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Raw Food Recipe Raspberry-Orange Thumprints. agave free

Good Morning everyone!

I often get emails from those wanting a sweet tasty treat that is light and agave free due to the controversy whether agave is too high in sugar or not.

Personally I do not use agave when making sweets for myself. I will not avoid it all costs, however I will always choose stevia or honey over agave any day!

Anywho...the recipe for today was inspired by the new Cafe Gratitude Thumbprint Cookies now available at most health food stores. These cookies are delish and I will not bat an eye at paying the 7.00 for 6 of those little suckers. However...home made is always more economical and fun!

I chose to sweeten these cookies with fruits and dry fruits for a nice alternative to agave. ENJOY!

Raspberry-Orange Thumbprint Cookies

makes apx 47 cookies

Cookie
3 c walnuts
2 c dry golden figs
½ c honey dates pitted. Soaked in water till soft if necessary.
1 TB orange zest
1/3 c Fresh squeezed orange juice
½ c pure water
1/8 tsp Himalayan salt

Filling
10 oz red raspberries
Blend raspberries gently in blender until smooth. Be careful not to over blend breaking the delicate seeds.

Step 1: Soak walnuts and figs over night in separate bowls. In the morning rinse well and strain.
Step 2: In food processor, pure all ingredients until dough-like and relatively smooth.
Step 3: Using a mini ice cream scoop or TB measure, scoop dough into balls, place in dehydrator sheet.

Step 4: using a ½ TB measure or small spoon gently press and scoop over the top of each cookie creating a little “thumbprint” for the raspberry sauce to go into.
Of course you may use your thump!
Once all cookies have a print, spoon filling into each hole made, then place into dehydrator at 110 until desired dryness is achieved.

Stores well in sealed container in fridge.

xxMelissa Mango

Raw Food Recipe Cherry-Fig Cereal

Wondering the farmer's market two days ago looking for a recipe muse, I was inspired when my eyes came accross Dahveed sampling CHERRIES! oh my goodnessss! Finally!

I love the dark juicy cherries that are plump and ready to be devoured! I also like to use cherries in light recipes such as desserts and breakfast items!
Here is the recipe I did for Cafe Gratitude yesterday at Monday Night Live hosted by the amazin Shea Lynn Baird and her husband Steven of Every Body Cleanse Studio!

My food demo was focused on Nut Free meals inspiring others to go lighter on the daily intake of nuts. I love creating simple recipes that are both sustaining and have water content! Wet granola! what a concept!!


Let me know what you think! ~Melissa

Cherry-Fig Cereal serves 4-6
2 Fuji apples fine dice
1 c ripe in season cherries pitted/coursley chopped
1 loose c blonde figs chopped fine
1/2 c large sexy coconut flakes
1/3 c goji berries
4-5 TB chia seeds
Cinnamon
Vanilla bean powder
Optional: Add 1/2 c sprouted almonds chopped

You may adjust sweetness to your liking by adding a drizzle of pourable honey, clear agave or maple ryrup.
Place all prepped ingredients into large bowl and toss. Adjust sweetest to your liking by adding a drizzel of clear agave or pourable honey.
Before serving, cover your portioned bowl of cereal with (seed, nut, hemp or raw) milk to soften and activate chia.

Let sit for 5 minutes. =) Chia will begin to soften and plump.

With remaining cereal, place in fridge for later snack or quick breakfast the following day.

photo: entropy

Raw Recipe: Carrot cake shake

“C” is for cake! Carrot that Is!

I have been big into smoothies lately mostly because I prefer to drink my food rather than sit down and eat it, being so close to my due date! There is little room in there these days, but there is always room for carrot cake shake!
With fall and winter flavors making their ways into my daily foodie routine I craved a morning smoothie that would deliver the nutrition I have been used to as well as boldly take the place of my orange-banana green smoothie. Mmmm…who can say no to cake first thing in the mornin’? This smoothie is the real deal! Delicious, nutritious and very simple to make! Enjoy!
Originally from Asia, the mighty carrot is easily assimilated by our bodies even left raw; with numerous health benefits. (Why am I not surprised that ever fruit or vegetable has amazing health benefits!) Chinese practitioners say that carrots are not only a tasty sweet root vegetable; it is good for the health of spleen and stomach. It is also believed to improve impotence (lower sexual drive), sexual dysfunction, night blindness, long term cough (or call hundred days cough in Chinese medical prescription) besides strengthening kidney and eliminating excessive wind and cold in our body. Can you turn orange from too many carrots? Sure…but that would take A LOT!
When picking carrots, try shopping at your local farmer’s market and seek out the organic, smaller, more “rustic” stubby and fat carrots. Over the past 150 years of modern day agriculture, carrots have been hybrid (altered genetically) to be the size of walking sticks! Most if not all hybrid produce is a far cry from what nature intended, yet still fine to eat. No need to completely avoid hybrid produce like carrots, juts be aware that these foods should be enjoyed minimally and that if you have a choice for the OG (Original) v.s the perfectly nubby carrots: go that route! Hybrid foods do contain a little more sugar than the non hybrids. Again, awareness is fine. Fanaticism isn’t. Now, back to the cake part!

Get 111 more recipes in Melissa E Book HERE!

Carrot cake shake Serves 1
1 c ice
1 small ripe banana (Frozen is suggested for thicker texture)
½ c fresh carrot juice
½ c almond milk OR: ( ½ c water + 1/3 c soaked cashews)
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ TB Pumpkin pie spice
3 big, juicy medjool dates pitted
Place all ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth
Garnish with ground pecan pieces and cinnamon

* Optional health-nut kick: Add ½ tsp of Spirulina if you need a boost of protein. This may slightly change up the flavor, but deliver the nutrition you deserve.

To nab a copy of Melissa’s Amazing E-book Click HERE!
A total of 112 delicious recipes! Nut free & agave free options!

xxMelissa

Due date, doc visit and food cravings update

The visit with our OB/ Midwife yesterday went well. I saw her on the 17th of Nov. on the day she gave me as my official "due date". The due date is an interesting topic for me, I am so glad you brought it up! I remember when I first went in for care and the nurses were trying to calculate my due date based on the last day of my period. Apparently this is just how they do it. Funny thing is and I hope you don't mind me sharing this bit with you: The due date they were giving me I was resistant to accept for the simple fact that one needs to have sex in order to become pregnant right! As the nurse was calculating the date for me, I was explaining to her that she can not count my "last period dates" because I was not sexually active at that time, so how could I possibly be pregnant???

The two different nurses I saw totally ignored my comments almost as if I was speaking Japanese or a total idiot. It was too funny. I was upset and annoyed at first because I do in fact think it is silly to count days of pregnancy when there couldn't possibly be a fertilized egg! Then I just laughed at the ridiculous of it all. Why am I counting a week or two of pregnancy that couldn't possibly of happen? Oh well, Ill let then play their game and calculate away on their Iphones.

Nov 17th was the due date they gave me and I knew better so I made my own date based on factual-sexual contact! =)

The rest of my check up yesterday went well. My midwife told me that I am currently dilated to 2 cm! She said that this means my body is preparing yet it does promise I will go into labor anytime real soon. She did mention that it is common for women to dilate from 1-3 cm and stay there for 2 or so weeks! Before our time was up, she said there was no need to book anymore appointments. Hint hint....

The past few days I have preparing the house for guests and baby, sunbathing, sleeping and working on my new ebooks! People often ask me in these final days of waddle

"Are you nervous?!

Truthfully, I am not nervous eventhough I joke about it and make scary faces when asked if I am getting an epidural. I am more excited about my own body's birthing process and curious about how it will all go first hand. In preparation for this great unknown, I have read many uplifting birth stories online, viewed home videos on YouTube of women laboring in their bathtubs and beds, watched movies on water birth, orgasmic births and conscious birthing techniques. Over the past few months I have read all kinds of interesting articles from Elimination Communication, to A Lotus birth all part of the many facets of natural child birth. I know that all of this information has been wonderful and encouraging resources, however my experience will be all its own! Yeah! So excited!

FOOD!? YES! New developments in the topic of food and my pregnancy has taken place.

A few months into my High Raw-Vegan pregnancy I began to crave eggs and raw-goats cheese in a major way. I made the decision to eat these foods and to my initial suprise, felt absolutely amazing as a result! I am guessing it was due to the combinations and the frequency I was eating these new foods, as well as the other fresh foods in my diet. For example, I would poach one or two eggs and enjoy them over a nice green salad instead of toast or pancakes. I would typically do this once or twice a week. This felt very balancing for me personally and I let go of my personal judgements I had about incorporating non raw-vegan foods into my diet. I had fully intended on having a High Raw Vegan Pregnancy and was excited to write about it and share it with the world! I learned I had to go with the flow and love myself as well as my process no matter what changed or shifted from my origional "plan" and expectations. What can I say? The additions to my diet just felt right so I sought out high quality local eggs and prepared these foods with much love coupled with amazing fresh greens!

When I first introduced these foods in, I didn't share that info with anyone except family and my OB for fear of not living up to my "raw status" as a coach and chef in the movement. I quickly realized that I was being too hard on myself and that it was ok! Whatever I was doing was A-OK.

To my relief I found there were and still are many "raw women" out there that once they became pregnant..everything changed. They too added foods like fresh eggs, raw goats cheese and other whole foods such as quinoa and steamed veggies. Some of these women have shared their stories to encourage other mommas and some have chose to keep their pregnancy dietary "changes" to themselves due to the risk of being judged by the Raw World. Sadly I think this is mostly because men or women who have never been pregnant could not possibly understand a mother to-be's reasons for adding certain foods that are not in the raw-vegan category during pregnancy. and who wants to have to explain themselves when being a role model in the raw food realms? This topic I will go into at a later time. <3

For my entire pregnancy, almost like clockwork, I religiously enjoyed green smoothies every morning that had spirulina, fresh kale from our garden, local oranges and a ripe banana. I also for the first time ever- craved fresh nut milk drinks from cashews, almonds and sometimes brazil nuts. I chowed down lots of other various raw salads/dishes throughout the day. I felt excellent! I felt strong and awesome! Then shift happened!

Sometime last week I noticed a shift in my food cravings/needs. It started with a dream I had where my baby boy told me something like "momma...I have had enough eggs and raw cheese, I don't need it anymore."

I woke up from this dream, and was grinning! There was a noticeable shift inside me that I could not ignore. From that moment I had no desire for eggs nor cheese so I followed that feeling.

I have also noticed a drop in my appetite in the sense that instead of say 4 to 5 small meals and snacks a day, I only eat two meals and a snack. I feel fine, I feel satisfied. I feel different! YES!

I feel as though my baby inside is fully developed and ready to hatch therefor his needs nutritionally have shifted and my body is responding. I am so grateful for my body's intelligence!

Other amazing high raw conscious mommas I have been in contact with have shared with me similar stories about food I am excited to see how my body shifts once I begin breastfeeding! I hear it's a gunna be a fun ride!

Oh goodie! Ill let you know how it goes!

xxMelissa

The Anti-Nut Gut way to go!

A few months back I did a 5 minute interview with Shea Lynn Baird, organizer of the Monday night live events at Cafe Gratitude. She is an amazing woman who organized inspirational speakers to come to Cafe G every single monday for FREE!

After our 5 minute teaser phone interview, I did an hour talk at the cafe in detail how we can all gain balance within the raw food lifestyle.

Say Bye Bye to the ever-popular Nut-Gut I see a lot of raw foodist sporting these days unfortunatly. Success without distress!

Listen in on why so many Live-Food enthusiasts lose their enthusiasm! and how you can soar on Live Foods!

LISTEN HERE

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Blackberry Season and some routine testing..

Today I get to go in for a "routine" so they say, gestational diabetes screening. Now when I was first given the paper work to go this done from my OB, I thought.."Are you nuts!" I don't have diabetes..and my baby certainly does not and will not have that issue!

The nurse told me that when a women is pregnant her blood sugar is all over the place, no matter how healthy they eat. Hmmmm..


I guess this is yet another hoop I must leap through because I am after all seeing a hospital midwife which is covered by my insurence.


My midwife Kris, is actually very down to earth, encouraging and has given birth to both her babies at home (2o yrs ago). So she does not have the mindset that hospitals/brightlights/conventioanl medicine is the way to go. Pheww
I will tell you later about my last Ob I was seeing that was not so encouraging...eeee Let's just say that is why I am no longer with her and moved over to Kris.


Back when Kris gave birth there were not many women taking a more natural route, so home birth was her savior!
Today we have wonderful places like birthing centers, birth networks and a whole movement of women encouraging other women into bringing their little one's into this world by ways in which we were designed and are capable of doing. Naturally!

So, I guess I don't mind being poked and proded just a little as long as I can still enjoy the miracle and power of natural birthing.
Earlier this morning I went foraging for Blackberries for my routine walk then morning smoothie! Dahveed (Baby's Daddy and of couse my lover ) and I picked about 3 cups of juicy berries on the side of an abandon road near our house in Santa Cruz. We go at least 4 times a week in the morning and each time there is a gold mine of berries to be feasted on! This beats the 6.00 pack in the store!
It's important that we get more greens into our diets especially if we are carrying a little one. My breakfast smoothies have been fruit based and included wild greens growing in our back yard! Freeee! The smoothies have been suprisingly amazing and really satisfying.

Here is our eat-more-greens but not taste it Black berry smoothie recipe .

Blackberry Shake serves 2+ little one


3 c fresh blackberies


2 c pure water


Gently blend then strain in nutmilk bag and place liquid back into blender.


Then add:


1/2 dropper of vanilla cream stevia


2 ripe bananas


1 leaf of swiss chard or 2 leaves of kale de-stemmed


6-10 leaves of lambsquarters


Blend well. enjoy!

I am off to get poked for my screening test....this smoothie is going to keep me going for a few hours! They say I can't eat for 3 hrs. Should be good!

xxMelissa Mango