I based this recipe off of Gena’s Raw Zucchini Alfredo with Basil and Cherry Tomato recipe.  I would have followed this recipe precisely but I was lacking a lot of the ingredients.  Hello, fresh basil season, where the heck are you?  Instead, I adapted her recipe with the food in my kitchen.

Raw Zucchini Spirals with Cashew Alfredo Sauce — 1 serving

The Pasta

1/2 spiralized zucchini noodles (use a peeler if you don’t have a spiralizer)
1/2 carrot, shredded
1/2 celery stalk, chopped
4 grape tomatoes, halved
3 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Amino
1/2 teaspoon agave syrup
Celtic Sea Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Spiralize or peel the zucchini and add the carrots, celery, grape tomatoes, and sun-dried tomatoes to a bowl.   Toss all of the pasta ingredients and set aside.  For the sauce, I combined all of the sauce ingredients in my Vita-Mix and blended until creamy.  I forgot to soak the cashews ahead of time but it was ok.  If you are using a food processor or a Magic Bullet, be sure to soak the cashews a few hours to make the blending process easier.  Once the sauce is blended, toss with the spiralized zucchini and vegetables.

And there you have, a simple (this recipes takes less than 15 minutes to prepare), creamy, and fabulous meal.

I really loved the sun-dried tomatoes in the pasta.  I am so glad Gena included that in her recipe because I would have never thought to do that.  It was fun to have a different texture thrown in the mix.  It is so nice to have such great recipes floating around in the foodie/blog world that inspire me to make things that I would have never thought of making.

Happy Friday!

I took a major break from Vita-Mixing and made quinoa and broccoli in baked acorn squash.  PS Do you need a Vita in your life?  Katie is giving one away!

My dinner started with an acorn squash.

Don’t you just love it when produce comes with instructions?  I looked the directions on the label and baked my squash for 30 minutes.

I usually buy quinoa in bulk from our local grocery co-op but I picked up a box at Kroger because 1: It was on sale and comparable in price, 2: I was hungry and didn’t want to drive across town, 3: The box taught me something very important and I felt obligated to buy it.  What did I learn from a box Ancient Harvest Quinoa?  Only that I have been pronouncing “quinoa” incorrectly for the past 6 months.  The box says that is is pronounced “keen – wa.”  I have been saying “cue – know- ah.”  I was way off!

As I was eating this I realized that I should have baked all of this together.  I could have separately cooked the quinoa, steamed broccoli, and squash and then put everything together so it could be baked for about 10 minutes.  I imagine this would have made the quinoa and broccoli a little crispy.  Well, there is always a next time!

Question:  Do you eat the skin of acorn squash? I didn’t eat it because it looked funky and leathery.

Another question:  What words did you mispronounce for a while before learning the correct way? Mine include quinoa and Oregon (I used to say “or-A-gon”).

This was my first time using my new kitchen gadget and it was a lot of fun.  The best part was that it was so simple to use (except for when I turned the handle the wrong way and thought that I broke it).

It is just like the box!  It looks rather scary but it isn’t.  In fact, it is all plastic so it is not super sturdy but it gets the job done.

The blades. The middle one is upside down (oops).  It comes with three blades.  The back of the box calls them: The Chipper, The Slicer, and The Shredder.

I love that the box is in English and Italiano.

I tested each blade before deciding which one to use.

Big Momma Spirals. I really want to spiralize a sweet potato at this setting and bake them.  Sweet potato chips are definitely in my future.

Medium Spirals. Great for steaming.

Teeny Spirals. I think the really thin noodles will be ideal for eating the zucchini raw.

I lightly steamed the zucchini after I spiralized and combined with a homemade basil tomato sauce.  I used the medium spirals for steaming and it was perfect.  I was afraid that the teeny spiral would be too small and practically disappear during steaming.

What else can be spiralized? I was thinking of spiralizing a sweet potato, cucumber, and yellow squash.  The box shows a picture of cabbage.  I had not thought of that one.

Confession: now that I have a Vita, all I want to make are blendable (is that a word?) meals. I made my first blended raw soup this evening. For being a raw, uncooked soup, I was pleasantly surprised how warming it felt. I was a great dinner after a freezing Friday.

The supplies:

If you’re a Texas fan, you’ll like this color.

Carrot and Avocado Soup Recipe:

Ingredients

16 ounces of fresh carrot juice (about 15 large carrots)

1/2 avocado

1 tablespoon ginger

1 tablespoon Bragg Liquid Aminos

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

I juiced 3 handfuls of carrots which totaled 15 carrots or 16 ounces. I included the juice foam as well. You could use bottled carrot juice if you don’t have a juicer or 15 carrots.

Before I juiced the carrots I had juiced 4 whole lemons (I don’t buy lemon juice, I make my own) and there was a little lemon juice left over in the juicer that was mixed with the carrot juice. My guess is that it was about 1 teaspoon of lemon juice but use more or less if you desire. Also, you will often see avocado and lime paired in recipes. I don’t like that combination but a lot of people do enjoy those flavors. Instead of using lemon you could try lime.

I added all of these ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy.

I added a handful of the lemon and carrot juice pulp for fiber and garnish.

The next time I make this recipe I am going to use a whole avocado instead of a half. I loved the creaminess of this soup and I think adding more avocado would make it extra creamy. I also want to try this with ginger root and not ground ginger.

Get ready for a contest!

Lauren from Diary of a Nutritionist is running a fabulous contest with NuNaturals Stevia. FOUR winners will receive 1 box of their NuStevia 50 packet boxes AND 1 free bottle of their NEW Alcohol Free Vanilla Stevia liquid, 2 oz bottle — that is a $21 value! Here are the contest details:

1. Leave a comment on Lauren’s site with a creative or favorite recipe that you would like to make with your very own NuStevia products. It can be an experimental recipe!

2. The contest starts now, and will end at Midnight on Monday the 11th. I will choose my four (4) favorite recipes on Tuesday morning! I will contact you first and then NuNaturals will send your prize directly to you!

I love NuNaturals Stevia. I have mention before that I can buy NuNaturals in bulk at my local grocery co-op. I highly recommend you jump over to Lauren’s site and check this out. I know I will!

This was my salad for dinner last night.  I chose to veg out and watch Jersey Shore (aka my new favorite show) instead of ramble about salad.

A little salad

I don’t usually buy boxed or bagged lettuce (they usually taste like chemicals to me – even the organic ones) but this was on sale.  This lettuce didn’t taste too chemical-ly but it was a little funky.   I also added fresh red romaine lettuce.

And then I dropped some heat.

At the grocery store on Sunday night my plan was to buy a raspberry-something to make a raspberry vinaigrette but then I saw hot sauce and thought, “I am bringin’ the heat to December.”   And if you are wondering, it has been brought.

Bring it.

My dressing included:

• 1 teaspoon of hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

This salad was missing one thing:  more hot sauce. I played it a little safe and this dressing was not spicy enough for me.  More hot sauce experimenting to follow …

I read an interesting article in the NY Times this morning about our evolution towards distance running.

The article states that ,”on a hot day, a human could even outrun a horse in a 26.2-mile marathon.”  I would like to see that!

Our bodies are designed for distance running:

• We cool by sweating instead of panting.  We can stay cool at speeds and distances that would cause other animals to overheat.
• Unlike our close relatives the chimp and the ape, we have springlike ligaments and tendons in the feet and legs which are crucial for running.
• We have a narrow waist and a midsection that can turn allow us to swing our arms and prevent us from zigzagging on the trail.
• We have a very developed sense of balance that keeps the head stable as we run.
• The gluteus mazimus (the JLo) is the largest muscle in the human body.  This muscle is mostly engaged during running and is hardly used during walking.
• The short toes of the human foot allow for more efficient running, compared with longer-toed animals.  Our straight big toe is, rather than to the side, suggests that our feet evolved for running.

But why do runners often have injuries? The article mentions that many people don’t begin running until later in life but exercise early in life affects the development of muscles and tendons.  Our bodies may not be developed enough to withstand distance running.  Also, fancy shoes and artificial running surfaces, like treadmills, can increase the risk of injury.

Your thoughts: do you think our bodies are built to run?

I hope you all had a wonderful Tuesday.

I left work today with a small internal dilemma.  I debated between going home to get a snack and then driving to the grocery store or toughing though my grumbling tummy and drive right to the store and not go home for a snack.  I chose that later.  I was hungry but it was definitely the better decision.  Il migliore decisione. The sun was just about to set and the sky was amazing. I am usually tired (from the long workday) and cranky (from the hungry belly) but seeing such a pretty sky made me giddy.  I was in such a good mood during rush hour traffic as I drove all the way across town to my favorite grocery co-op.  I could sense that the other drivers on the road were in a rush to get home for dinner but I was actually happy when the light was red and traffic slowed.

Red lights and traffic equals taking pictures in the car.  This isn’t safe but I couldn’t help it.

The sky was just so darn pretty.

So come on and fly with me,

as we make our great escape.

Indefinitely, not probably, and honestly I'm down like the economy

The pictures don’t really do the sky justice but you get the idea.  It was just beautiful.

Now dinner …

Can you say vegetables?  I had steamed asparagus, brussel sprouts, and broccoli over quinoa.  Tre vegetables for dinner!

Quinoa is definitely my new favorite thing.  It cooks in 10 minutes — perfezione!

Last week, I mentioned professed my love for our grocery co-op, Good Foods. If you are looking for a co-op in your state, check out this site. I never thought that I would be that crazy person who drives across town to buy groceries but I just love shopping at that store.  I feel like I am at home when I am there.  The store is filled with familiar faces since it is a small store with a handful of employees.  I also stop in to buy vegetables and fruit at least twice a week so I know most of the employees at this point.  I guess in my world, I don’t have a Cheers bar, I have a grocery store.  Do you have a favorite grocery store?  Where do you like to shop?

Enjoy Biggest Loser!

Glee tomorrow, get ready.

Buona notte, ragazzi.