Citrus Juicer:

Having a citrus juicer is not needed, but can be nice. It can be used to juice oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes.


I have used mine to make fresh squeeze orange juice, whether I drank it or used it for a recipe. I have made fresh squeeze grapefruit juice to add to my carrot juice. When recipes call for lemon juice I sometimes use the store bought lemon juice and other times I use my citrus juicer. I bought mine at Walmart for around $20.00.


Here is another idea: If you want to stock up on smoothies you can keep them up to about 3 days in the refrigerator. Smoothies are a great way to get your greens in. For the liquid you can use water, almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk. I normally use water or almond milk. To that you add some greens - spinach, kale, or other greens. Just make sure you don't add too much esp. if you aren't used to it. Then you add some fruit - I always add a banana and other fruit such as pinapple, blueberries, strawberries, mangos, peaches, oranges, pineapple, and whatever else you decide would be good. You can also add in some avocado. To make it thick, use more frozen fruit or even add some ice and that way it will make it more pudding/ ice-cream type texture. Adding fresh will make it thinner for you to drink.
I like to make several, label them, and keep them in my refrigerator so throughout the day when I feel like a smoothie I can just grab one.


You can use canning jars to store them in the refrigerator. I use two kinds, the glass with white lids and the plastic with green lids. The plastic can also be used in the freezer. You can find both kinds at Walmart in the canning isle (normally close to the storage containers, pots & pans isle)

Chickpea and Spinach Stew:

This is a very delicious and yummy recipe. Stews are great when the weather outside is cold, but this is so good that I think even in the warm weather I might even make it. I have made this a few ways which I will explain to you. But first let's start with the ingredients.


2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed (or chopped)
--In a large pot, cook the onions and garlic in oil for aprox. 5 minutes.
(If you are not a fan of onions or garlic then skip this step or perhaps you like them and a family member does not. Then get two pots out - one for you and one for them. In one pot cook the onions and garlic and the other pot just leave sitting for a few moments)

To the pot(s) add:
2 cans of chickpeas
1 can diced tomatoes or several fresh roma (or another kind) of tomatoes, diced
{If I use fresh, I like the small tomatoes and I cut them in halfs or thirds}
Optional: If you have a picky eater then take some of the chickpeas and mash them up using the food processor.
Also, to the pot add some seasoning:
1 tsp. cumin (or to your taste)
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning (or to your taste)
1/2 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt (optional)
1 Tbsp. honey (optional) - I have tried it with and without the honey, doesn't seem to make much of a difference

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Then place fresh spinach in stew, stir, let it simmer, till spinach wilts.


Extra ideas:
--Instead of using diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes can use a can of tomatoe sauce for those who do not like chunky tomatoes.
--My husband likes the chickpeas ground up by the food processor and the tomatoe paste and he did like the spinach leaves. To spice it up, when he ate it he crunched up corn chips which gave him that added crunch.
--You can also mix in brown rice to add some extra flavor and protein.

Chickpea stew with brown rice mixed in:

Sorbet/Smoothie ice-cream

Here is a fun recipe to make. This will be especially delicious to have during the hot summer months. Because it is healthy you can have this for breakfast, yes even for breakfast. It can be a nice snack in between meals or a yummy dessert after a meal.


To make you'll need some frozen fruit:
For today I made mine with frozen blueberries. You can add variety and change it up each time you make it. You can try one fruit or even add two for some extra fun flavor. Here are some ideas: frozen blueberries with frozen strawberries, mango, pineapple, peaches, or raspberries.

For the ingredients you'll need:

• 1 frozen, ripe banana
• a handful of frozen blueberries
• 1 tsp vanilla flavor (optional)
• 1 Tbsp agave nectar (optional)
• 1 cup room temperature water (or more if needed to get sorbet to desired consistency)
--Place all ingredients in a blender and cream. If blender stalls, add more water.

Tomato and Avocado Sandwich:

For this recipe I just cut tomato slices and topped it with avocado and placed another tomato slice on top of the avocado. So what we have here is the tomato in replace of the bread. You can also use other vegetables, but the tomato and avocados sounded so good together. I had a nice big green salad of spinach leaves and kale and then I had my delcious tomato/avocado sandwich. What a delicious raw meal.


(Recipe: My own)

Cabbage Wrap:

A easy, delicious, and raw lunch that you can have is to make lettuce or cabbage wraps. This is especially good if you are trying to limit your carbohydrate intake or want to cut back on some bread so instead of using a tortilla wrap use lettuce or cabbage. Then you can place whatever vegetables into your wrap that you have on hand or whatever sounds good for that day. You'll want to cut, chop, or shred your vegetables.
Some ideas for vegetables are:
--Carrots
--Red or Green Peppers
--Onions
--Tomatos
--Avocados
--Cucumbers
--Sprouts
--Radishs
--Spinach leaves
--Zucchini
--Mushrooms

Now you'll not want to use all these vegetables, just use what you have on hand.

For the Spread or a dressing you can use one of your homemade salad dressings, guacamole, hummus, salsa, tahini, mayo, mustard, olive oil.

When I made my wrap I just used my homemade Italian Dressing.





(Recipe: From Chef Mary B - "Raw Fundamentals")

Vegetarian Chili:

Ingredients:•1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
•1 large onion, chopped (I normally only use a little onion)
•2 bay leaves (can use ground bay leaves also)
•1 teaspoon ground cumin
•2 tablespoons dried oregano
•1 tablespoon Celtic or Himalayan salt (or to taste)
•2 stalks celery (diced)
•2 red peppers (diced)
•2 jalapeno peppers (seeded and diced fine)
•3 garlic cloves (peeled and minced)
•3 (28 ounce cans whole tomatoes (chopped fine)
•1 tablespoon chili powder (to taste)
•1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
•1 (15 ounce can kidney beans (drained)
•1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans (drained)
•1 (15 ounce) can black beans (drained)
•1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn (drained)
--With these ingredients you can add or detract from any of them, change them up to suit your taste buds.

Directions:
1.Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2.Stir in the onions, seasonings with bay leaves, and salt. Stir until onion is clear in color.
3.Then stir in celery, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers and garlic.
4.Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes.
5.Add tomatoes. Then add beans and bring to a boil.
6.Reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.
7.Stir in corn, and it is ready to serve following a huge salad, along with some hearty, whole grain bread.

All finished. The corn was the final touch. This chili is delicious and can be reheated on the stove during the week for dinner.


(Recipe: from hacres.com)

Carrot/Apple/Greens Juice:

Juicing is so healthy for you. Using a Champion or a Green Star juicer is by the far the best, but if you are like me, you may not have one of those juicers. For now I'll keep juicing with my juicer and some day I would like to get a Champion.
I always keep carrots as the base of my juicing. Most times I juice just carrots. Sometimes I add a green apple and lately I have found that juicing beets is healthy for you.
With this juice recipe that I'll show you now I used carrots, one green apple - peeled and chopped, and the greens of beets and kale.

Just made my juice - it was very delicious and extremely healthy :)

I made a glass to drink once I was finished juicing and then put the rest in a container to drink a few hours later.


(Recipe: My own)