Vegan MoFo ~ Cheesy Taco Corn Chowder!

Check THIS soup out!  It's Cheesy Taco Corn Chowder and it's VEGAN!

Before I get to the recipe I wanted to stick with the prompt for today and that is to FOCUS ON A NUTRIENT!  Corn is high in Pantothenic Acid - also known as Vitamin B5 and this nutrient helps us USE fats, carbs, and proteins as energy sources.  It also helps our hormones and immune systems function.

Corn is 12 % Pantothenic Acid.  It's considered to be a GOOD source of the nutrient, however, the BEST natural source of the nutrient is Shittake Mushroom which have a whopping 52%.

Corn is also a good source of phosphorus, vitamin B3, B6, Manganese, and Fiber.

Here's my recipe for this super tasty soup!

Kernels from 4 ears of corn (or about 3 Cups)

Up to 2 C Water

About 3/4 C Cashews

1 to 2 Cloves Garlic

1 T Vegan Taco Seasoning (I used Wildtree Brand)

2 T Nutritional Yeast

Cilantro, Parsley, or Basil Leaves, Dried, to taste

Cayenne Pepper and/or a sprinkle of Taco Seasonsing & Nutritional Yeast to taste and on top

This was pretty amazing if I do say so myself!

My Very Own RAW WEEK!

I mentioned in a post earlier today that I declared this week RAW WEEK for myself. 

I'm going to try my darnest to do all RAW all WEEK this week! 

Since I woke up between 4 and 4:30am - and woke up pretty well - at that - I decided to start using a new shampoo/conditioner combo - one of the few things I actually add to my body.  (I don't wear make up or much else for that matter - but I do put Shampoo - usually every other day - and conditioner maybe once a week). 

Naturally Speaking...Tomorrow I will start Oil Pulling again.  I use either Coconut Oil OR Grapeseed Oil.  About once a month - if I remember - I will use a 'scrub' that was made by a friend of me - locally - that contains - Coffee, Olive Oil, and Sugar.

As far as food intake is concerned here is what today looks like for me...day 1 of all raw...

2 Large Glasses of Water
1 Large Mason Jar of Green Smoothie (2 C Mango, 1/2 C Papaya, 2 Large Handfuls of Spinach, Water)
2 Apples
2 Mandarins
1 Grapefruit
1 Peach
1/4 of a Large Watermelon
Various teas and herbal tonics
1 Super LARGE Salad - yet to be determined - with homemade Raw Dressing.

All of the fruits you see listed above were eaten individually throughout the day.

I will try and log more attempts at what kind of activities I will be doing, too. 

At least 5 times a week I walk for about 30 to 40 minutes each day!  I hope to increase this most days.  My plan is to walk from home to work and back 5 times a week in addition to 15 to 20 minutes each day.  By walking from home it's a mile one way...so I will probably walk at the very minimum 2 miles, 5 times a week.  I hope to do a minimum of 15 to 20 mins of yoga 5 times a week up to an hour a day at the most.  In addition - I hope to do Step Aerobics at least once a week.

I'm not really doing this to lose weight - but if it happens, it happens.  I'm doing this more for well-being, mostly.

I do better when I am accountable so my points here at my blog will certainly help with the accountability part.  More on this - throughout the week!

Apple Cinnamon Raisin Flax Cookies

What is this large "blop" you might ask!?  Well, it's the 'batter' for the Apple Cinnamon Raisin Flax Cookies I tried making a few days ago!

After mixing all of the following ingredients together in my Ninja I used a teaspoon to scoop them into small "cookies" and placed them on the sheets of my dehydrator.  I put them in at about 115 to 120 for about 10 hours.  I left them a little soft so you could probably put them in there for longer depending on what kind of texture you are looking for.

Here's the recipe I used...
2 C Flax Seeds - Ground
1 C Flax Seeds - Whole
2 C Water
1 Cup of Raisins (soaked in the 2 C Water mentioned above)
1 C Apple Sauce
1 T (or more) Cinnamon
1/2 Scoop Apple Flavored Perfect Food from Garden of Life





They are sweet, you can taste a good amount of apple, cinnamon, and crunch from the seeds, you can even see smaller lumps of raisins still in tact.  Overall, I like these, but there are so many other ideas I have swimming thru my head for more dehydrated cookies I am sure I will post about in the future, too!