lulu’s chocolate

Weekend Wrap Up: Demo, Party & Not Enough Sleep

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From the moment I got out of work on Friday until this morning I have been going and going and going …like the energizer bunny.  However I think someone needs to reload my batteries because the lack of sleep and the running around has made me congested and exhausted today.  Friday I spent the afternoon with the Hubz getting ready for my friend Laura’s Birthday Party, which I hosted last night.  We ran around picking up decorations and food supplies for the party and didn’t make it home until late Friday night.  Once we arrived home we spent a few hours prepping for the party and then finally I crashed from pure exhaustion (key word of the weekend).

Saturday I spent the morning prepping for the party and then I was off to Healthy Living Market to do a demo for Lulu’s Raw Chocolate.  I had done a review for Lulu’s back this past winter and loved their chocolate so when they asked me to do a demo for them I was all over it.  I love this chocolate and was ready to spread the word.  Honestly best chocolate I have ever had and it’s raw, vegan and made with low glycemic coconut sugar.  After my demo I ran home to finish prepping for the party and spend a few minutes sitting down to relax before my hosting duties started.

The party was a great time we hung out and enjoyed appetizers and drinks and laugh (a lot).  I unfortunately only snapped one picture at the party and it was of my veggie and dip platter.  In addition to that we had jalapeno “poppers”, stuffed mushrooms, artichoke dip, cupcakes, Zero Gravity beer and sangria.

After an extremely late night (we didn’t go to bed until 1am) I ended up sleeping in until 10:30 am and woke up congested and still tired.  I ran myself ragged this weekend but it was as great time.  Also it’s a perfect reason to start our new mind, body and soul cleanse this week.  I am not going to reveal all of the details as this is a project I am working on but it is a 4 week  holistic cleanse that helps to create balance, energy and overall wellness.  The first week is the most restrictive and includes eliminating added sugars, soy, gluten and wheat, TV and limits other electronic access (so yes I will still be blogging and checking my email).  It is actually the perfect week to start this because I have to send my MacBook in to get repaired.  I will further discuss my experience with the cleanse during my future weekend wrap ups.

High Raw Week Fail and a Win

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This week I declared that we would be eating a high raw diet because I always feel amazing after I take a week to just let my body relax and step away from wheat, gluten and any processed foods. Well things were going strong we had delicious mock raw tuna sandwiches on sprouted bread with raw spicy carrot soup for diner on Sunday.  Yesterday for lunch I had a big red apple and left over mock tuna over greens with tomato which was delicious and better than the mock tuna on sprouted bread. For a snack after work I enjoyed a tray of these yummy crispy things:

Yeah those are kale chips, not just any kale chips though, these are spicy cheezy kale chips and they are addictive.

Well after all that sounds like we were on the right track to eating high raw this week, eh? Then it came time for dinner and all I could think about is how much I wanted brown rice with curry.  I tried to convince myself that I could just do a big green salad with a raw curry dressing but I just couldn’t get past my craving for warm food. So I decided to go with it, but first I had to evaluate the veggie situation because if it wasn’t going to be raw I wanted it packed with veggies. This is what I found:

Add to that coconut milk and green curry paste:

and then of course my secret special ingredient, avocado, an ingredient I had never heard of in Thai curry (I have now been informed people have seen it on the menu places).  I know it sounds strange but as I was planning this curry I couldn’t stop thinking about the creamy basket of avocados sitting on counter and decided to take a chance and add it to my curry.

For dessert we had raw chocolate which my husband said and I quote “I will never be able to look the same way at chocolate again.”  This is really the most amazing chocolate that either of us has ever had; the flavor is outstanding.

Double Down- Saturday & Sunday Wrap Up

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This weekend has been filled with great new recipes, great conversation and the most amazing chocolate I have ever had. On Saturday after a crazy morning filled with bagels, markets and lots of coffee the Hubz and I came home to prepare for our dinner guest. We took a break from cleaning and organizing to enjoy a Dominex Eggplant Burger over greens with tomatoes and avocado served with rutabaga flax fries.

Serves 2- pre heat oven to 425F. Peel and cut 2 small rutabaga into fries and place in a bowl. Toss the rutabaga with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of flax meal, 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon chili powder and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes until tender and browned.

More cleaning and a little napping happened and then it was time to make dinner for Allie from Healthy Balance, Healthy Life. Allie wanted to make hummus using her new food processor so that set the tone for the entire meal.  I decided to go with a Mediterranean themed meal which included lemon-garlic-oregano marinated tofu, tomato, onion and pepper skewers, olives, pita, tahini-parsley dressing and carrot sticks and radishes with Allie’s roasted red pepper hummus.

tofu and tomato skewers

onion and pepper skewers

The marinade/baste for the veggies and tofu included:

  • 1 cup vegetarian chicken broth (could sub vegetable broth)
  • 2 Tablespoon chopped parlsey
  • 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil

Whisk these all together and pour over skewered veggies and tofu and allow to marinate for 2-4 hours.  Remove from the marinade and place on parchment lined baking sheets; pre-heat oven to 425F. Place the remaining marinade in a small sauce pan and place over high heat; bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer until the sauce has reduced by half. Remove from the heat and brush the veggies and tofu. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and baste with more of the reduced marinade; return to the oven and bake for 15 more minutes.  Remove from the oven once again and baste the veggies and tofu with the remaining marinade.  Turn the oven on to broil and broil on high until the veggies and tofu are lightly browned.

carrot sticks and radishes

yummy mixed olives

tahini-parsley sauce and whole wheat pita

Allie's Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Serves 4- in a small sauce pan heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, add 1/2 a minced sweet onion and saute over medium-high for 5-6 minutes until the onions soften. Stir in the garlic and 1 (15oz) can of rinsed and drained chickpeas; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in 1 (12oz) package of defrosted frozen spinach, 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste; cook until heated through.

For dessert we enjoyed Lulu’s raw chocolate which is easily by far the most amazing raw chocolate I have ever had.  I find a  a lot of raw chocolates do not have enough of a chocolate flavor and are sometimes chalky tasting but this chocolate was amazing and not only is the best raw chocolate I have ever had but one of the best chocolates.  I will blog about these more once I try the other flavors I have.

After our late night chatting and enjoying Proseco with Allie we dragged ourselves out of bed this morning and headed to my parents house for the day.  We enjoyed the day with my parents, grandma and Aunt Carol; we ate, played cards and laughed. When we got home we were hungry and ready to enjoy a nice high-raw dinner.  This week we are going to eat high raw in hopes of detoxing our body a bit after enjoying lots of pasta, bread and drinks this weekend.

Dinner tonight consisted of a spicy carrot-avocado soup and raw tuna salad sandwiches which was served on multigrain Manna sprouted bread.

Spicy Carrot-Avocado Soup (raw)

Serves 2-3

  • 1 & 2/3 cup carrot juice
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 jalapeno
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • pinch of cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

The Raw Tuna Salad recipe came from Ani Phyo's Raw Food Essentials

You can get the Aioli Mayonaise recipe for the mock tuna sandwich here.

Dessert was more amazing raw chocolate