The All Natural Way to Cook

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Everyone at some point in their life has eaten raw foods. All natural foods are extremely healthy for you and are so simple to prepare. There are so many ways to incorporate them into a daily diet. Natural foods are filled with nutrients and vitamins the body craves.  Raw foods also are a time saver. They don’t require a great deal of preparation which allows for more free time. Here are a few basics about all natural foods.

Raw Vegetables

Lettuce it can be used in salads or added to a sandwich as a healthy addition
Broccoli can be used as a dipper with ranch dressing or just eat it plain
Onions can be used to add flavor to any favorite dish
Tomatoes can be added to salads, sandwiches or almost anything

Raw Fruits

Apples can be eaten just as they are, used for fresh toppings or in a caramel dip
Oranges make any breakfast a treat and can be placed in drinks or on cereal
Grapes add a little extra to chicken salad, fruit salads or as a snack
Bananas make great toppings for cereal, smoothies or added to a peanut butter sandwich
Strawberries well they just speak for themselves
Berries such as blueberries, raspberries and blackberries make great toppers or snacks

There are many more fruits and veggies that are great in their all natural form. Combine any fruits and vegetables to make drinks, main courses and even dessert. The sky is the limit when cooking with raw foods.

All of these fruits and vegetables are healthy and very filling too. Blend them up and suddenly you have a delicious smoothie. Throw a couple berries on your pancakes pr waffles in the morning and spice up that breakfast.

Something you should think about getting is a juicer. This will open a window into the world of raw liquids. What a name huh? Well it exactly explains its meaning. Take an apple or lemon and put it threw a juicer and BAM just like that you have the makings for a wonderful drink to go along with your meal.

Using a juicer will lend an extra hand in helping your children eat healthier. Kids are pickier then adults so adding something fresh they like will help in getting them to eat healthier.

Raw foods are very easily preserved. All you have to do is put the fruit or veggies into a freezer tight bag and pop them in your freezer. You can find bags just about anywhere which makes dealing with raw foods that much easier.

There are ways to take foods that aren’t originally raw and turn them “raw”. It’s a process called dehydrating and it can take foods and give them different tastes and textures and give us more varieties of healthier foods.

Though raw foods are very healthy for you they are not easy to come by. Yes, you can cook them all day and all night in your home but trying to go out to a restaurant and get a raw food platter could be a little tougher than you might think. Most restaurants even though they tell you the food is raw, have probably soaked or cooked the foods in some shape or form.

All natural foods are a great way to incorporate nutritious foods in our diets. It’s one way to get those children to eat the foods that are necessary to help their bodies grow. It’s also a great way to save money and time. Sink your teeth into an apple and see just how great those all natural foods can taste.

White Raspberry Muffins

minimuffins

minimuffinsIngredients:

2 C baking mix
1/2 C white chocolate baking chips
1/3 C + 1 T of sugar, divided
2/3 C of milk
2 T canola oil
1 egg
1 C of fresh raspberries
2 T of butter, melted

How to Cook It:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
With a non stick cooking spray generously spray 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
Toss together in a large mixing bowl the baking mix and baking chips.
Add 1/3 C of the sugar and toss until blended in well.
Pour the milk and canola oil into the dry mixture.
Break the egg into the mixture and stir until all the ingredients are blended together and moist.
Fold the raspberries gently into the batter.
Each muffin cup is filler 2/3 full with the batter.
Bake the muffin 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Brush the top of each cooled muffin with the melted butter.
Place the remaining sugar into a shallow bowl and dip each muffin into the sugar to coat the top.

For a special treat drizzle the top of each muffin with melted white chocolate instead of the sugar. Any berries such as blueberries or blackberries taste great in these muffins.

Makes 12 muffins

Preparation Time: approximately 5 minutes
Baking Time: approximately 15 minutes
Cooling Time: approximately 2 minutes
Total Time: approximately 22 minutes

Approximate Nutritional Value per muffin:
195 calories; 9 g fat; 3 g saturated fat; 20 mg cholesterol; 300 mg sodium; 26 g carbohydrates; 1 g fiber; 3 g protein

Marvelous Chocolate Waffles

wafflesfruit

wafflesfruitIngredients:

1 1/2 C of baking mix
1 C of sugar
1/3 C of baking cocoa
3/4 C of water
2 T of canola oil
2 eggs

How to Cook It:

Spray a waffle iron with a non stick cooking spray and allow the iron to heat.
Toss together the baking mix, sugar and cocoa in a large mixing bowl.
Add the water, canola oil and eggs and blend until all the ingredients are mixed together well.
Pour the batter by spoonfuls onto the heat waffle iron.
Bake 5 minutes or until the steaming stops.

Top these waffles with sliced bananas, strawberries or raspberries for a special treat. If you made more waffles than you can eat in one setting go ahead and freeze them. They are easy to reheat in the toaster or microwave.

Makes 6 servings

Preparation Time: approximately 5 minutes
Baking Time: approximately 5 minutes per batch
Total Time: approximately 10 minutes per batch

Granola Apple Smoothie

brown-smoothie

brown-smoothieIngredients:

2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
4 T of water
1 C of prepared custard vanilla pudding
1/2 C of milk
1 granola bar

How to Make It:

In a small saucepan over low heat, stir together the apples and water.
Cook the apples 3 minutes or just until they are beginning to soften.
Drain and slightly cool the apples.
Place the apples in the blender.
Add the pudding and pour in the milk.
Break the granola bar in half and place one half of the bar into the blender.
Blend the mixture just until combined.
Pour immediately into glasses.
Crumble the remaining one half of the granola bar over the top the smoothie before serving.

Add a few blackberries, raspberries or blueberries into the blender along with the granola to make a special treat.

Makes 2 servings

Preparation Time: approximately 15 minutes
Total Time: approximately 15 minutes

Fast Fruity Yogurt

fruity-yogurt

fruity-yogurtIngredients:

1 1/2 C fresh raspberries
1 1/2 C fresh blueberries
1 (6 oz.) carton vanilla yogurt
1 t sugar
1/4 t cinnamon

How to Cook It:

Divide the two fruits in half and place into the bottom of 4 glasses.
Whisk together the yogurt, sugar and cinnamon until blended well.
Spoon the yogurt over the top of the fruit.
Add the remaining fruit over the top of the yogurt mixture.

Makes 4 servings

Preparation Time: approximately 5 minutes
Total Time: approximately 5 minutes

Approximate Nutritional Value per serving:
98 calories; 2 g fat; 1 g saturated fat; 4 mg cholesterol; 29 mg sodium; 20 g carbohydrates; 3 g fiber; 3 g protein

This will hit the spot for breakfast and it’s fast. Use your imagination for different combination of fruits and flavored yogurt. You can make it a little different every time.

Sparkler Fruit Salad

sparkling-fruit

sparkling-fruitWhat You Need:

1 C of blueberries
1 C of plums, sliced
1 C pitted cherries, sliced
1 C cantaloupe, chopped
1 C strawberries, sliced
1 C peaches, sliced
1 C of small green grapes
1 C of raspberries
1/4 C of lime juice
2 tbsp of honey
1 tsp grated lime peel
1 C lemon lime flavored sparkling water, chilled
Mint sprigs

How to Make It:

Lay the blueberries into the bottom of a 2 quart glass bowl.
Layer the plums then cherries over the blueberries.
Add the cantaloupe then the sliced strawberries and peaches.
Sprinkle the grapes then the raspberries over the top.
Whisk the lime juice and honey together in a mixing bowl.
Fold in the lime peel.
Pour the sparkling water into the mixture and whisk until blended in well.
Pour the sauce over the top of the fruit and allow it run through all the layers of fruit.
Add the mint sprigs for garnish.

Makes 8 servings

Try any combination of fruit in this refreshing salad. Watermelon, honeydew, nectarines, lemons and limes will blend in well. A lemon based sauce can also be used in place of the lime sauce by substituting lemon juice and lemon peel.