Virgin Bloody Mary Juice

In my twenties I used to spend a good amount of my Sunday mornings hunched over breakfast burritos nursing hangovers with my girlfriends. One of the key staples to these brunches was the Bloody Mary. For some reason nothing else seemed to perk me up as much as this spicy, savory drink. Until the alcohol would bring me back down again.

Instead of riding a rollercoaster of drunkenness, matched with greasy carb feasting, I decided to make a healthy, fresh version of the classic drink... sans alcohol. This recipe will wake you up in the morning better than coffee, only packing you full of nutrients and hydration instead of caffeine. The perfect brunch drink, your friends won't even miss the alcohol.

Part of the fun of Bloody Marys is getting creative with the garnishes, so feel free to pair this with some celery sticks, raw olives, lemon or lime wedges.

2 medium tomatoes
5 large carrots
1 mini cucumber
2 large collard leaves
2-inch cube of ginger
1 small lime
1/2 cup sauerkraut juice (optional)
dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Run the tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, collard leaves, ginger and lime through a juicer. Strain well and pour into ball jar. Add sauerkraut juice and cayenne pepper. Screw on lid of ball jar and shake well. Garnish as desired and serve.

Raw Vegan Tropical Dream Hummus

Some of the fun of moving to a new area is discovering new ingredients and what to do with them. For $12 I recently purchased a jar of raw macadamia nut butter. Only two ingredients were used to make this decadent concoction... macadamia nuts and sea salt. I have just ordered a juicer that makes nut butter as well, but it won't arrive until later this week and will probably take me a while to figure out how to use it. Hopefully I will be able to make my own nut butter at that point, but until then this was a yummy and welcome treat.

Sprouting your own chickpeas is easy, but on their own they can have a bit of a yeasty taste. In all my experiments blending and mixing with citrus is the best way to balance out this flavor. If you can't make or can't find macadamia butter you can still use tahini, but believe me, the macadamia butter makes this!

2 1/2 cups sprouted chickpeas (sprouted roughly 2 days)
1 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons macadamia nut butter
2 teaspoons coconut aminos
1 teaspoon water
sea salt to taste
drizzle of melted coconut oil
dash of cayenne pepper

In a food processor combine the chickpeas, lime juice, macadamia nut butter, coconut aminos, water, and salt. Blend until smooth. If too thick add a bit more water or lime juice. Dish out into a bowl and smooth over. Drizzle with coconut oil and sprinkle with cayenne. Serve with your favorite veggies or flax crackers.

Raw Vegan BBQ Carrot Sloppy Joes

Have I mentioned that living in Hawaii is expensive? Unless you have your own land which produces enough that you can live off of, it is. Hopefully one day my family will be able to afford a small plot of our own land, but until then we are living in a condo. Soon we will likely begin container gardening on our small lanai, but even then we will need to buy a lot of food. Farmer's markets are great source of inexpensive organic produce, but they also fall on very specific days. But this recipe is made from organic ingredients bought from one very affordable store... Costco.

I have never been a huge fan of Costco in the past. It usually conjures up images of someone purchasing 15 large buckets of cheese puffs. But with prices as high as they are out here I joined starting for the cheaper gas, and took a look into the food section. While most stuff there is not anything I would eat, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of organic products they offer. I now regularly buy baby carrots, romaine, mixed greens, coconut oil, frozen peas, frozen corn, and chia seeds- all organic!

The only problem is you are buying in bulk, so it is a LOT of lettuce and a LOT of carrots. Luckily, we eat a lot of produce in this family. I hope you enjoy this recipe. It is a good one to share with anyone who claims going raw is "too expensive". These sloppy joes also a fast week night dinner solution.

3 heads of romaine (for leaf boats)
3 cups baby carrots
3/4 cup dates, pitted
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon coconut aminos
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
dash of cayenne
pink Himalayan salt to taste

Excluding the romaine, add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until you have your desired sloppy texture. If necessary, drain excess fluid. Pull off large romaine leaves, fill with sloppy mixture and serve!