Raw Strawberry Mango Avocado Salad

This sweet, summery salad is juicy and so flavorful - just delicious on top of some baby spinach.

My good friend tried an intriguing diet this summer.  She saw the documentary, "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" about a man on a mission to lose a considerable amount of weight to reverse his obesity-related symptoms. He lost 100 lbs in eight weeks, eating a raw, fruits and vegetables-only diet.  Most of his meals came from juicing.  After the weight loss, his auto-immune disorder disappeared and he felt great.

(

I found this little tool for hulling strawberries.  

If you're working with lots of strawberries, it's a big help!)

Sooooo, my friend decided to go on a lighter version of his diet.  She ate only fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts for three weeks.  She juiced most of her meals and found new ways to prepare dinners (lots of salads).

love LOVE my new citrus juicer!

Right in the middle of her diet, she was supposed to come on over to our house for a play date.  She offered to bring her own lunch and I said, "No!".  She didn't want to inconvenience me by requiring a raw lunch.  I was up for the challenge and came up with this crazy delicious lunch (with no specific measurements).

LIME juice mmm!

If your avocado looks like mush after trying to remove the seed,
here's an easier way to SEED AN AVOCADO:

Strawberry Mango Avocado Salad
2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled, and chopped
2 firm avocados, chopped
2 mangos, chopped
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lime

Mix all of these goodies together in a large bowl and let them sit in the fridge for a few hours.  When you're ready to serve, eat it as is or place a few scoops of the fruit salad on top of some salad greens and top with walnuts and balsamic dressing (and hunks of goat cheese if you're feeling naughty!).

This is one of my favorite summer lunches now.  I'm glad she inspired me to think raw.  On a side note, my friend lost 15 lbs in three weeks.  Food tastes so much better to her now.  She's slowly added back whole grains and some small amounts of meat.  She said the three weeks of detox was exactly the boost she needed to change the way she eats and thinks about food.  Great job, girlfriend!

And, here's another way I salad:

Oregano Overload Greek Salad

Cherry Apricot Chevre Topping

In search for something else to make with my apricot preserves, I kept coming across this savory treat.  

At first, there was no way I was going to eat goat cheese.  

Now, I can. not. get. enough!  

THREE large packages of goat cheese later...

I'm still craving this snack.

Buttery cracker topped with:

Goat Cheese schmear

Apricot Preserves

Dried Cherries

Pecans

I've gotta hurry up and finish this post 

so I can go make some more!

What did I do with the rest of the apricot preserves...

Apricot Pinwheels

Pressed Homemade Tortillas

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Painted Easter Crackers

So there I was. It was 9pm and I was signed up to bring in CHIPS to the Easter party (the next morning). 
Chips were too easy. 
So, I found a recipe  for 

CHEESE CRACKERS. 

They turned out more like cheesy biscuits but were still very good! I'd suggest cutting back on the baking powder a smidge 
(if you can see what I mean from the picture).

To decorate, I went against my 
"NO ARTIFICIAL COLORS" rule 
and used my neon dyes.

Hey, it was 9pm, it was an emergency. 


Ordering natural dyes is on my to do list.

Here's my dish full of tools:

I rolled out the dough and cut out dozens of egg shapes. Then I mixed about 2 drops of each color with egg whites in separate custard cups. I swirled some "paint" across the eggs and baked them towards the BOTTOM of the oven so the tops wouldn't get too brown.

It's more like an April Fool's joke since they look like sugar cookies :)

Crispy, Chewy, Salty, Cheesy!

So there I was - catching up on some of my favorite blogs when I saw it.  I can't help myself.  I'm like a moth to a flame when I see a post about crusty, chewy bread. 

Kimba over at A Soft Place to Land found this recipe in the New York Times and raved about he results.  I've never baked bread in a pot so I had to try this. 

It turned out to be DELICIOUS!  Exactly what I was craving!  Crusty, yet chewy crust and a bubbly and chewy inside. 

This is my new favorite homemade bread recipe. 

Don't let the no-kneading turn you away.  Apparently, bread can be made without kneading and still turn out delicious (in fact, even better than the traditional method)!

Once it was done and slightly cooled,

I sliced the bread and topped it with swiss:

shaved ham:

parmesan:

and let it hang out under the broiler for a few minutes:

mmm!  Crunchy, chewy, salty, cheesy!

Bacon-Topped Corn Chowder

Sugar Bananas has moved!  Click here for this post on the new and improved www.SugarBananas.com

Panko Parmesan Tomatoes

Oh, these are perfect for a light, end-of-summer meal.  I'm usually game for anything with tomatoes and cheese - and these were delicious!

I sliced a few roma tomatoes in half and placed them on a greased baking pan.  Next, I covered them with olive oil, panko crumbs, parmesan, salt, pepper, and of course GARLIC!

They spent a few minutes under the broiler just until browned and bubbly. 

You could also do this in a toaster oven under the broiler setting if you're only making a few.

Along with a baked potato,

this was a nice, light dinner.

Fire Up the Grill!

Sugar Bananas has moved!  Click here for this post on the new and improved www.SugarBananas.com

How to Roast Garlic

Sugar Bananas has moved!  Click here for this post on the new and improved www.SugarBananas.com

Painted Easter Crackers

So there I was. It was 9pm and I was signed up to bring in CHIPS to the Easter party (the next morning). Chips were too easy. So, I found a recipe  for CHEESE CRACKERS. They turned out more like cheesy biscuits but were still very good! I'd suggest cutting back on the baking powder a smidge.

To decorate, I went against my "NO ARTIFICIAL COLORS" rule and broke out my neon dyes.

Hey, it was 9pm, it was an emergency. Ordering these all natural dyes from The Natural Candy Store is on my to do list.


Here's my dish full of tools:

The paintbrush stays in my kitchen and is only used for food.

I rolled out the dough and cut out a zillion egg shapes. Then, I mixed about 2 drops of each color with egg whites in separate custard cups. I swirled some "paint" across the eggs and baked them towards the BOTTOM of the oven so the tops wouldn't get too brown.

It's a bit of an April Fool's joke since they look like sugar cookies :)

Veggie Tower

In an effort to incorporate a lot more veggies into our diet, I came up with this delicious experiment. It's a tower of roasted eggplant, caramelized onions, tomatoes, and goooood cheese.

The eggplant and tomatoes had a moment in the oven to get rid of some excess moisture.

While that was going on, I caramelized one onion in a hot pan with some olive oil. Towards the end, I threw in some minced garlic to give it some depth of flavor.

Next, I pulled the veggies out of the oven and started layering...

cheese/basil (top)
tomato
onions/garlic
eggplant (bottom)

Oh, it was definitely a success!

...considering this is only the second time IN MY LIFE that I've consumed eggplant. What have I been waiting for?

Linking up with THESE parties this week.