Iron Machine

Iron Machine pg. 84

I got a comment on yesterday's post that caught my eye.  An anonymous person informed me that my Chard looked a lot like Collard Greens.  All I could think of was oh s--t! Here I thought  I really knew my vegetables, boy was I wrong.  I was bragging that I could find myself in any produce section of the grocery store and cook anything.  Not!  Well not if I can't get the dang veggie right.  Duh!  I immediately Googled pictures of Chard and Collard Greens.  Turns out I picked up the wrong leafy veggie. Oops!  So today I went back to Whole Foods and got Chard, and yet again I made Sauteed Chard (Well truth be told my husband made it for me!).   This time we ate Chard!

If you blindfolded me and fed me Chard or Collard Greens I don't think I could tell the difference! They tasted really similar. To that anonymous commenter, thank you for showing me the way to Chard!  It just goes to show you I am never done learning! I wonder who Mr. or Mrs. anonymous was?  I am so curious? 

Now that we got that cleared up I have something very exciting to share with you.  I found Burdock Root!  The produce guy at Whole Foods came through for me.  Yeah!

It is huge.  This one was cut in half.  I made my very last juice, The Iron Machine.

I wish I could say I saved the best for last, but I would be lying.  This juice tasted way too earthy for me. Actually describing it as earthy is me being kind.  It tasted like dirt.  Before you ask me if I washed everything really good, the answer is yes!  OK I said it, sorry Chef Sarno I hate bad mouthing your recipe,  99.9 percent of your recipes have been really awesome.  I wish I could say after all that effort to get that dumb root that it was worth it, but for me it just wasn't.  Let me know if you liked it? If you can stomach the juice your body will be really happy because it is full of iron.  Give it a try.  Be brave!  Good luck finding Burdock Root... Seriously good luck!

Sweet Greens

Sweet Greens pg. 83

Sweet Greens

When I woke up this morning, I grabbed for my iPhone that was along side my bed.  Nothing different from how I normally awake.  I quickly scrolled through my emails to see what's up in my world.  To my surprise there was an email from KrisCarr.com.  Not the normal Monday morning Newsletter.  This was different.  It was more personal.  It was sent to me.  It quickly made me sit up.

I have fantasized about this email.  Although in my fantasy it could be other things besides an email like maybe a phone call, a card, a dinner, a Hay House event... It really depends on my mood.  When I started this blog I half jokingly said maybe Kris will come to my house for dinner.  I am no dummy, I realize how busy Kris and Chef Sarno are and I have no delusions of anything from cooking my way through this cookbook.  Although I must admit their re-Tweets never get old.  It is the social media I am newest to, and it is really fun.  Oh and of course  I want to leave the blog world on good terms with everyone! 

OK so back to this email.  It started out quite flattering.  Thank you Natanya, but quickly I found myself slightly panicked. I had an "oh shit moment!" Turns out I made a bit of a mistake.  I have been so careful to not post any recipes, and really strive to make Kris and Chef Sarno proud.  Anyway, I fixed the problem, but not before feeling kind of stressed.  I bet you are wondering what I did?  I am going to leave that for you to chew on today! Let me just be very clear the last thing I want is to be 91 recipes in and lose the support of Kris and Chad.  That would suck, and be kind of like that  part in Julie/Julia when Julie Powell finds out that Julia Childs hates her.  That must have been heartbreaking.

So after starting the day a little stressed all I could think of was I need a drink...

Line them up, because we are doing shots!  Sweet Greens shots!  Here is what you will need to join me as I drink me sorrows and embarrassment away.

I used to wash all my veggies separately as I prepared to make juice.  I don't have that kind of time, so now I just throw them all in the sink together.  After I give them a good soak I will peel and chop anything that needs it.

Sometimes it is hard to believe how many veggies I am drinking when I make juice.  Check out this healthy layout of greens.  Funny story about the greens, one of those leafy veggies is dandelions.  It only took a trip to 3 different stores before I got them. (I love when that happens. Not!) My husband found them at Sprouts.  Sprouts has produce for a fraction of the cost of one of my other frequented stores which will remain unnamed. I don't want to piss off anymore people this week. Anywho, the cashier asked my husband, "Are the dandelions for your turtle or rabbit?"  My husband said, "I don't think my wife fits either one of those categories!"   The cashier was speachless!

That's a whole lot of green goodness.  In a blink of an eye, these turned into this deliciously mild green juice.

Which was just what I needed to feel better about my slightly frazzling morning.  So lets start drinking baby.

  I am 6 shots in already!  Don't let me drink alone;)

Crazy Sexy Kale & The Sicilian

Crazy Sexy Salad pg. 159
The Sicilian pg. 85

Crazy Sexy Kale

Today is the halfway mark in my Crazy Sexy Kitchen journey!  75 recipes!! Virtual high fives please! I hope you have been enjoying it as much as I have. 

Happy New Year!! Today is about starting the year out with a delicious healthy bang.  I know you made that age old resolution, "I am going to eat better." Just admit it, whether you said aloud or not.  This isn't just about eating healthier, but eating foods that taste great too!  So join me by starting January 1st off clean and green. 

First is the Crazy Sexy Kale salad.  Not only will your belly thank you for this, but your soul will love you for taking such great care of yourself.  The avocado and cayenne pepper make this salad a home run.  Here is what you need to get sexy with kale.

Not only is it tasty, but it is beautiful too!

Next up is The Sicilian juice.  After a night of partying this sucker is going to replenish all the cells in your body.  You will have an extra bounce in your step from the jalapeno in the juice.  I guarantee you will be running outside to shout Happy New Year!  So drink up baby.

I thought this picture was funny.

Thank you for going on the Crazy Sexy Kitchen journey with me.  Cheers to the next 75 recipes!  Happy New Year!

The Gardener

The Gardener pg. 87

The Gardner

I mentioned last week I went to Las Vegas to see my BFF who was traveling through from London to San Francisco.  Well, tonight she is here at my house.  Actually she came earlier today.  I mentioned she is preggers with her first baby.  So today we went to one of those 3D ultrasound places.  Very cool stuff!  She got a 90% that she is having a little girl.  My kids were so thrilled to see the ultrasound.  The baby is only 13 weeks, but you could see it moving all around.  It was awesome.  

Well, because my friend and her husband are in town, and staying at my house I only made a juice today.  Between the house guests, Christmas and the normal day to day I am feeling more unmotivated to cook.  Which isn't great when I am trying to cook my way through a cookbook.  Luckily CSK has plenty of juices for these lazy days.

I found myself a little scared to try yet another juice recipe.  This was The Gardener. The combo just sounded weird.  Check it out:

See what I mean!  How could all that taste good?  The thought of radishes in the juice really threw me off.  The thing is, it did taste great!  It was sweet and the slight taste of orange was refreshing.  I enjoyed it.  To consume that much kale or carrots in one sitting would be crazy, but drinking it was super easy.

I saved some of the juice for my husband to try when he got home.  He liked it too! So 2 thumbs up! Whoo Hoo!   

Fennel & Fruit

Fennel & Fruit pg. 84

Fennel & Fruit

I am back from my short 24hrs in Las Vegas.  That is one of the most fun places to go.  Time means nothing, and it is all about living large for a brief moment.  My husband and I met my BFF and her hubby at the airport, shared a cab to our hotel, and had a blast!  I had such a great time last night that I forgot to take a single photo, or maybe it was a case of what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! My best friend left early this morning to San Francisco, and my husband and I spent the day soaking up our last few hours of freedom before we were back to reality. 

It was amazing how many brides we saw while we were there.  It seems everyone thought it would be a cool idea to get married on 12-12-12.  I think I took pictures of at least 10 couples getting married.  I also had one Elvis sighting.

I know my lack of cooking this week is probably slightly annoying.  I did make the most fantastic juice, and veggie juice (I think) is one of Kris Carr's food groups right?  I made Fennel & Fruit juice.  Fennel is a veggie I had never bought before.  I actually had to ask one the Whole Foods produce guys what it looked like.  It smelled so great when I sliced it open, just like black licorice.

Again, I was nervous to try this juice. I have been drinking green juice or veggie juice for well over a year.  I would make my own or buy some from Whole Foods. Our Whole Foods has a juice bar.  I was so good at making juice for the longest time, but then got lazy and started buying it.  The one from Whole Foods was sometimes really bad depending on who made it, or if one of the ingredients was a little to aged.  I think it scarred me because every time I go to try a new juice I'm a little apprehensive.  I have to laugh at myself for not just trying a new recipe sooner.  My kids used to make fun of me when I would drink my Whole Foods juice.  I would make all kinds of faces and usually say "yuck" a few times.  Even so, I drank it because it has so many health benefits. Every  recipe from CSK so far has been terrific.  So don't torture yourself if you don't like the veggie juice you are drinking.  You will find one that suits you.  Just keep trying!  

Here are the ingredients for the Fennel and Fruit juice.

The reason I shot this juice in a a dessert glass is because it is so sweet.  All the fruit makes it very easy to drink.  The fennel is such an awesome addition to the juice.  It isn't too strong, just delicious.

Here is one last picture from my trip. I just won 50 bucks off a 1 dollar bet here!! I promise more food tomorrow less of me...

Curried Nada-Egg Wraps & Jolly Green

Curried Nada-Egg with Arugula pg. 135
Jolly Green pg. 87

The rewards I have received for making just 50 recipes from Crazy Sexy Kitchen have been amazing.  The kind comments many of you readers have left me always bring a huge smile to my face.  I am so thankful that you take time out of your day to visit this blog.  I know there are a lot of blogs out there and I thank you for visiting mine!

Since I started using Twitter last week, Chef Sarno has been so good to retweet many of my tweets.   Today, Kris Carr sent a Tweet in honor of recipe #50.  Thank you all for being so awesome to me!  Check out Kris Carr's Tweet:

I have just been having so much fun.  Yes, sometimes I am super tired and don't feel like doing the grocery shopping or cooking.  Even so, when I have a day like today I can't wait to do it again tomorrow!  Life is short and I am all about having a full experience.  This Crazy Sexy Kitchen Project has taught me so much about cooking vegan and social media.  I can't wait to see how I feel at recipe 100.  I am going to use Dori's motto from Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming!" Eventually I will have completed my goal.

Curried Nada-Egg

Today I found myself slightly tortured at lunch time.  I had just ran 3 miles.  I was hungry, but I couldn't eat my lunch.  Why you ask?  Well, first I had to prepare and make it which had me drooling, Then I had to photograph it.  It smelled so good, but I totally had to be pleasure delayer.  I finally couldn't hold out any longer.  I made Curried Nada-Egg with Arugula Wraps.  The recipe called for Watercress or Arugula.  I happen to love arugula, so of course I went with that.  The curry smelled so fricken good.  Here is what you will need to be in curry heaven.

It was so easy to put together.  It makes enough for at least 6 wraps.  My kids unfortunately are not fans of curry so this recipe was a no go for them.  Their loss, because there will be more for me!  I didn't become a lover of curry until I was well into my adulthood.  So I am sure at some point they too will like curry.
I made Jolly Green juice to go with my lunch.  I have to admit I was a little nervous to taste this juice.  Usually I have some sort of fruit like an apple or pear in my juice to sweeten it up.  The juice has lemon in it which adds good flavor.  Truth is, I had a pear ready in case I needed it.  I figured I would make the juice, try it, and then if I didn't like it I would add my pear.  It didn't need the pear.  The juice was great!  It was enjoyable and quite refreshing.  My tummy didn't feel bloated after I drank it either.  Sometimes green juice can have some stinky side effects.  I know, TMI, but it is the truth.  Jolly Green was mild and I promise you will just feel healthy and satisfied for drinking your veggies.

Jolly Green

 So drink up!

Immune Me

Recipe 16 Immune Me pg.83

Immune Me

I am traveling this weekend.  Not because of Thanksgiving, but because my hubby and I are celebrating 18 years of marriage!  Yes, we got married when we were kids.  No, not really but we were pretty young by today's standards.  I would pretty much freak if my son said he was getting married at 23! Truthfully, Andrew my husband  had business out of town, and we thought it was a great way to combine business and pleasure. Ya baby!  So I will give you a hint where we are hanging out...

View from our room!

 Can you guess?  Let me just say it is a bit colder than California.  Yes, we are in Chicago.

I love this city.  It is really beautiful.  Not as busy as Manhattan which I love, but still full of great shopping.  I hoped it might snow while we were here, but that doesn't seem like it is going to happen. Although it is cold enough.  Burrrrr!

Since we were traveling I thought it would be a great idea to make Immune Me juice.  According to Crazy Sexy Kitchen this juice is jammed packed with antiviral and antifungal properties.  It seemed like the perfect thing to drink before we got on an airplane.  Here are the ingredients for this juice:

Also, I wanted to talk about a comment I got on the blog. The other day I received a comment asking why I didn't have the recipes on the blog?  I thought it was a really great question, and wanted to let everyone know that all of these recipes are from the Crazy Sexy Kitchen cookbook. I am just cooking my way through the cookbook.  I am showing you what the recipes will look like.  Providing tips I may have picked up along the way, and letting you know what I think about each recipe.  All along hoping to become the most awesome vegan cook ever!! ;) Also, let me remind you if you sign up to follow this blog you could win a CSK cookbook.  Whooohooo! I am going to randomly draw a winner December 1st!  So sign your cute self up!

Immune Me juice is smooth.  It goes down super easy.  The cucumber makes it ultra sweet.  Plus all that alkaline goodness is so amazing for your body.  Not sure why I photographed it in a margarita glass other than it looked fun.  I drink a lot of green juice.  Some tasting pretty funky.  This one is a great way to get your toes wet to green juice. Don't be afraid try it.  You will like this one.

Have a great weekend!

Morning Glorious

Happy Halloween!  Recipe 2 is Morning Glorious.  I figured with all the candy that would be consumed today green juice was in order.  It was absolutely delicious.  I hadn't juiced veggies in awhile.  This recipe was mild enough for the newbie who might be just trying green juice for the first time.  It was sweet and refreshing.  Here are the ingredients this juice needs:

I juiced all of the above except for the lemon. I squeezed the lemon in the juice.  I tried putting a whole lemon in my juicer in the past and practically killed my juicer. Check out us sipping our green before we headed out with the kids.

Superman and Batgirl

My awesome family!

I hope you had a great Halloween!

PS Check this out: http://www.mcssl.com/app/?af=1493296