Lunch with a special friend

As part of the cleanse I am entitled to one meal per day along with 2 JOOS's and as many raw fruits and vegetables as I want.
My long lost friend, who recently moved to CALI, came home for a week :)))))
We met up for a "BURGER" before she returns to the West Coast.
Poor Laura, she has dealt with my health "craziness" for a LONG TIME. I took her to her first yoga class, have made her kale smoothies til she herself turned green, and now I told we were going out for a burger (she loves those), little did she know what she would actually be eating (insert evil laugh here)
Turns out she LOVED IT! YAY. A few months ago, JT, Kevin, Yvonne, Gina T and I went to the preview of The Prana Raw Cafe, the food was DELISH!!!!

This afternoon Laura accompanied me to my first visit to the Cafe since its opening.
We started with flax seed chips and mango salsa, split a burger on an onion bun with kale chips topped with sesame seeds. And finished with vanilla and chocolate macaroons and chocolate pudding!!!!!



As our group from the studio comes to the end of our cleanse some ladies have opted to keep this a constant in their life, while others have learned the valuable lesson of encorporating more fruits and vegetables as well as whole foods into their diets. IT'S a WIN-WIN if you ask me!

We have been collecting some recipes and sharing them with each other and now I will share some with you!


ENJOY ;0 Made this one Sunday

Lentil Salad with Maple-Balsamic Vinagrette

1 1/2 cups French lentils (de Puy), check for stones and rinse
1 bay leaf
sea salt
1 carrot peeled and shredded
1 red pepper, cored and finely diced
1/4 cup scallions greens, chopped parsley or cilantro
1/2 cup raisins or currants
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Maple Balsamic Vinagrette

3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 t sea salt
pepper

Fill a large saucepan with water, add lentil and bay leaf, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered until the lentil are cooked about 18-20 minutes. The lentils should be tender, but still holding their shape, not mushy. Drains lentils well, add a few pinches of salt and shake a few times as they cool to release steam.

When cool, combine the lentils, carrots, red pepper, scallions or herbs and raisins in a large bowl

To make dressing, in a separate bowl, whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, maple syrup, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with lentils and veggies. Garnish with toasted walnuts.

Variations: add chickpease, add herbs, chopped cuke, tomatoes, feta, cumin and coriander, use other sweetener of choice, other nuts:pine nuts, pecans, slivered almonds.

Thai Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/2 t sea salt
1 red pepper core and cut in strips
1 carrot peeled and shredded or julienned
1 cucumber,peeled seeded and diced
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/3 chopped cilantro

Thai Dressing

6 T fresh lime juice
1 T sweetner of choice
1 T fish sauce
1/2 t red pepper flakes


Add quinoa, salt and 1 1/2 cupes water to saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 13-15 minues until all water is absorbed. Turn off heat and let sit of 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, red pepper, carrot and cucumber.

Combine dressing ingredients and add dressing to salad and toss. Gently mix in the chopped herbs.

THANKS STEPHANIE ;)

For those of you who think that desert is out the question, here is a great snack courtesy of JO ;)

Cut up bananas in chunks, spreak almond butter or natural Peanut butter on 1 end and roll that end in ground flaxseed, then freeze them.
They taste like banana splits w/o the ice cream.