Wellness Wednesday-Whole/Raw Food Recipes

Welcome to Wellness Wednesday, the day that I share a few of the things that help keep my body, mind and heart healthy!
To see past Wellness Wednesday posts, click here and here and here

People often think that eating whole/raw foods is so much more expensive and so hard. The idea of doing it is simply daunting to many people, but isn't change always a little bit that way.  This is a lifestyle change and like most things, it takes an adjustment period and getting into your own groove, but once you do, man oh man!  It is really great!
As far as the expense, it is going to vary depending on how many mouths you are feeding.  I'll give you a quick rundown of how I shop for now.
We are a family of 6 so our grocery bill is going to be a bit larger anyway.  However, since beginning this journey about 5 months ago, I no longer buy bread on a regular basis (hardly ever at all), crackers, cereals, milk, cheese, etc. Instead, all of that has been replaced with fresh, whole foods (vegetables, fruit, nuts). Here is a quick sample of what a grocery list might look like for me:

Celery (2bunches)
5lb bag Carrots
Kale (2 bunches)
Spinach
Red Cabbage
Broccoli
zucchini & squash
Red & Green Bell Pepper
Onions (2-3)
Tomatoes (6)
Avocados (4-5)
5lb bag Granny Smith apples
Bananas (2 bundles)
Strawberries

Brown Rice noodles
Endangered Species Dark Chocolate Bar
Unsweetened Original Almond milk
Natural Peanut Butter (2 jars)
Blue corn chips
Rice

Family Package of Salmon fillets

4-5 cans organic black beans

Now, I will say that eating this way sends me (or my husband) to the grocery store much more frequently but it is more than worth it.
We are not spending money on lots of allergy, sinus and headache medicines, doctor visits or antibiotics anymore!

Here are a few ideas for lunches, snacks, etc. because these are the things that tripped me up a little bit for the kids in the beginning.

 Turkey and Veggie Roll Ups!

 I still occasionally allow my kids to have some mozzarella cheese, but it is more of a treat now because it's appearance is that scarce. The wraps pictured above have all natural turkey meat, mozzarella cheese, tomato and carrots rolled in a purple cabbage leaf.  I drizzled a bit of balsamic vinaigrette on it as well. They were a hit! We have also done it with just veggies.

Another idea is to use our favorite Almond Flour Pancakes as your bread for a delicious peanut butter and honey sandwich! My kids have really loved this from time to time. And the fact that we can still enjoy yummy pancakes on Sunday mornings is so awesome! This recipe is A-MAZING!

Almond Flour Pancakes

1 1/2 cups almond flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

2 T oil (i use coconut oil-raw/organic)

1 t stevia powder (i use NuNaturals concentrated stevia powder)

1 t cinnamon

1t vanilla (optional)

1/2 t sea salt

*i add a mashed banana to my batter
*UPDATE- I have began adding 1 tsp of aluminum free baking powder to mine and it makes them nice and fluffy! Also, have been enjoying chia seeds in the mix too.

Mix it all together and throw them on the griddle by 1/3 cup fulls! We top ours with fresh berries!

*Almond flour is simply finely ground almonds so not only do things made with it taste amazing, they are also really good for you!

*We triple this recipe for our family of 6 and still sometimes have some leftover for the next morning. They also freeze really well too!

 Veggie and Fruit Plate

It is not uncommon to find this on our table at lunch time, veggies and fruits varying each time.  This time, they had some cheese too. This was in the beginning and I was trying to slowly take some of those things out of the kids diets especially  since we had changed so many other things. I went cold turkey though.

We have also put our veggies and fruits on kabobs for fun and they loved that!

 

 This is one of my favorite things to eat for lunch. I am one of those people that can literally eat the same thing every day for a long time if I really love it....and I do! Fresh Avocado and tomato sprinkled with sea salt and pepper over a bed of freshly sprouted alfalfa sprouts. I LOVE these sprouts! 

Did you know they are super easy to grow too? Check this out!  This is what I use.

And of course you cannot go wrong with apple slices and natural peanut butter! We also love celery sticks dipped in peanut butter and peanut butter spread over a romaine lettuce leaf and rolled up! Don't knock it till you try it! My fav is celery and peanut butter. I snack on that often.

 

Keep Calm and Juice On

We love, love some fresh carrot & apple juice! It is also a great pick-me-up in the afternoon!

I truly hope this helps you on your journey to better health! If you have questions and/or recipes to share, please leave me a comment! I would LOVE to hear from you! :)

 -Jenny