Mango Pineapple Shake

Combine in a high speed blender and enjoy immediately:

1 banana
1 C frozen mango (Trader joe's sells peeled, precut and frozen)
1/4 C walnuts
Optional: 1/2 C frozen pineapple (trader joe's sells precut frozen)
Optional: add 1 C baby spinach - the vitamix will blend it completely into a pretty green color
filtered water to fill 20-25 oz total

Almond Hemp Protein Shake

Hemp protein is a raw protein powder made from ground hemp seeds. They have lots of omega 3s and fiber and have a nutty taste. Hemp pairs well with nut milks or nut butters (like almond butter).

Combine in a high speed blender:
2-4 TB hemp protein powder
1 banana
2 TB almond butter
1/4 C dates (pitted)
filtered water to total 20-25 oz in the container

Vegetable Stock (Pressure Cooker)

Prep & coarsely chop veggies:
2 stalks celery
3 carrots
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1/4 C parsley
Optional: other veggie scraps

Combine the above in pressure cooker with 2-4 C water (depending on the size of your pressure cooker- following instructions for how far you can fill the pot). Add spices:
1-2 sprigs rosemary
1/4 - 1/2 tea whole peppercorns
1-3 bay leaves
Optional: other spices or herbs

Put on lid, bring to pressure and cook, pressurized over low heat, for 20-25 minutes. Then let pan come down in pressure naturally ("slow release" method). Strain and use in soups, mashed potatoes or wherever else you'd use stock.

Freezes well- just put in chunks that you will actually use.

For more directions or ideas, see this NY times article on the same topic.

Raw Vegan Strawberry Sauce

This is super easy, and is good on oatmeal or cheesecake, or any other dessert!

Combine in a food processor or blender:
1.5 C strawberries (frozen is ok)
1/3 C agave syrup

That's it!

Go Omega! Rice Cooker Steel Cut Oats (with Flax and Walnuts)

This is a great breakfast! Steel cut oats have a lower glycemic index than instant oats (the kind that you pour hot water over) and they are yummie. You won't even notice an addition of flax meal either. Prepared with flax meal and walnuts, this is a good source of omega 3 fatty acids.

This is easy to do with a cheap rice cooker overnight for a first thing breakfast. Purchase a programmable appliance timer at a home improvement store (ours has an LCD display and you can program for different days of the week, both the "on" and "off" times). Make sure it is capable of handling the right amount of current (i.e. don't get one intended for low wattage like lights or lamps). You can set the oats and the water in the cooker in the evening and plug in, switch the button to "cook" (not warm) after plugging into the appliance timer and outlet.

Combine in a rice cooker and start on "cook" and let it finish the cycle:
1 C steel cut oats
3 C filtered water
1/4 tea salt

In your bowl, combine a portion of cooked oatmeal with:
1-3 TB flax meal
1/4 C walnuts
jam, Frog Hollow fruit conserves, fruit or strawberry sauce (pictured above)

Puttanesca Sauce

Puree in blender or food processor, then set aside:
1 can (28oz) of tomatoes (Trader Joe's with basil)
1/2 C kalamata olives

Carmelize in a pan with butter, oil or bacon fat:
1/2 C chopped yellow onion
garlic, minced

Now add the pureed tomato/olive mixture as well as:
1 TB capers
1 TB chopped basil
salt
cracked black pepper

Stir over medium heat until tomatoes are sufficiently reduced to a sauce.

Serve over grilled veggies, raw zucchini pasta, grilled fish or regular pasta.