during the Raw Moms Summit. After learning such pertinent information I took it upon myself to start doing more research on it and find out where I could locate a spring to do so ourselves.

The thought was fascinating… collecting spring water straight from the source… no additives, unprocessed… full of rich minerals and pure! It was something I felt we had to do and since we’ve been on the road to eating cleaner and eliminating toxins from our daily lives. We’ve had a reverse osmosis system for a little over a year now and it’s been such a treat to have clean drinking water. I wish the entire system was throughout the house but unfortunately it’s just available in the kitchen. I’m certainly not complaining, but collecting spring water was just something really unfamothable until just the other day. I mean seriously, who needs bottled water when you get your water from the source!

Before leaving  town, we scrounged for a few bottles to take with and boxed them up. The day we arrived at the Headwaters of the Sacramento River we were so excited and noticed others were pulling up to the spring as well. Some filling up gallon bottles but mainly lots of varied sizes. It was such a sacred feeling once we walked up to the spring. I felt like we were taking something so special and didn’t want to be a water hog! LOL! Honestly it felt like we brought home gold. You get the feelin’ the place is so well respected, as it should be!!!

The area was pristine and not a bit of trash in site. I observed lots of locals pull right up to the spring fill up their water bottles like it was daily routine and my goodness sakes the jealously that raged over me during that moment. What a gem of a place to live so closely to. I’d be there as often as possible. Which is why, I feel as though the bottled spring water we hauled halfway down the state, is liquid gold!

Both boys experienced the spring but as I mentioned in my previous post update, the camera battery died and I had no way of recharging it, so pics with the eco tot were not taken (  Taking pictures wasn’t my main priority though. Experiencing the spring and taking it all in was. It’s not easy and convenient to lug around my Nikon D40 with 2 kids, water bottles and whatever else. haha!  After the eco tot (my 3 year old) took his first sip he said “this sure is some good water!” which proceeded with an “ahhhhhh” sound. It was hilarious and totally worth the trip.

Our collected spring water! So pure and crystal clear.

I kicked myself for leaving behind our growler from Etna it would have made a good collection jug!

Clark getting his first sip of natural spring water straight from the source- right out of the ground!

Can you believe there are people actually standing in line waiting for the spot were in?

& moi…  feeling so grateful &  spiritual here…

I paused for a long time before walking away with freshly collected spring water…

the taste was incredible and so refreshingly alive!

The lower portion of the headwaters. The area was beautiful with a park to hang out and picnic at. Big redwood trees surrounded the area and there was a lovely bridge that took off over the headwaters and into the woods. There was plenty of nature exploring to be had. We saw lot’s of butterflies and heard the sound of many birds. At the Mt. Shasta highway exit we even spotted a Bald Eagle nest!

We did just that and visited the headwaters twice on our trip. We wanted to do the second spring located in Mt. Shasta but we ran out of time. “So much to see, so much to do- so little time” syndrome quickly sank in and we really didn’t want to rush from one place to the next. Our time was somewhat limited. Next time, for sure… and a little more planning for that trip- like having a charged batteries

While in Mt. Shasta City we found Berryvale Natural Foods store which we immediately fell in love with! I heart natural foods stores and hunt them down in every town. I even picked up a few things our natural foods store doesn’t carry in bulk like unhulled sesame seeds, vanilla beans, blueberry roiboos tea, lucuma powder &  fresh raw honey comb because they weren’t a rip off like some natural food stores can be so we indulged a little.

I couldn’t believe how fairly priced everything was.  We even tried Coconut Bliss (Cherry Amaretto) for the first time and it was seriously {blissful} and it deserves a separate post cuz it’s my new obsession besides collection natural spring water-  hee, hee!

I can’t wait to get my hands on another pint. Mmm, so delish!  We picnicked Saturday and Sunday at the Headwaters park and ate yummy fresh food from the Berryvale cafe + noshed on fresh black berries from a local farm near Redding. We even tried sunflower sprouts for the first time and they were fantastic. Crunchy and a little sweet. The”sprout guy” was selling them right outside the market from the back of his truck.

I’m SO going to sprout some sunflower seeds just so I can have em’ on my salads and in my smoothies or atop my Coconut Bliss ice cream…which is something, I admittedly; did while sitting in the park watching the boys play with my husband. Ahhh… the memories… LOL!

I miss it so much that every time we leave and arrive home I do everything I can to bring home a little piece of our heaven…

This time it was natural spring water. OMGoodness, truly heaven on earth!

The plague reads: Mt Shasta, City of Pure Water… if, you don’t have time to head to the spring…  fill up here!

The thought that Nestle waters once  considered opening up a plant in Mt. Shasta is sickening!

Thank goodness for intervention by the city & it’s people because who knows what could happen once “Corporate America” gets involved.

It was beyond beautiful there and I’m really looking forward to visiting more springs in the near future.  Fern Spring in Yosemite Valley is next on our list!!

I highly recommend, finding a spring in your area, it’s worth the experience, in so many ways.

Have you collected natural spring water recently?  What are your thoughts?

Clorox Deserves A Spanking!

Photo by Alessandro Perilli

OMG! Have you seen the new Clorox bleach commercial? Count yourself lucky if you haven’t. Their new slogan is ” useful in many ways” and suggests using bleach to clean out baby bottles!! WTF! Baby bottles? As I listened and watched with shock I could not believe they actually depicted a person rinsing out a baby bottle that contained a solution of bleach and putting onto the drying rack.

What I can’t stop thinking about is the possible residue that could potentially get left behind if not rinsed completely. The commercial suggests to use a tbsp. of bleach in a gallon of water- soak baby bottles for 2 minutes and then allow to dry. Where’s the final rinse???   What an unsafe scenario.   Bleach in your precious newborn baby’s mouth? I think not!

There’s actually two versions of the commercial. One that just suggests using it by giving the ingredient recipe and the other touts their new slogan while mentioning other “useful” ways to use it.  Clorox must be feeling the green shift! They figure us mom’s are an easy target since we’re the ones who reach into our wallets. Not this mom, thank you very much!

How does a company stoop so low? I mean think about it,  do you really need bleach to clean out a baby bottle? Last I checked,  boiling baby bottles in hot water kills germs. I even know moms that use a crockpot to sterlize their baby bottles and don’t use an ounce of bleach. I mean c’mon Clorox! We now you’re product is a posion. I’m pretty sure you’re one of the reason’s we have  posion control centers; in case accidents happen- because afterall toddlers are curious.I’m completely disgusted that Clorox bleach is advocating the use of bleach in an infant product- especially one that happens to be their main source nutrition. Let’s discuss the dangers of bleach- shall we:

Read more

Back On Track: Placenta Power!

Hola! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Tristan had a blast hunting for eggs this year. It will be so neat to watch them both one day. On Saturday, we visited my grandparents. My grandma is in a private hospital facility receiving therapy for her back injury.. She broke her back twice (lower and upper) in 2 months time. She’s doing well actually and was in good spirits. We ate lunch together and it turned out to be a lovely visit. I also brought home freshly picked lemons from their backyard. Oh boy!! We made lemonade and oatmeal cranberry chocolate chip cookies for Easter.

BTW- Clark is named after my Grandpa: Joseph Clark

I’m doing my best to get back on track. What a great 10 or so days it’s been. It’s gone by FAST. I think I’m at the point where it feels manageable. Even though, I know there WILL BE phases and transitions ahead.  So far, Clark has been a good sleeper and eater. He observes and tracks objects when he’s awake. He’s even cracked a few smiles for us. He’s stretching out and learning about the new world around him daily. I’m suprised at how well he’s adapted to our routine. I’ve been co-sleeping with him from the start and can’t believe how easy it makes our lives. He sleeps in his moses basket for the first couple hours of the evening then I take him into bed with me. The four of us rest easy together.

We have an Arms Reach co-sleeper we used with Tristan and it’s set up so that I can eventually place him in there. For now, I’m just enjoying this soft, sweet, precious time. I just gaze at him endlessly and try to bottle up his smell and photograph the cute little faces he makes into my brain.

It’s amazing what having a baby will do to you- emotionally, physically and mentally…the sweet joys of new life – I’m loven’ it! I feel like it’s brought a balance to our family dynamics.

Anyway, with all the hormones engaging in my body from pregnancy to birth and beyond…

I chose to dehydrate my placenta! I did this with Tristan’s placenta. I feel like many the benefits you receive from ingesting the placenta are completely worth the cost. It’s a bit pricey. I felt like my energy was restored and overall I was always in a great mood.

Some people are a little grossed out on the idea of it.

I say- Waste Not, Want Not- Why not!!!!!! It goes right down my throat and I don’t taste a thing. Hey, they’re worse things that can be ingested – at least this one provides health benefits unlike your typical McDonald’s hamburger…now that’s gross in my opinion!

I digress.

I’m fortunate enough that my midwife has done this process for years now which allows me to have such a wonderful opportunity! I received it a few days after birth. I take 1 pill 3x a day – I store the jar in the freezer. My placenta made 280 pills…my midwife said it was the biggest placenta she’s dehydrated!

Placenta has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years. It is considered one of the most powerful qi tonics and nourishes the medians of the lungs, liver, and kidney’s during pregnancy. Especially helpful postpartum due to the added stresses placed on the kidneys during pregnancy.

Benefits: (For recovery postpartum) energy levels are up, feelings of strength and overall well being, strengthened immune system, restored sex drive, increased milk supply, emotional balancing, restores hemoglobin levels back to normal.

Would you ingest your placenta for it’s great benefits?

LunchBots: A Non Toxic, Healthier Alternative

Packing a lunch without using plastic can be a challenging. With all the Ziploc baggies and plastic containers out there makes it hard to avoid. Packing a healthy lunch is one thing but having to worry about packing a plastic and waste free lunch is where it can get difficult.

Look no further…LunchBots are here to the rescue! 100% stainless steel and non toxic lunch containers.

LunchBots was created by a mom who couldn’t find any non-plastic containers to use and no longer wanted to worry about which plastics are safe. Sound familiar?

Jacqueline Linder of LunchBots began the company with the idea that we could eliminate the use of Ziploc bags and other plastic containers that are harmful to the environment. Plus, she wanted them to be unique and have a great design so kids AND parents would love them. Read more

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