Homemade almond butter

Making your own almond butter is so easy. Buy almonds in bulk and you'll save tons of money compared to jars of almond butter. I like to add a little salt and maple syrup or honey, but that's totally optional. Enjoy some almond butter in a sandwich, with apples, or anywhere you'd use other nut or seed butters.

Raw almond butter

2 cups raw organic almonds
pinch of real salt, or to taste (optional)
1-2 tb maple syrup or honey, or to taste (optional)

Place almonds in food processor. Note: if you keep them frozen, thaw them first. Process in food processor, scraping down sides as needed. Once it gets past the floury stage and starts getting paste-like, add the salt and sweetener. Process until smooth and creamy. This usually takes about 10 minutes, then you have fresh raw almond butter to enjoy!

Raw Date Balls

These little balls are packed with so much punch! Dried fruit, nuts, seeds....they have it all! These babies will give you a burst of energy, curb hunger and cravings. I love to have one or two before or after a run. Before gives me the energy to get through. After helps head off hunger and helps recover. If I feel like snacking in the afternoon, I just pop in one of these and I'm good...well sometimes two =) My oldest son would eat them before wrestling matches for extra energy. I stash a few in hubbies lunch when he's going to have a long day. These would be great on hikes or bike rides. They are so easy to make, my kids can even make them. Plus they don't take more than 5-10 minutes to prepare!
Inspired by this recipe
This recipe makes 20-30  1 inch balls

Ingredients:
15 pitted organic Medjool dates
1/2 cup organic raw almonds
3 organic figs, chopped
5 organic dried apricots, chopped
2 TB organic chia seeds
1 TB organic raw pumpkin seeds
2 TB organic raw sunflower seeds
2 TB organic cacao nibs (or you could use organic chocolate chips, but that would make this not completely raw, but still super yummy...roughly chop them)
1 ts organic cinnamon
1/4 ts good salt

In a food processor, combine dates and almonds until ground up (see Note below). Remove from processor and scoop into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine well with your hands (obviously make sure you wash them well first). I kneed it like bread to make sure it's well combined. Wet your hands and roll into 1 inch balls. My kids like to make stick or carrot shapes too =) Place in a glass container that seals and store in the refrigerator.

Note: There have been a couple times I've made this and the almond/date mixture wasn't sticky enough. Not sure why. You want to be able to pinch a chunk and have it stick together really well. So to remedy it when it's not quite sticky enough, I put a couple spoonfuls of honey in the processor and mix it in.

GOT Kale Chips

GOT Kale Chips? That would be Garlic Onion Thyme Kale Chips! GOT just seemed easier to say =)
If you've read previous posts, I love kale chips. I love finding new flavors. My fav is Sour Cream and Onion Kale Chips but for the sake of saving time on soaking nuts or seeds, not to mention the price, I like to experiment with other flavors. GOT Kale Chips are very flavorful and snack-worthy! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 bunches organic kale chips
1/3 cup organic evoo
2/3 cup water
half an organic onion, roughly chopped
2 large cloves organic garlic
1/2 ts good salt, or to taste
pinch of ground organic pepper
1-2 ts organic thyme

In a blender, combine all the ingredients except the kale, and blend. Remove kale from stems and tear into bite size pieces. In a large bowl, toss the dressing with the kale, rub it around good to make sure it coats all the pieces. Lay out on dehydrator sheets (don't worry about spacing them too much, they will shrink down a lot). Dehydrate at 105 for 5-7 hours or until completely dry. Store in airtight containers. Great savory snack!

Mommy-ade (homemade gatorade)

Mommy-ade was lovingly named by my husband, since I make it, and I'm the mommy =) Sometimes you just need a thirst quenching, electrolyte replacing, yummy drink. Most would reach for Gatorade, or the more "natural" version Recharge. This home version is much healthier with natural ingredients, no food dyes, and doesn't have that silly side effect of the store bought ones that actually can dehydrate you. Weird, huh. Do not under any circumstances use iodized table salt (for real, don't use it EVER, but here would totally defeat the purpose and would probably dehydrate you). We use this for the days when you are working hard and need a lift, especially if it's hot out (Ahhh, hot out, oh how I dream of hot weather knee deep in February). We use it for sporting events, brought it to soccer, baseball, and especially wrestling tournaments that are ALL day draining events. I like it especially in the winter when the dryness is overwhelming and I have days where I just cannot consume enough water. This little drink does the trick! Puking bug visiting, works great!
My suggestion on the lemon and lime is to do it by taste, start with less and if you want more flavor, add more. I do that every time because you never know how flavorful a lemon or lime is going to be.

This recipe makes a half gallon. You can multiply it as needed.

Ingredients:

1/2-1 cup lemon juice, I use about 5 lemons to start
2 tablespoons lime juice , 1-2 limes
1/4 cup sucanat (or 1/3 cup honey, or maple syrup) Start with less and then add more to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Water to make 1/2 gallon, and ice if needed

This is my starting point. With the lemons, limes, and sugar/honey, I taste it and then add more if needed to get a good taste. 

Mix all together in a half gallon container.

Cranberry Avocado Salad with Balsamic Onion Dressing

A light and refreshing salad filled with veggies, protein, and good fats! What more could you ask for? The cranberries add a wonderful hint of sweetness to this savory salad.

Ingredients:
Dressing-
1/3 cup organic balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup organic olive oil
1 ts organic ground mustard
1/2 ts organic paprika
1/2 ts good salt
pinch organic pepper
1 tb organic poppy seeds
1 tb organic sesame seeds
A quarter of an onion diced
(Note: the kids enjoy this dressing with a few tb of honey mixed in. Hubby doesn't like sweet dressings so he doesn't. I like it both ways. So honey is optional depending on if you are looking for a sweet or savory dressing)

Salad-
2-3 large handfuls organic mixed salad greens
The rest of the onion from the dressing, sliced
2 avocados, diced
A handful or two of organic dried cranberries
1/4-1/2 cup organic sunflower seeds

Combine dressing ingredients and mix or shake well. Set aside while preparing salad. Mix salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. Toss gently with dressing.

"Sour Cream" and Onion Kale Chips

I love Kale chips, they are strangely addictive...seriously, it makes no sense to me, but they are! Before this recipe, I had just made kale chips with evoo, salt, and pepper, and loved them just fine. Then I tried this recipe from Douglas McNish, head chef of Toronto’s Raw Aura organic and raw food restaurant, but with some changes of course =) These are soo soooo yummy. You must try them!

“Sour Cream” and Onion Kale Chips

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups raw organic cashews, soaked for 2 to 3 hours**

Juice of one lemon

1 1/2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste (more can be added after dehydrated)

1 organic onion, chopped

3 cloves organic garlic

1-2 bunches of organic green kale

1/2 cup filtered water

Remove kale from stems. Tear leaves into approximately 2- to 3-inch pieces.

In a blender, combine the soaked cashews, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, onion, salt and 1/2 cup water until creamy and smooth. Sauce should be the consistency of a salad dressing. Add more water if necessary.

Toss the sauce with the kale until thoroughly combined (use your hands) and lay out on dehydrator sheets. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for approximately 8-10  hours or until crispy.

**I've substituted sunflower seeds for the cashews because they are cheaper. They weren't as good as the ones with the cashews but they were still amazing. At first they had a very strong sunflower seed taste, but after a day I didn't taste it anymore. So if the price of cashews is a concern, try sunflower seeds! 

Cold buster tonic

It's inevitable, sometimes no matter how well you eat and take care of yourself, you're going to get sick. Around here it's inevitable that myself and all four kids are always sick at the same time. Fun times up in here. Granted, we're blessed that it only happens once or twice over the winter. Along with a ton of freshly crushed garlic, vitamin C, vitamin D, sovereign silver, tea ,Lung Tonic and lots of rest, drinks like these help too:

In a blender combine: (I've found if my kids are sick and textures bother them, it's better to run all these through the juicer. Sometimes blended drinks make them gag when they are sick, but regular juices do ok.)
2 oranges, peeled
1 lemon, peeled
2-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup mango, peeled and chopped
2 kiwi's , peeled
2 tb chia seeds
2 tb raw honey
Water to cover

Makes about 40 oz, in a blender.

Kale Chips

Ok, seriously, these are MUCH better than they look! I tend to not be able to stop eating them. You could flavor these any way you want. Below is a basic yummy recipe. They crisp up nicely like chips!

Ingredients:
1 bunch organic kale
Olive oil
Garlic Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove kale leaves from stem and rip or cut into bite size pieces. Toss with olive oil. Spread the leaves out on a parchment lined baking sheets or lightly oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper over all the leaves. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy. Enjoy!