Raw Food Recipes for Mother’s Day: Yogurt, Zucchini Spaghetti and Not Meat Balls

I promised I would post my Mother’s day recipes later in the day.  Well, it’s a lot later!  My Mother’s day turned out to be a relaxing and fun day at home, with my kids, husband and on the phone with siblings and friends.  It was indeed a treat! I actually never made it back to the computer until 10pm, after my almost 13 year old Kevin went to bed.

I mentioned on my previous post Mother’s Day Memories that I’d asked for breakfast in bed.  What I realized this morning is that I’m not a “breakfast in bed”  kind of gal …at least not on a sunny summer day.

I prefer to get up and out so what we decided instead was that after my run, we’d have Mother’s day brunch by the pool.  One thing lead to another and by the time I actually got to eat my brunch it was 4PM!

Here’s a photo of the beautiful brunch my husband Scott made me.   In the glass is fresh coconut water.  On the platter was mango, pineapple, papaya, coconut, strawberries and honeydew.

The green smoothie he made was not on the platter but it was yummy.

After my run, I snacked on some home made coconut pineapple yogurt I made the day before mixed with fresh blueberries.  That was a treat and the recipe is below.

We had a delicious dinner a few hours later. Scott even made me a “cheese cake” dessert.    I actually haven’t tried it yet, as I got full from dinner and by the time I had room, it was too late to eat.  I’ll see if I can get him to post the recipe tomorrow.

For dinner Scott made a beautiful salad and I managed to whip up a zucchini noodle with marinara sauce and “meatballs”  made from soaked walnuts, Brazil nuts and pumpkin seeds with some veggies.  All the recipes are below.

I felt pampered and appreciated and I managed to eat delicious food that took very little time to make and was health enhancing.  The best news is there are leftovers for tomorrow!!

The yogurt recipe was an improv and turned out great.  You can pretty much make a favorite nut or seed cream and add probiotics and let it culture.

Pineapple Coconut Yogurt

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup Artisana Coconut Butter (whole, raw organic coconut that’s been pureed into a peanut butter-like consistency)
• 1 teaspoon ground vanilla beans
• 1 1/2 – 2  cups water
• handful of dates
• 10 prunes (As taught in Eating for Bone Health, this quantity of prunes has been shown in studies to reverse bone loss)
• 1 teaspoon Blue Bonnet Probiotics, containing 44 billion live organisms (choose your favorite brand)

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients except the probiotics until smooth.
2. Add probiotics and blend briefly, just to combine.
3. Adjust water if too thick.
4. Place in glass jars and set to ferment in a warm place.  I put it in a yogurt maker.  A dehydrator set on lowest setting works well, too.    It needs to be in the range of 90 to 100 degrees for 12 – 18 hours.   if you turn on your oven to low then turn it off and let the temperature drop you can try in there.The longer you leave it, the more sour it becomes.  It can turn if left too long.
5. Serve plain or over fresh fruit.

Zucchini Spaghetti with Not Meat Balls

Cut the ends off the zucchini and process through a spiral slicer.  There are several options to choose from.  These are handy kitchen gadgets that allow you to turn vegetables into noodles.

Place zucchini noodles in a bowl and allow to sit while you make the rest of the ingredients.  If you prefer them softer, add a sprinkle of salt and gently massage it in.  Drain off excess water when ready to add the sauce.

Not Meat Balls

• 1 cup raw walnuts, soaked, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup raw Brazil nuts, soaked, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds either soaked and dehydrated or dry
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 small onion
• handful arugula
• sprinkle of kelp powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon whole unrefined sea salt

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until the mixture holds together and is almost smooth.  Form into meat balls.  These can be used as is or dehydrated for 8 -12 hours .

Simple Marinara Sauce

• 3 zucchini
• 3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, soaked for 1-2 hours in room temperature water or 10 minutes in hot water, to soften
• 4 Roma tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon sale
• 1/2 teaspoon kelp powder

Put all ingredients in food processor and process until close to smooth, but still a bit chunky.  Add soak water from dried tomatoes if it’s too thick.  Adjust salt and seasonings to taste.

Set sauce aside.

Optional:  marinated mushrooms.  The night before I had sliced baby bella mushrooms and sprinkled with a little salt, massaged lightly then added lemon juice an set in a salad press.  This is a device that presses the excess liquid out and enhances the vegetables and softens them.  These too are available on Amazon

To assemble, place the noodles in a large bowl.  Top with sauce and mushrooms.  Toss to combine.  Serve with Not Meatballs.

Enjoy the recipes and comment below about how you spent your Mother’s day!

Love, Health and Joy to you,

Dr. Ritamarie