As promised here are the raw, vegan, plantbased Gracious Living recipes to give you ideas and inspirations for the holidays. Whoooohoooo 8 Gracious Living Recipes! (read more about HOW raw, vegan, plantbased foods can change YOUR LIFE…they sure changed mine and everyone i know who eats them abundantly…click here).

So fast, so nutritious, so delicious! All of these recipes are refined sugar-free, gluten free, dairy free, animal free, easy to digest and energizing. I always focus on ingredients to heal the body as opposed to ingredients that slow the body down. I always use superfoods and plantbased, alkalinizing protein.

Even if you are not having a vegetarian or vegan holiday meal, you can definitely incorporate some of these healthy side dishes as part of your meal ensemble or bring some of these dishes to parties to help keep you on track.  (these recipes were inspired from “Pretty Smart Raw Food Ideas”, but of course I have put my Gracious Living superfood twists on them). They are all raw meaning you do not need an oven…all you need is a food processor and a blender, OR a “VitaMix” or “Blendtec” which serve as BOTH.

There are lots of valuable tips in here so make sure to CLICK all the highlighted links and read through. Mmmmmm yum yum yum. Enjoy.

Orange Butternut Squash Soup

1 oranges 2 apples 2 cups peeled and cubed RAW butternut squash 1 peeled lemon small chunk peeled red onion 3-4 cups unsweetened coconut milk 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds 1/2 cup hemp seeds handful parsley 1-2 cloves of garlic chunk of fresh ginger to taste 1/4 cup dried tarragon himilayan sea salt to taste

Yes, my friends you can have this soup RAW! Throw everything in a high powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec and puree until smooth. It might have a bit of a greenish tint (green is the new black in my world :)) but it’s super yummy and green means it’s oxygenating your body with chlorphyll. If you don’t have a high powered blender, the squash will not blend…in that case you can steam the squash first to make it soft and then blend. Enjoy at room temperature, cold, or hot.

Mock Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

1 head of cauliflower, broken into pieces 1/4 cup cashews 2 cloves of garlic 1/4 cup 100% Extra Virgin Cold-Pressed Olive Oil Himilayan sea salt to taste 1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast Optional:  1/2 tsp superfood maca

Grind cashews and powders first until fine powder in food processor. Add cauliflower and garlic. THEN add olive oil to make it fluffy. Remove and sprinkle with chopped chives or parsley or top with Miso Gravy (next). Fantastic!

Miso Mushroom Gravy

1/2 cup raw tahini ( or raw almond butter) 1/2-1 cup water for desired consistency 2.5 cups shitake mushrooms 1 tbsp unpasteurized organic miso paste 1-2 cloves garlic 1 tbsp chia seeds Optional: 1 tbsp dulse flakes

Blend till smooth.

Shredded Sweet Potato Salad

2-3 Sweet Potatoes or Yams 1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut (big or small flakes) 2 apples 1/4 cup fresh chopped ginger 4 juiced lemons 2 oranges chopped into bite sized chunks 1 cup pistachios

Grate sweet potatoes, apples, and ginger. Pour fresh lemon juice over mixture. Mix in orange chunks. Top with coconut and walnuts. DELICIOUS & UNIQUE!

Nut Pate Boats 

3-4 stalks chopped celery 2 green onions Parsley to taste 1.5 cups of almonds or pecans 1 small chopped red pepper 1 large ripe avocado 1 tbsp hemp protein powder or 2 tbsp hemp seeds Fresh garlic to taste Handful fresh sage Cayenne pepper to taste Himilayan sea salt to taste

Grind 1 cup nuts till fine powder. (save 1/2 cup of nuts) then add the rest of the ingredients except for half cup of nuts. Puree till smooth. At the end pulse in the rest of the nuts and don’t over pulse so that the mixture is chunky. Use lettuce leaves, kale, collard greens as “boats”. Scoop mixture on leaf and serve… a cool way to eat your dips and pates or you can form mixture into a patty and serve on a leaf of lettuce. Yummy, filling & high protein.

Healthy Cranberry Relish

1 cup fresh cranberries 2 medjool dates (make sure to take pits OUT!) 1 orange Juice of 1 lime 1 tbsp chia seeds Chunk of fresh ginger to taste

Puree till smooth. If you want it more chunky, then save a handful of cranberries, puree until smooth, and then pulse in handful of cranberries at the very end so it is chunky. Add more dates if you want it a bit sweeter.

Parsnip Rice (inspired by Russel James)

1.5 cups peeled parsnips 1.5 cups pine nuts, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, cashews, or sunflower seeds 1tbsp miso or tamari sauce 1 tbsp cold pressed sesame oil 3 green onions finely chopped Sprinkle black sesame seeds (You can also use white sesame seeds, but black looks better)

Grind all ingredients, except green onions, in a food processor until fluffy and rice like. Transfer to a bowl and stir in green onions and sesame seeds. Use anywhere you would use rice (excellent in homemade sushi, too.)

Finally, my always popular:

Christmas Cashew Goji Cookies

1.5 cups cashews 2/3 cups medjool (pitted) dates 2 tablespoons tahini (or almond butter) 2 tbsp hemp seeds 1/2 cup goji berries 1 tsp maca powder Pinch of himilayan sea salt

*Optional: 1-2 tbsp maple syrup *Optional:  Handful of finely chopped raw cacao nibs *Optional:  Handful of chopped pistachios Grind cashews into powder first. Add everything else and process into a dough in your food processor. Roll into small balls. Place on plate or tray on parchment paper and make sure to space them out well. Wet a fork and then press down in the middle of the cashew cookie ball to flatten it and leave fork lines on top. Re-wet fork for every cookie so dough does not keep sticking to fork. store in freezer. When ready to eat, enjoy frozen or just wait a few minutes for it to de-thaw. as you wish! superfood high protein yumminess!

Happy holidays to all my friends all over the world!

Don’t forget to read my “Healthy Holiday Survivial Tips” in Sweat Equity Magazine with Gracious Living raw, vegan chocolate truffle recipe. click here.

Eat good….feel good….look good! Keep it simple. And don’t forget to do good. 🙂