Butternut Squash Coconut Wild Rice

Butternut Squash - Coconut Wild Rice
made in rice cooker - this amount will serve a family of 3 - well 2 adults and a toddler who can eat!
1.5 cups wild organic rice
1/2 large butternut squash cubed
3 cups water
seasoning to taste (I use Italian seasoning, fenugreek & cumin)
-after done cooking add 1 cup of coconut milk (mine is already pre-made)

I love my rice cooker, all I do is add the ingredients and press cook (takes about 30 minutes)! This only took me less than a minute to prepare because I had the squash already cut up from a previous meal (I froze it). I always buy them large and use 1/2 at a time, it's much less work.

I will put about 5 more minutes into preparing the salad - washing the lettuce, but if I bought pre-washed then no time added :)

Restaurant: Exotic Bites, Hollywood, FL

Today we had the delight of eating at Exotic Bites, on Harrison Street in downtown Hollywood. I've passed this place many times and always wanted to go in, not sure what took me so long. It's also a hookah-bar, and is packed at night. So perhaps the smoking outside kept me away.

Well this afternoon we had one of the best falafel platters I've ever had. This is now tied with my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant - Layla's in Fairfield, CT. Both are Egyptian owned.

We got to meet the owner, who takes great pride in his restaurant. He has many veg customers and assured us that the frier is used only for veg items. This is not a vegetarian restaurant, yet they know what a vegan is and easily accommodate us.

We had a falafel platter, which includes 3 large falafels, Mediterranean salad, couscous, hummus, tabbouleh salad, tahina, hot sauce & pita bread. We also got fries, lentil soup and babganoush. And tea with nana (mint) & coconut baklavah. They use olive oil for the frying! Everything was fresh and delicious, with the perfect flavoring. Sometimes falafel can be very oily, this one wasn't at all. It was such a fun experience, and we will be back (tomorrow actually to bring our friends from out of town)!

Some more notes: They play nice music, and everyone is very friendly, it was a calm atmosphere.

So for a great Vegan-Veg middle eastern meal, visit our new friends at:

Exotic Bites
1848 Harrison Street
Hollywood, FL 33020
954-921-6667
954-929-7042

Hours:
11am - 2am Sun- Thurs
11am - 4am Fri, Sat
Belly Dancing Every Night 9:30pm-2am

Kosher & vegan

Living in SE Florida there sure are alot of Kosher establishments. Which is great for vegans! I can easily get my toffuti cream cheese & lots of other goodies at any kosher market. Also many of the kosher restaurants have lots of vegan items on the menu. I do recommend that if you are going to eat something fried - go to a dairy-kosher restaurant, much less likely that they fry animal products in the same frier as the falafel or fries.

Today we went to Kosher Kingdom in aventura, just to check out this market, and we found lots of items that are marked vegan - they even sell the challah I recently posted about. We found vegan chocolate, gnocci, raviolies, pizza, ice cream, chocolate spread, and more!

As for resturants:
Sara's didn't tickly our fancy, we like a nice dining experience, and this place seemed like a diner.
The Gourmet Carrot in Miami, while they do serve meat, is awesome. They have fresh juices and a smoothies - the only place I know of that makes fresh mango juice - oh yummy!!!! They are very popular with the locals, so be sure to make a reservation - even on a week night. The soups are always vegan, and they even have vegan dessert & soy cheese. Lots of options here and they really seem to care about the food and the experience. Once in the many many times we have gone we didn't have the best experience, our salad was soggy, the service was - ehhhh, and the food just didn't have it's normal vibrancy, we've been back since and they have bounced right back.

I see that I would surely do well in Israel, I look forward to going back again some day (i went when I was 16).

So if your having trouble finding vegan stuff in your area - search for kosher, you may be very surprised.

There are different types of Kosher, so be sure to do a little research into this before you venture out.

La Chaim - To Life

Vegan Challah

Hey Vegan Jews, here's a great addition to the shabbath dinner! Now you can have your own challah to bless - and it's good!

My husband finally got to have some Challah Bread!!! This is a wonderful bread, we got it at the local Whole Foods (Aventura, FL), we've tried the cinnamon & plain.

Pulls apart in perfect sizes!

Made by Grfey's in Concord, Canada http://www.gryfes.com/

Peace on Earth Poetry

A collection of poetry from our friend Butterfly Katz at Gentle World, co-author of Incredibly Delicious; Recipies for a New Paradigm.

Gentle World: A non-profit educational organization since 1979,dedicated to enhancing the quality of lifeby educating the public as to the benefits of a plant-based diet and sustainable lifestyle.

A Gift Within

Today I drove up to Deerfield Beach, FL to get a much needed item from the Earth Mama Angel Baby Collection, it's a line of organic teas, balms, music & more. The closest place that carries it is this lovely show, and the owner was sweet enough to stay open a little late for me, thank you Julie.

It was wonderful to talk with her, I came to find out that they use recycled materials in packaging, they have organic and natural gift baskets, and will be doing lots more very soon, like organic food baskets and some vegan stuff too, way to go!!

So if you would like to support A sustainable minded company in SE Florida, I highly recommend you check out, you can shop online or in the store, they have lots more in the store, so it's surely worth the visit if you are in the area.

A Gift Within, Inc.

http://www.agiftwithin.com/

3310 W. Hillsboro Blvd.

Deerfield Beach , FL 33442

(954) 725-6965

My meals these days

I am loving beans and dried fruit these days. I have lots of prunes and dried apricots, they are sooo yummy, and what i love is that they are still very moist.

As for beans, i'm all about it, chris made green lentils yesterday with my daily salad lunch, I have mangos and green for lunch as much as possible. Oh yeah and mangos, i'm eating about 2-4 a day of the little orange kind - ATAULFO.
These are my favorite mangos EVER! They are sweet, very little, if any, threads, and if they are mushy enough you can eat them the "cuban" way, as my friend Frank tells me they do there, bite off a piece from the end & suck it all through the end. They call it mango suck, lol - well I dont know the spanish name for it, that's the translation.

We have been having some nuts too, thank god for Josh's organic market. We get everything organic and raw (beans we get from whole foods)! I've been adding some flax seeds also. And those pine nuts, YUMMY! Sunflower seeds and almonds are also on the menu these days.

Today I believe chris is making white bean soup, and we have some more lentils so we will be having that too. I'm glad he has a strong constitution, he can eat anything and does well, he has a great appetite too, so whatever we have is always eaten!

oh i'm getting hungry, going to see how chef chris is doing in the kitchen. Going to head to WF today and pick up some more lentils, some nori - i'm ready to make lori's mini nori wraps!

here's pics from lunch, white beans with cooked spinach on a bed of fresh spinach. Tomatoes, cucumber & yummy green!

Pregnancy - Motion-sickness

Hey what happened here? Yesterday I ate a pear and then I felt like i was on a boat. My tastes have changed from sweet to salty! And also I was loving eating fresh fruit - raw fruits and veggies are most of what I eat, now I just don't want it. I wanted tomatoe, all though i wanted it cooked, the sound of raw just didn't appeal to me, and eating raw is not settling in my stomache. I hear that there is a height in the end of the first trimester where sickness and all that gets intense, I guess since I didn't have any of that I'm getting a little now.

I tried this ginger-ale, it's organic and "natural" - YUCK, it was like drinking straight ginger with a load of carbonation, for someone who only drinks water or tea this was way too much for me. So Chris makes me lemon ginger water, it's wonderful. And today for lunch I had a vegan organic pizza - middle earth pasta sauce, tortilla wraps & follow your heart vegan mozzerella. It really hit the spot. I'm feeling so much better today than I did yesterday, especially after an evening and morning of massage! Chris has just the right touch for me.

I have energy too! Today I'm making a fun presentation for a restaurant conference, and I've looked at hundreds of photos of people eating food, YUM! Sure brought up my appetite.

And in the next week or so we will be going on a little vacation with my sister and her boyfriend, key west baby! I'm excited about going to the natural beach just before key west, what a beautiful spot, and going to the Wyland gallery. Oh yeah there is also a photographer that has a gallery I believe down there, he's awesome. The party scene is not my thing, so it's good to know that key west has something for everyone!

Almond Pasteurization

Mandatory Almond Pasteurization In US & Canada In 2007

*All Almonds will be Pasteurized starting 2007!
No label allowing "truly raw almonds"
Almonds labeled as "Raw Almonds" will still have been pasteurized!

The FDA, USDA and the California Almond Board has developed a marketing
order which mandates that all almonds must be pasteurized. This came
about because " two outbreaks of salmonella, associated with
conventional farms several years ago". Industry has now overreacted in
grand fashion and they do not even know it yet.

No outbreaks have been associated with raw organic almonds to date that
we are aware of.

READ MORE
SIGN PETITION OPPOSING THIS RULING

Vegetarian Restaurant: A simple name for simple, fresh, vegan fare near Doral - Miami, FL

Vegetarian Restaurant: A simple name for simple, fresh, vegan fare near Doral

source
By LINDA BLADHOLM

LINDA BLADHOLM/FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

CHEF-OWNER: Juan Francisco Cabrera serves pizza and a revolving selection of specials.

• Recipe | Avocado salad
• Online-only recipe | Dominican stewed red beans

Juan Francisco Cabrera starts his day shopping at the Allapattah Produce Market at dawn with a menu percolating in his head. As he picks through the tubers, tomatoes and peppers, he decides on the daily special at his juice bar and natural-food place: Vegetarian Restaurant in the Holiday Shopping Plaza on Southwest 107th Avenue between Doral and Sweetwater. It might be seitan stir-fry with cauliflower and broccoli, tofu with spinach or corn pie.

Customers call to find out and come to eat at the counter or pick up food to go. Most also get fresh-squeezed juice or batidos (shakes) of banana, mamey (the soft, dark reddish-orange fruit tastes like sugary sweet potato) or papaya, whirled with oatmeal instead of milk.

Cabrera, 37, was born in San Francisco Macori in the southern Dominican Republic. At 17, he moved to New York, where his family opened a clothing alteration shop. He got into natural foods through a cousin a few years later, eventually becoming a vegan.

In 2002, the cold drove him to Miami, where he worked in a warehouse by day and took yoga classes at night. He cooked vegetarian meals for friends and family, and when the yoga place moved he rented it and set up shop in the bare-bones space. The pale green and yellow walls are augmented by floral displays.

Cabrera operates on the premise that it is better to eat whole fresh foods than processed products or nutrient-enhanced foods. That means as natural as possible -- and no eggs or dairy, as this is a vegan kitchen.

It's hard to resist his whole-wheat crust pizza scattered with tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic with soy cheese (available daily) or his rotation of specials. On a recent day, it was boiled and mashed yuca with onions sautéed in olive-oil ''butter'' (a thick emulsion) and annatto (a small red seed that adds color) with soy hot dogs steamed with cabbage and peas, brown rice and a side of guacamole. Diners also had the option of lentil soup with cilantro or a salad tossed in oil and vinegar.

Other specials include lasagne made with eggplant, tomato sauce, soy cheese and stewed garbanzos and tofu curry with spinach and mushrooms in white sauce made from soy milk and ground almonds.

Mangu is a Dominican favorite consisting of boiled green plantain mashed with grated soy cheese and olive-oil butter, giving it the traditional rich, creamy flavor without the unhealthy fats. It is served with red beans and brown rice.

Papas rellenos are mashed potato cakes stuffed with a vegetable mixture, while pastels are entree-size whole-wheat pies stuffed with a savory blend of spinach, cauliflower and soy protein. Or get smaller empanadas stuffed with spicy textured soy protein -- so good you might not miss the meat.

Picadillo is made from the same TVP steamed with celery, onion, garlic, collard greens, carrots and parsley -- a sum of ingredients that tastes much better that it sounds. There's also good old spaghetti (whole wheat) with tomato sauce and soy cheese and cannelloni stuffed with spinach. End with homemade apple or pineapple cake washed down with fresh strawberry or carrot juice.

Place: Vegetarian Restaurant.
Address: 115B SW 107th Ave., Miami, FL (Holiday Shopping Plaza).
Contact: 305-553-0078.
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
Prices: Juices $3-$4, daily specials $4-$7.

Our Gourmet Vegan Lunch

If you knew me well...

You would know that not only do I love eating gourmet vegan meals, i love preparing them as well. Thanks to the inspirational meal yesterday at Sierra Mar chris & i prepared an amazing meal today. I love when i can create art with food.

1 - Leaning tower o potatoe! Yams, yukon & purple potatoes with apples, celery, carrots, served with light broth.











2. Applelicious - Baked Apple sauce, with a hint of cinnamon, drizzeled with agave nectar, sprinkled with black sesame & pomagranite.


3 - Butternut Squash Soup - , light drizzled olive oil sprinkled with black sesame seeds.







4- Baby green salad w/ heirloom tomatoes, apples, pomegranate, sprinkled with lemon agave dressing & sesame seeds (raw)















5- Carrot apple salad, sprinkled with cinnamon, goji berry & micro greens (raw) (I wish this picture came out better, this was such a beautiful plate in person)



SHOULD WE HAVE OUR OWN RESTAURANT OR WHAT!!! Yes I know i'm mostly raw, that doesn't stop me from preapring what i consider to be edible art!

While preparing I was invisioning us in a beautiful coastal retreat preparing these meals for small groups of guests. Or catering a small affair at some beautiful mountain home. I just love food that feeds the eyes and the tummy!

Living Food Films

Living Food Films

Living Food Films is at the forefront of creating professional, educational, documentary-style videos regarding the superior health benefits derived from Vegan Vegetarian, and Raw, Living Food consumption.

Healing Your Body With Raw Foods Live Webcast!

David Klein, Ph.D. & Susan Smith Jones, Ph.D.

LIVE WEB CAST! FRIDAY, JULY 21

Listen at: http://www.1370WPAZ.com
Nick Laurence of Great Talk Radio Presents:
Healing Your Body With Raw Foods

Catch this lively 1-hour interview with David and Susan live as they discuss the
efficacy of the Hygienic - Raw Food Diet approach to overcoming disease and creating vibrant health.

Go to http://www.1370WPAZ.com
then click on Live Audio
then on Click here to hear live broadcast.
(Windows Media Player required.)

Susan Smith Jones, MS, Ph.D., is an internationally renowned motivational speaker, frequent radio/TV talk show guest, culinary instructor, holistic lifestyle coach, and author of hundreds of magazine articles and 17 books, including her latest, Unleash the Power of NATUREFOODS: 50 Revitalizing Foods & Lifestyle Choices that Heal Your Body, Promote Radiant Health & Rejuvenate Your Life. In the past 35 years, Susan has assisted thousands of people in becoming more aware of how their food and lifestyle choices affect their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. To order autographed copies of NATUREFOODS, please call: (800) 253-6383 (9-5 pm MST) or visit: http://www.SusanSmithJones.com..

David Klein, Ph.D. is a Hygienic Doctor and a certified Nutrition Educator. David’s approach is wholistic and is based upon the Natural Hygiene, the world’s most successful health program over the last 200 years. Since 1992, David has counseled over 2,000 clients back to health via the principles of Natural Hygiene and he has occasionally taught nutrition classes and given health and nutrition lectures. David directs Colitis & Crohn's Health Recovery Services and was awarded "HONORABLE MENTION - BEST NUTRITIONIST" in Share Guide's 2002 Readers Poll. David’s own unique healing journey, his studies of many disciplines of health science, and his extensive professional experience have given him uncommon insight into the requisites of healing and health, by which he is able to consistently guide people from disease to rejuvenation.
David is also Publisher / Editor of Living Nutrition Magazine, the world’s most-read raw food lifestyle magazine. David co-founded Healthful Living International, the world’s premier Natural Hygiene organization, David is also a Professor with the new University of Natural Health livingnutrition.com/university.html. David’s book, Your Natural Diet: Alive Raw Foods, is the text for the course “Humans’ Natural Biological Diet.” David is on the Board of Directors as a nutritional and healing advisor for St. John’s Colonic Center in Bowie, Maryland (colonics are not recommended for inflammatory bowel disease) and his book Self Healing Colitis & Crohn's is used as the teaching model for a course taught at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. He has led Raw Passion seminars and jamborees in Sebastopol over the last 10 years and co-produced Rawstock health festivals in northern California. David has thrived on a 100% vegan raw food diet for most of the last 22 years. Originally from New Jersey, he also holds a B.S. in civil engineering and worked 8 years in corporate environmental engineering before starting his health education businesses. Leading people to health independence is David’s passion.

David’s web sites:
http://www.selfhealingempowerment.com/
http://www.livingnutrition.com
http://www.colitis-crohns.com
http://www.raw-passion.com
http://www.rawstock.us
http://www.fruitnet.org

Palo Alto CA vegan community

Magic exists to demonstrate how people can learn and apply valuescience to discover and further common interests of humankind.

Friends of Animals' Vegan Restaurant Guides

Friends of animals has a vegan guide for Los Angeles, NY, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, & Washington DC! They also have restaurant reviews online. It's a one page handy pocket guide to all the vegan & mealtess w/vegan option restaurants. You can usually pick it up for free in any of the restaurants on the list, or order it online for only 25 cents!
From the website:

At Friends of Animals, we believe that eating vegan is the most direct and life-affirming form of animal rights activism. The term that defines a plant-based diet and an animal-friendly outlook has, to date, been associated with what someone doesn’t eat, however. This is understandable: Vegans often engage in lively discussion about how and why they made the change from animal products to a pure vegetarian lifestyle. From environmental degradation to health risks to the inequity inherent in industries that exploit animals for profit, reasons for change abound. When we take animals off the menu, however, we open doors to a whole new array of healthful and delicious foods. Simply put, vegan food tastes great!

12 week challenge from vegan bodybuilder - it's not just for athelets

I just wrote this long post about how we have trouble being 100% raw, and are looking forward to the 12 week body building challenge. We also have packed on a few pounds from this road trip.

Instead I'm going to give the info for the Contest we are entering, I would post the photos, but I will wait to have the after pics.

Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness sponsors the 2006 Vegan Summer Shape-Up challenge!Submit “Before” photos to robert@veganbodybuilding.com by July 1st st to be entered. Please send at least 3 photos including a full-body photo from the front, back, and side, in fitness wear, so we can easily track progress. The contest will go from July 1st to September 24th.At then end of the contest, send “After” photos. These will need to be taken before or on September 24th. Once those are collected, the contestants will be voted on by the website visitors and forum members and a winner will be chosen. We will have a male and female category, and based on number of entries we may have sub categories based on goals (i.e. Gaining muscle or losing weight, etc). A short bio will be included for each contestant so we know a little bit about what each person had to overcome, what their goals were, and so we can learn a bit about their personality and training history.

Our plan:
-100% raw, natural hygiene (no oil, salt, condiments, processed or cooked foods)

-Flush out by eating a full week of low fat high water content fruits (watermelon is best, but they aren't ready yet, but we have stone fruit (peaches, pluots, nectarenes...)!!!!

-1 hour minimum of activity daily, starting with hiking, working our way to rock climbing, weight training, running, mountain biking
-Plenty of sleep
-Limit our computer time

While the food aspect will go a very long way, in the past we've lost 30+ lbs in 2 months, the excercise will be a very important part. We haven't entered this contest to win it (that would be cool though) we are doing it to challenge ourselves. I'll be adding some blog enteries on our progress.

Vegan Momma's blog

I've been enjoying reading Vegan Momma's blog for some time now, just wanted to let u all in on the fun!

She blogs about lots of great stuff like: vegan food, her beautiful daughter, her love of cooking, her raw food experiences, her knowledge of nutrition, stories about her life and so much more. Oh and the pictures, prepare to have your mouth water, she is a kitchen diva!

Categories: (which blogger had these)
Personal My little Angel Getting to know you… Xbox Coily/Nappy/Natural Hair Care Shoe Diva Videos Artsy Diva Weblogs Animal Rights Animals Human Rights Vegetarian/Vegan Cooking Diva ~ Vegan Raw Foods Diva
Health/Nutrition Gardening Fitness Cleansing Breastfeeding Sprouting Herbs Why I became Vegan? Why I became Vegetarian? Vegan Children Juicing Recipes (Vegan) - Green Star Juicer Skin & Hair Care Other Blogs Websites In the News Books Finance Investing

I really like the setup of her blog too. We are working on changing ours over to include these great features.

Frank's Blog!

Yippie!!!
our best friend frank has joined the blog world
& his myspace

Frank
-friend
-vegan
-musician
-warm heart
-sweet
-beautiful
-charming
-an amazing man

Bobby Rock's Veggie Zone

Bobby Rock is vegan!

I'm always weary when i hear of famous vegetarians, these days anyone can call themselves a vegetarian. I hear it all the time, i'm a vegetarian but i eat... I will always search out information on veggie people, and when I come across someone who cares enough about veganism to put it on their website I not only take notice but I spread the word. - this is a great website, with wonderful information in veganism.

Info on Bobby Rock: (from his websites http://www.bobbyrock.com/ & http://www.rocksolidfitness.net/)

Drummer Extraordinaire

Solo Artist and Drumming Educator

Author

Entrepreneur

Health Guru and Vegan: Bobby is a respected health and fitness specialist and consultant with over 15 years of experience in the field. He's a certified personal trainer (American Council on Exercise), with additional certifications in nutrition and meditation. He has released a number of published articles on the subject of health and wellness, and has a forthcoming book entitled Rock-Solid Fitness, which details his entire regimen. Among the world's "most muscular vegans" (at 5' 11" and 200 lbs.) Bobby’s unique, synergistic approach to superior health has gained him accolades among musicians and health enthusiasts alike. Bobby also remains an advocate of drug and alcohol-free living with many years of sobriety.

I just want to say thank you to Bobby Rock for sharing his world with us.

Raw Vegan VS Cooked Vegan

by Rob Miller
Vegan: a vegetarian diet devoid of animals or animal products.
Raw Vegan: a diet of fresh, uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Read Article here