Fresh Mango Summer Rolls

This recipe came from the "Vegan with a Vengeance" cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I won't post the recipe, but you can find it here.

It was very light and fresh, and it looks pretty too. I love food that makes you fell happy when you eat it, no sick-full feeling here. The peanuts and peanut sauce really compliment the rolls. My 2 year old son actually ate one, but my daughter wouldn't try it. We ate the rolls with coconut rice.

Coconut Rice
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 can unsweetened coconut milk
mango slices

Combine.

I will definitely be making this in the future!

7 day Cleanse

I have been reading Kathy Freston's book "Quantum Wellness". I remember hearing about this book on Oprah a while back and that Oprah did a 21 day cleanse. She suggests between 7 and 21 days to cleanse the body in order to allow the body to detoxify and give the digestive system a break. It made perfect sense to me so I thought I would try it. Kathy is Vegan and I really admire how consciously she eats and I would love to get to that point, I would also like to look as great as she does! Here is the cleanse:

No sugar - bless my soul, what am I going to do??
No animal or animal byproducts
No alcohol - I don't partake already :)
No caffeine - I don't (usually) partake :)
No gluten

I think gluten will be the hardest thing to stay away from, it seems like it's in everything! Sugar will be hard in the afternoon and after dinner. I'll have to make sure I keep myself busy at those times. So I am starting today and will try to make it to next wednesday. On saturday/sunday I plan on completely fasting since it's fast sunday and I am going to try to go to the temple on saturday. She talks about how we need to detoxify not only for our body's health, but for our spiritual health. I really believe that there is something fundamental about fasting that helps us come closer to Christ and I'm excited to see if I notice any differences, especially during my temple attendance.

Look for daily posts about what I'm eating and how it's going. Wish me luck - I'm going to need it!!

Corn Chowder

I have touted my love for Tal Ronnen the Vegan chef, but I have fallen even more in love with this recipe I found in his cookbook "The Conscious Cook". It's basically a creamy soup, but get this NO ANIMAL BY PRODUCTS!! The recipe I had always used was my mother's recipe for Cream of California soup it is so good, but has milk, butter, and chicken stock in it. Tal's recipe uses a cashew cream. It is SO yummy! I can't hold back my excitement about this wonderful substitute! There are vegan substitutes out there for just about everything, but this is homemade, a great price, and easy to make. I bought a pound of cashews pieces at Winco's bulk section for $3.34 per pound. I only used 2/3 of a pound for the recipe. The recipe calls for whole raw cashews, but they were a bit more per pound and honestly I can't imagine the soup turning out any better, so I'm fine with the cashew pieces. Throw them in the blender with some water and there you go. What's even better, cashew cream will freeze for up to 6 months! I just had leftovers today for lunch, and it was delish!