General,  Lifestyle

our last day raw

March 4, 2013 /

The “Lifestyle” section is our newest addition to ourMode. We’re both very health-conscious and love trying new recipes (well, actually Katherine loves cooking and CJ mostly plays the role of taste tester) so here we’ll be featuring some of our food creations. You can also look forward to fun DIY projects, and other tidbits about our daily lives. Any other suggestions of things you’d like to see us cover?

So a week ago, we decided to go on a raw food cleanse. This meant no cooked meals, and nothing heated over a balmy 117°. We intended to tackle this health challenge for two weeks, but had to cut it short because we totally underestimated how pricey this nutrition plan would be. It was a lot of fun experimenting with raw recipes, and definitely opened our eyes to a bunch of delicious and nutritious alternatives.

So here are some of our favourite recipes, from our last day on our raw cleanse: Using zucchini noodles in the veggie “raw fry” are a great way to minimize carbs and our raw granola is an awesome protein-packed alternative to regular granola. As for the raw brownie bites… we’ll definitely be making this more often. They’re made with nuts and dates, no added sugar, and actually taste like real brownies!

182 Noodles:
• 2 zucchini – cut into noodles
• 1/2 cup broccoli – chopped into pieces
• 1/2 cup carrots – cut into matchsticks
• half portobello mushroom
• 1/2 cup yellow and red peppers
• 3-4 spears asparagus – sliced
• 1/4 cup sprouted lentils (optional, but super nutritious)
• Sprinkle of sunflower seeds or almond slivers for garnish (optional)

Sauce:
• 1/8 cup olive oil (use less, or omit if watching fat)
• 1/4 cup agave or maple syrup
• 1/4 nama shoyu or low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic – crushed and diced
• 1/2 tbsp chilli powder
• 1/4 tbsp black pepper or to taste

Instructions:
1. Chop up the vegetables for the noodles and toss.
2. Blend the ingredients for the sauce. We use a Magic Bullet, but a food processor or blender will work too.
3. Pour the sauce over the vegetables and mix evenly. If you’re following a raw diet, you can eat the “raw fry” cold or warm up in your oven (or toaster oven) at a temperature lower than 117°. For a hot meal, pour into a casserole dish and pop it in the oven until heated through.

Number of servings: 2 hearty servings, or 3 regular-sized portions
Recipe inspired by Raw Harmony

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Ingredients:
• Your favourite chopped fruit – try apples, grapes, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries
• 1/2 cup mixed nuts – we used 1/4 almonds and 1/4 sunflower seeds, but walnuts and hazelnuts work well too
• 1/4 pitted Medjool dates
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
• Drizzle of low-cal maple syrup when serving (optional)

Instructions:
1. Blend until the nuts are crushed and dates are mixed in. The consistency should be crumbly.
2. Mix in your favourite fruits and a splash of maple syrup if you want a bit more sweetness.

Number of servings: One hearty serving

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Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup almonds (walnuts or hazelnuts work too)
• 2 rounded tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 rounded tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes (or more, if you like coconut!)
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup pitted Medjool dates
• 1/2 tbsp agave or maple syrup (optional)
• 1 tsp water or more if needed to blend (be careful not to add too much, or else your brownies will get mushy)

Instructions:
1. Blend the almonds, cocoa powder, salt, and coconut flakes until finely ground.
2. Blend in the rest of the ingredients until mixed and creates a paste. We use a Magic Bullet but a food processor or blender will work well too.
3. Roll into bite-sized balls. Refrigerate for an hour if you want firmer brownies, or enjoy right away for fudgier brownies. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Recipe inspired by Rawmazing

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We hope you enjoyed our first Lifestyle post! A huge shout out goes out to Akudo, of That London Fashion for really pushing us to expand our content. If you end up trying any of our recipes, let us know how they turned out. Also, with the creation of this new category, you can count on us posting more often, so keep visiting us and watch ourMode grow!

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18 Comments

    • ourMode

      March 6, 2013 at 8:02 am Reply

      Thanks so much Laura! The raw brownies really do taste like brownies and if you’re a granola fan already, we think you’ll like this one. Let us know if you ever decide to give any of the recipes a shot 🙂

    • ourMode

      March 6, 2013 at 12:13 am Reply

      Thanks Claudine! They really do taste like actual brownies, we were both quite surprised with how they turned out. The texture is really brownie-like too. As for recipes that are Paleo-friendly, we definitely plan on trying out a bunch of different things, and will totally keep that in mind!

    • ourMode

      March 6, 2013 at 10:24 am Reply

      Wow, thanks so much Lauren! We’d actually love it if you could let us know how they turn out. Hopefully they’re as much of a hit with you, as they were with us 😉

  • Kristie Cyr

    March 6, 2013 at 9:51 am Reply

    I think these dishes look very delicious! I would love to try all three 🙂 My only worry about the ingredients is the Maple Syrup :O soo much sugar, is their nothinge lse to replace that with?

    • ourMode

      March 6, 2013 at 10:25 am Reply

      Thanks Kristie! If you’re watching your sugar/carb intake, you can always use less or omit the maple syrup, it just won’t be as sweet. The dish is already so full of flavours with the soy sauce and mixed raw veggies, that you won’t really miss the sweetness! You can also use a low calorie syrup (which is what we use) which has way less sugar than the original. This means that in each serving there’s only about 6g of sugar, which equivalent to the sugars in a medium sized apple.

      As for the Raw Granola and Raw Brownies, you can totally omit the maple syrup. Its optional, and won’t really affect the recipe that much.

  • Theresa

    March 6, 2013 at 1:26 pm Reply

    I first saw a preview of these recipes on Instagram and was curious about how you’d go about it. I’m glad to have followed up, the raw granola seems delicious and something that I’ll be trying out. Keep up the good work 🙂

    • ourMode

      March 6, 2013 at 6:34 pm Reply

      You’ll definitely love the raw granola, super nutritious without sacrificing taste. If you try it out, we’d love to know how it turned out for you! Let us know if you have any suggestions for things you’d like us to post about in our Lifestyle section 🙂 We’re always up for trying new things!

  • Guess The Word

    March 9, 2013 at 12:17 am Reply

    Great post. I was checking continuously this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely helpful information specially the last part 🙂 I care for such information a lot. I was seeking this particular information for a very long time. Thank you and good luck.

    • ourMode

      March 10, 2013 at 6:21 pm Reply

      We’re glad that you enjoyed our post and that you’ve found it helpful! If you end up trying any of the recipes, we’d love to know how they turned out for you 🙂

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