½ cup oat groats, soaked overnight
½ cup spinach, chard or kale (use spinach if you're new to raw foods)
¼ cup frozen cranberries (use less if you're sensitive to astringent/sour flavors)
¼ cup frozen blueberries
¼ cup frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced (adjust to your taste for ginger)
½ cup dried apricots, soaked overnight
3 tablespoons chia seeds
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
1 apple or 1 pear
½ lemon, juiced (optional; adds freshness)
1. Put soaked oat groats into food processor with dried apricots.
2. Blend until consistent, but chunky.
3. Add Brussels sprouts and spices and blend for ten to thirty seconds.
4. Add frozen berries and pulse seven times.
5. Cut apple into pieces roughly and add.
6. Juice one lemon over the food processor.
7. Pulse six to sixteen times, aiming for pieces no larger than ½-inch on a side.
8. Garnish with a few fresh berries. Mint leaves would also be a pretty and tasty addition.
Swish water in your mouth afterward to clean your teeth.
Try not to drink a full glass of water immediately after eating, so that you do not dilute your digestive acid. Instead, drink water twenty minutes before eating, or an hour or more afterward. Just use a mouthful or two to clean your teeth.
Another way to clean your teeth is to chew celery.
Do not brush your teeth however. The acid in fruits temporarily weakens your tooth enamel. You neither want to leave that acid on your teeth, or brush your teeth. Instead, chew celery or a lettuce leaf and drink a couple gulps of water. Another way to clean your teeth is to use a probiotic beverage such as Inner Eco (coconut water kefir).
And, while we're on the subject of teeth: Tooth paste rots your teeth and your brain. I'm not kidding. I'd rather use rubbing alcohol than tooth paste, although I do not use rubbing alcohol either. I use baking soda two to four times a week, and the rest of the time I use plain water in combination with using Inner Eco, celery and drinking water to clean my teeth.
For extra cleanliness in the mouth, on occasion (roughly once a month) I use a drop of clove oil which kills off the bacteria that form cavities.
Why I choose to use these ingredients:
Oat groats have less fat than nuts and seeds, which means they don't slow down digestion as much as nuts and seeds. I use whole oat groats, and not "rolled oats" because rolled oats are heated and thereby denatured. You can't sprout rolled oats (even if they were not heated, they're still squished), but you can sprout oat groats. They're available in the bulk section of most Whole Foods. In Buffalo, NY, oat groats are available in the bulk section of the Lexington Co-Op.
I add spinach, kale or chard to this dish to give it some added nutrition. Fresh, frozen and dried fruits are healthy, but they don't contain many key things that vegetables do. Fruit fiber and vegetable fibers are different, and both fibers are important in the diet. Green leafy things contain chlorophyll, which I believe is essential to the health of the circulatory system. I could go on, but you get the idea: green leafy things are important.
I use cranberries in my berry selection because they have potent antioxidant activity, as is evident from their astringent flavor.
I use dried apricots, prunes, figs or dried peaches because they contain higher nutrition per calorie than raisins, dates or zante currants. Dried apricots in particular are low calorie per high nutrition.
I add chia seeds to my recipes for their iron and calcium content. For my taste pallet, I have a hard time getting enough calcium and iron without chia seeds. It's true, I could get enough calcium and iron from greens, but on average I don't. This isn't because I can't, but because my taste buds are not acclimated to enough greens, and also because my schedule is tight to be juicing as much green veggies as I'd like. So, to make up for the difference, I add chia seeds.
Fresh ginger is great for digestive health, but I use it because I love the flavor and spunk that it adds.
I use cinnamon and nutmeg purely for their flavor. They don't have particular nutritional benefits that I'm seeking.
I use apples or pears because they're affordable and I like the taste. Mangoes, peaches and many other fruits also work in this recipe or in a variation of this recipe. However, the firmness of apples and pears adds a certain texture that I find desirable.
If you want a whole week's worth of recipes, organized so that you get all of your nutritional needs met each and every day, check out my raw vegan 7-day and 8-day meal plans.
Thanks for reading!
Enjoy and photograph your creations!!!
~ Raederle
