Holiday Recipes

These are some of my favorite holiday recipes!

Most are compiled from other sources, to which I have given credit where known. A few are my own versions. I hope you will enjoy them!


Desserts

Quick and Simple Apple Pie

Crust:
1-1/4 cups sunflower seeds
3/4 cup raisins
1 Tbl carob powder

Filling:
5-6 medium apples (green)
3/4 cup raw honey
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 Tbl cinnamon
dash of cloves
shredded coconut
1 banana, kiwi for topping (optional)

Instructions for Crust:
Process ingredients in food processor until finely g round and mixture sticks together.
Line 9" pie plate with mixture.

Instructions for Filling:
In a food processor, pulse chop apples into small pieces (not into sauce!).
In a bowl, mix chopped apples, cinnamon, lemon juice, honey and dash of cloves.
Scoop mixture into pie crust.
Save the juice that remains.
Level out with a spatula. Sprinkle coconut flakes over top.

When ready to serve, drizzle remaining juice over pie.
Cut fruit into thin slices and place on top of flakes in circles.

Source: www.living-foods.com

"Pumpkin Pie" Pudding

Serves 4

5 figs
10 pitted dates
1 cup walnuts, soaked 6-8 hours, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup grated carrots
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Adding ingredients a little at a time, blend until creamy in food processor with the "S" blade.

Source: Susan Schenck, "The Live Food Factor"


Drinks

Gail's Spiced Pumpkin Latte

2 cup raw almonds (soaked overnight)
10 Medjool dates (soaked 3-4 hours)
2/3 cup organic canned pumpkin or fresh steamed pumpkin
1 -1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup Roma, Cafix, or Oskri's Barley Coffee
4 1/2 cups distilled water

Place all ingredients in vita mix (or other powerful blender) and process on high until well blended - serve over ice and ENJOY.

(Use the sweet water the dates have been soaked in as part of the 4 1/2 cups of distilled water. This recipe will keep in the refrigerator 2-3 days. Stir well before serving. Half or quarter recipe ingredients for smaller batches.)

Hallelujah Acres Recipes

Eggnog

2 cups almond milk
1 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 cup raw honey
1 Tbl cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 vanilla bean
1 banana

Blend all in Vita-Mix blender.

Source: PaulNison.com

My own notes:
Substitutions: pitted dates for the honey; soy or rice milk for almond milk; 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract for the vanilla bean.

Cold Spiced Cider

1 quart apple cider or fresh apple juice
1/2 cup honey
6 lemon slices
12 whole cloves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
6 cinnamon sticks

Combine all ingredients but the cinnamon sticks; let stand one hour. Strain.
Pour into 6 mugs. Add cinnamon sticks to each mug for stirring.

Yield: 6 3/4 cup servingss.
Source: Feasting on Raw Foods

Entrees

Raw Mashed “Potatoes”

1 small head cauliflower, broken into florets
1/4 cup cashews
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (or to taste)
1/4 cup olive or other cold pressed, unrefined and unheated oil, or to taste
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste

In a food processor, grind cashews fine.
Add cauliflower, and garlic, and process fine.
Add olive oil until mixture looks like fluffy mashed potatoes.
Remove from food processor and sprinkle on black pepper to taste.
Serve with gravy.

Mushroom Gravy

1/2 cup almonds, soaked 12 hours or overnight
1/2 cup distilled water
2-1/2 cup shiitake or portabello mushrooms
1 clove garlic (or 1/4 tsp powdered garlic)
2 tsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
water, as necessary

In a food processor, grind almonds fine.
Add remainder of ingredients, and process to paste, adding water as necessary.

Healthy Holiday Eating!

Briefly, here are the tips I gave in the first part of this series on How to Eat Healthfully this Thanksgiving - and Enjoy it!:

1. Make a couple of healthy dishes to bring and to share
2. Eat a healthy snack or a meal prior to the get together - fill up if necessary
3. Eat or drink something sweet but healthy prior to satisfy that craving for unhealthy sweets
4. Brush your teeth right before
5. Have the right frame of mind - you are not being deprived!
6. Decide before you go how you want to eat to lessen chances of succumbing to temptation

A note about #6. It is completely your decision how far you want to go to be healthy. Your motivation will depend on your perceived need and your desire.

I say "perceived" because if we're eating the Standard American Diet, eventually we will become sick, diseased, and die prematurely from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or other complication. But if you're young and your body is still nobly battling against the fuel you are giving it, or you feel like you're not in that bad shape, then you won't perceive your need to be that great.

And who wants to change something they enjoy, even if they know it's not good for them (everything in moderation, right?) unless they know they really have to. My response to that moderation thing is, Would you take arsenic in moderation, too?

Arsenic may do the job quicker, but unhealthy "food" is just as deadly.

Maybe you want to eat healthfully all year long, and then indulge with family and friends twice a year at Thanksgiving and Christmas. That's perfectly fine, if that helps you stay on track the rest of the year.

This isn't about doing "it" perfectly - and it's not about guilt or beating ourselves up when we "fall off the wagon". This is about continuing to move in the direction of eating and living a healthy lifestyle.

The neat thing about eating healthy, getting lots of exercise, fresh air and sunshine, is that we begin to feel better, healthier; we have more energy, and those extra pounds just drop off. People tell us that we glow with good health!

Even long-standing physical problems begin to go away, all because we've given our bodies the proper fuel so that they can heal themselves. How marvelous!

I will be posting recipes as quickly as I can, to give you more options and alternatives to eat healthy during this season. So please check back often for updates.

I will give credit to the authors whenever possible; if I miss giving credit it is because I don't recall where I got that particular recipe from and would appreciate if anyone who knows would tell me so that I may give proper credit.

Phyllis Towse