Raw Peach Raspberry Cobbler

I was fortunate enough the other day to get a bunch of peaches from my Dad- what bounty! And the orchard peach trees are loaded down! So I came up with a recipe for a raw peach raspberry cobbler that is delightful!! I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I am!

Crust

1/2 C Walnuts
7-8 prunes- chopped
dash of cinnamon
dash of agave
small dash of water

In small food processor combine walnuts, prunes, cinnamon and agave. Process till fine and add a little water- 1 tsp or so as needed till it sticks together. Press into pie tin and set aside remainder.

Filling

2 peaches
1/4 C raw raspberry jam
stevia- if desired 
1/4 Coat groats

Chop one peach and fill the bottom of the pie tin. In blender puree second chopped peach with 1/4 C raw raspberry jam (bottom of link page)- add a little stevia if it is not sweet enough. Spread mixture over peaches in tin and sprinkle oat groats on top.

Topping

1 Peach- sliced
remaining crust
oat groats
cinnamon

On top of the jam/oat layer place sliced peaches in a decorative manner then sporadically "sprinkle" remaining crust in between peach slices. Sprinkle lightly with more oat groats and finish with a dash of cinnamon on top.

Ta-da!! An easy summer recipe to wow your friends and family- with seasonal fruit no less! This baby is packed with healthy proteins and carbs- perfect for the summer day!

Meatless Monday

Hey Everyone! I hope you are having a fabulous Monday! Being unable to sleep last night- until 4A I ended up getting up at 2p this afternoon!! Crazy! But here is my Meatless Monday post- just in time for dinner!

I have been making so many meals lately from the bounty that my garden has produced this year- I have zucchini coming out my ears! Saturday I picked 7 cucumbers, the biggest zucchini yet- it made zucchini bread and enough spiralized noodles to last three meals! My tomato plants are getting ready to go crazy- I did pick a couple romas and some cherry tomatoes Saturday too. 

Today's recipe is inspired by my garden bounty- so go to your local farmer's market after work and stock up!!

Italian Garden Noodles

Spiralized noodles
several sliced cherry tomatoes
several sliced black olives
half a large cucumber quartered and sliced
feta cheese sprinkled
chopped basil sprinkled
chopped walnuts, sprinkled
top with an Italian vinaigrette

This quick and easy noodle salad is great for you, even though it isn't completely raw.  Tomatoes are great for the heart, walnuts are good for the brain, the olive oil in the vinaigrette helps the body absorb all of the nutrients better- so don't go low fat! Cucumbers contain a lot of water and electrolytes to dehydrate the body and help to relieve joint pain.

I hope you enjoy this cool salad on these hot summer days! 

International Raw Food Day!

International Raw Food Day is a great day to try going raw, see what all the fuss is about, why so many people are now using a mostly raw diet (50-80%) in their lifestyles.  If you still haven't signed up to receive all the free goodies click the banner above- it's not too late!

Raw for a Day Menu

Breakfast: Raspberry Lemonade Shake
Lunch: Watermelon Cherry Salad
Dinner: Pea Soup
Dessert: Chocolate Mouse Raspberry Pie

Breakfast:  Raspberry Lemonade Shake

1 banana

1 frozen banana- sliced

4 pkts stevia or agave to taste

1 scoop protein powder

1/2 a lemon- or 1-2 tbsp lemon juice- to taste

1 tsp maca powder (optional)

1/4-1/2 C raspberry soak water

1/2 C raspberries

ice

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. This delicious shake is high in antioxidants and vitamin C from the raspberries, and the lemon juice aids digestion and helps flush excess fluids from your body!

Lunch: Watermelon Cherry Salad

1-1/2 C Watermelon cubed
1/2 C pitted cherries
2 handfuls raw oat groats (optional)
1 handful raw almonds
1 handful dried cranberries
1-1/2 tbsp raw chocolate sauce- about 1/2 of the recipe below
            1/4 C coconut oil
            1-1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
            1 pkt stevia

Load your bowl with each ingredient and chow down- it is soo good! It is also great with a pear instead of watermelon! This dish is also full of healthy fats, plenty of protein to keep you going, and water to keep you hydrated on hot summer days!

Dinner: Pea Soup

1 C peas - fresh or frozen (thawed)

1/2 avocado

3/4 C almond milk

1 green onion

1 tbsp white miso

1/8th tsp pepper

1/4 tsp minced garlic

Pour almond milk in blender and add half the peas. Pour the remaining half into your bowl. Place the avocado, white miso, pepper, and minced garlic in the blender. Chop the green onion and place half in the blender. Set aside remaining green onions. Blend the soup till smooth and pour into bowl- be sure to scrape the sides with a spatula- you don't want to miss one delicious drop! Garnish with remaining green onions.

This soup is great because the peas are full of fiber and protein, the avocado makes it super creamy and the healthy fat it contains helps burn fat naturally and so does the miso! Onion and garlic are both great for the heart and blood! Making an all around awesome soup!

Dessert: Chocolate Raspberry Pie

Crust:

1/4 C Ground Walnuts 

1/4 Ground Flax

1/4 C Coconut Flour

1/4 C Oat Groats

2 squirts of agave

1 C sun dates

small dash of water

Grind nuts and seeds in a food processor and mix together in a bowl. After chopping up the sun dates in to pieces, place the dates and the flours into the food processor (a bit at a time if necessary) and give it a good squirt of agave. After processing for a little bit and everything is crumbly, add a dash of water- just a little!- and process until it sticks together. If it doesn't stick add a little more water and if you add too much water add more flour. Once it is sticking together, spread and press evenly into your pie plate.

Chocolate Mouse

1 avocado

3 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder

3 pkts stevia

1/8th tsp salt

2 tbsp agave

1/4 C (or more as needed) coconut milk

Place all ingredients into blender and blend until it is smooth and a pudding consistency. Be careful not to add too much milk. Scoop onto pie crust and spread until even.

Raspberry

10 sun dates

1 C berries

1 pkt stevia

 big squirt of agave

In separate bowl have 1-1/2 C berries. Place all above ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add to berries in bowl and mush them together using a hand held pie dough cutter. It should be a jelly/jam consistency. Pour over chocolate mouse and refrigerate until serving. Full of protein, healthy fats, and antioxidants this dessert really is a treat!

Have a great International Raw Food Day everyone!!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary!!

Thank you so much for participating in Lorraine's Health Corner for the past year! It has been encouraging to see that people are interested in the recipes and articles I have posted so far! 

In honor of this momentous occasion I am giving the blog a face lift with a new name and will be working on expanding our readership. I hope that you like the new look as much as I do!

Another announcement: the International Raw Food Day is tomorrow!!! So if you haven't already signed up to receive all the free goodies from some world renown chefs, you should!!

This is going to be the best International Raw Food Day EVER! Just look at what’s happening this year – so much FREE stuff AND a brand new raw food magazine.
Reserve yours here http://www.internationalrawfoodday.com/

If you have never gone raw, I highly recommend trying it for a day as there are numerous benefits such as weight loss, mental clarity, and lots of energy! It's not hard and most of all- it's Super Delicious!! If you are nervous about trying it, Karen Knowler- a well known raw food chef and coach- is spearheading this year's IRFD and she has a free download available on how to go raw for a day that includes some great recipes. Just click on the picture below and check it out!!

My Raw Breakfast

PB&J Smoothie

2 bananas
1.5 tbsp PB2
1 scoop protein powder
1 tsp maca powder (optional)
4 pkts Stevia
3/4 C raspberries (doesn't matter what color- mine are "black" [deep purple] that I picked from the garden and placed in a bowl with water)
1/2  C (or more as needed) raspberry water or almond milk
ice (optional)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Happy 4th!!

Happy 4th Everyone! I hope that where ever you are you are having a good day. I returned from Boston last week and if you haven't ever been, you should check it out! They have a really cool science museum that I highly recommend and I bet it is a blast over there around the 4th! The picture to the right is of the electricity show at the science museum.


Since I have been back, I've kept busy tidying up the garden- which has gone mad! producing all sorts of wonderful veggies! I picked 5 zucchini a couple days ago- one was a monster!
The black raspberries have also been ripening like crazy. I have one and quarter gallon bags frozen, more fresh in the fridge, and more ripening on the bushes! Praise the Lord it has been a bountiful summer!

I have a couple summer shake recipes that I will share later but for today I created a couple fun treats that are quick and easy to whip up if you have company over or if you just want to treat yourself!

Raw Ice Cream Parfaits

1 and a half frozen bananas, sliced

4 pkts stevia
1 squirt agave 
1/2 tsp vanilla extract, if you have it -preferably non-alcoholic 

In small processor, place bananas, stevia, agave, and coconut milk. Process until smooth.

In small desert glasses layer blueberries, buckwheat oat groats, and ice cream. Top with raspberries and their juice for color. Serve quickly or place in the freezer.

Raw Cherry Ice Cream Floats

Take the left over ice cream from the parfaits and place it in the freezer to harden so you can form it into balls for the float. 

Once it is hard, scoop it into the glass, top with cherries and some the juice. Pour soda on top and serve!

Have a happy 4th!

Book Review: The Lost World

I just finished this awesome book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
In addition to his well known character, Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Doyle wrote a few other works of fiction, The Lost World being one of them. In 1992 it was made into a movie that I haven't had the pleasure (?) of seeing.

Set in London, the main character is journalist Ed Malone and he wants to marry a rather selfish and shallow young lady who refuses because he isn't a famous person of notoriety. She challenges him to take advantage of life and pursue it's possibilities- basically the only good thing she did-- thankfully her role is minor.

Malone ends up meeting a Professor Challenger who has evidence of "prehistoric" animals being alive in South America and ends up leading a second expedition to the location to prove their existence with another professor- Mr. Summerlee, Malone- who documents the trip, and a great all-around sportsman and athlete, Lord John Roxton.

I will leave the majority of the story for you to discover and experience, as it is an excellent one, and merely say that the adventure was a success.

Are Dinosaurs Alive Today?

Although the majority believes that dinosaurs are long extinct- by millions, trillions, or whatever, number of years, there are those that believe that dinosaurs are still alive today, but are just very rarely seen. This is due to how populated our world has become. There are few places that remain unexplored where a dinosaur can actually live (while a lot of the Artic is unexplored, a dinosaur isn't going to be found living there), but there are places that are hard to get to, and rarely disturbed. The possibility exists and there are several books that explore the related sightings and possible locations of existing dinosaurs.

A few really good ones- if your interest has been piqued- are the following!

Dinosaurs Dead or Alive is a quick easy read that is very interesting. It has a few pictures and gives accounts, many with personal quotes from people who have experience dinosaur sightings.

Another really good book, that gives sightings from all over North America- including newspaper articles is, Monster! Monster! A Survey of the North American Monster Scene by Betty  Sanders Garner. She has a very skeptical viewpoint and doesn't do only dinosaurs but also gives sightings of Big Foot, river monsters, and sea serpents.

Dinosaur; Scientific Evidence That Dinosaurs and Men Walked Together by Dr. Carl Baugh, Ph. D. goes into verifying scientifically why it is possible that dinosaurs and man lived together.