The Organic Climber – Blogging about climbing, RAW foods, vegetarianism, running and cycling.

Ok, now this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard… a zero calorie energy drink. Seriously? The only people that will fall victim to this gimmick is likely the average “health conscience” consumer who are somewhat clueless to what actual energy and food really is. Gatorade has a low calorie sport drink, but PowerAde is trying to one up them with a zero calorie beverage. They are taking the angle of carbohydrates as a source of fuel, and are claiming athletes don’t want, “wasted calories.”

Carbohydrates alone won’t continue fueling your body for long without essential calories. Simply put, calories translate to energy, but so do carbohydrates, right? So what is wrong with a zero calorie drink that has zero calories? Well, can you think of a high carbohydrate food without any calories? One medjool date alone contains 66 calories and is packed full of carbs (18 grams). To put it simply, PowerAde zero is highly unnatural.

Just look at the standard list of ingredients: water, high fructose corn syrup, salt, potassium citrate, phenylalanine, sucralose, sodium citrate, malic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B2, etc. Notice any natural ingredients in that list, other than water and salt? I sure don’t. Nothing in this beverage is natural, other than the water. This beverage is the last thing I would want to consume during or after exercise.

So what does make up a good energy drink? There are very few beverages on the market I would consider a good energy drink, but you can create your own, highly nutritious energy drink that packs a punch. Below is a recipe based of Brendan Brazier’s spots drink from his book, The Thrive Diet.

Homemade Energy Drink

• 2 cups of water
• juice of one lemon
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 4 medjool dates
• 2 TBSP of agave nectar (optional)
• 2 tsp of coconut oil (optional)
• pinch of sea salt

Directions: Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until mixture is drinkable

I have used the above recipe to help provide energy during half marathons and long bike rides. Combined with my shot blok recipe, the pack quite the punch. Not only is it 100% all-natural, it’s highly nutritious and good for you. Since discovering this wonderful recipe, I have always made my own energy drink. The taste is great too, it has plenty of carbohydrates, salt and coconut oil – to help replenish electrolytes, and CALORIES, to help provide you with lasting energy.

Also, on a side note. We are still raising funds for Adventure Naturals on Kickstarter, and we still need your help. We are currently close to 40% funding and have just over 30 days left to meet our $5,000 goal. So, help us bring our 100% organic, raw, vegan, gluten free, energy bars and seasoned nuts to market. Please consider donating at the $35 level or greater, but anything you can give is greatly appreciated and needed.

Recipes, Whacky Wednesday by OrganicClimber
beverage, calorie, energy drink, exercise, fitness, health, zero
5 comments

One of my all-time favorite foods is pizza. If I had to only eat one food for the rest of my life, I admit – it would be pizza. One of my favorite raw food dishes is also pizza…go figure! I’ve tried many a different raw crusts, but haven’t found any I truly liked. The other day, I stumbled across this recipe for a sprouted chickpea flat bread and decided I had to try it out. Although it wasn’t raw it was still very nutritious because of the sprouted chickpeas. It seemed like it would make an excellent pizza crust. Below is a picture of the sprouted and pealed chickpeas. It probably took about 1.5 hours to shell 2 cups worth, which made one 10″ flat bread.

Sprouted and pealed chickpeas

The recipe for the bread was pretty simple, but I don’t know that I will ever make it again. It was very time intensive. The bread was okay as is, but lacked flavor. If I ever did make this again I would season up the bread for better taste. But I’m sure it would be great for a wrap.

For the raw pizza, I made a sauce from Matt Amsden’s Rawvolution book. Then, I topped it with kalamata olives (my favorite olive), chopped red onions, chopped orange bell peppers, all topped with nutritional yeast to create a yummy cheese flavor.

Raw pizza on a cooked, sprouted chickpea crust

The Sauce

• 1 1/2 c. blended tomato
• 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice
• 2 T. Nama Shoyu
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 T. chopped yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic (I used garlic powder, but fresh is best)
• 1 c. sun-dried tomatoes
• pinch sea salt

This is by far my favorite raw marinara sauce. It’s even great to slather on a raw portobello mushroom. YUM!

The Crust

Top with nutritional yeast and your favorite raw veggies.

RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
chickpea, chickpeas, crust, marinara, pizza, RAW, sprouted
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What makes an energy bar and energy bar? Watch the video and find out, and listen to by short plea about how you can help launch my new energy bar company – Adventure Naturals.

The $5 Plea

Now, through Christmas, if you donate just $5 to our Kickstarter campaign you will receive an extra energy bar. These bars will retail for around $3 each, so you are essentially saving $1, AND you are helping start an AWESOME company, dedicated to bringing nutritious energy foods to the masses.

Think about it, $5 doesn’t go very far these days. Five dollars barely will cover a large latte, you can’t even buy a move ticket with five dollars, it will barely even get you food off a value menu, and five dollars won’t even get you two gallons of gas. So, when you think about it, your five dollars is going a LONG way by helping start our company.

So, check out our project and make a donation today!

Climbing, Cross Training, Cycling, Health & Fitness, Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes, Running, Smoothie Tuesday, Trip Reports, Uncategorized, Whacky Wednesday by OrganicClimber
carbohydrates, energy bar, fats, kickstarter, nutrition, protein
1 comment

Wheat Berries and sunflower seeds in the soaking stage of sprouting.

Sprouting nuts, seeds, and grains yields a plethora of nutritional benefits. As an athlete, the biggest advantage of sprouting is the energy the sprouted nuts and seeds provide. Sprouting takes the seed out of a dormant state and releases all sorts of nutrients and beneficial enzymes that are only accessible through sprouting. The nutrients and enzymes released from sprouting vary depending on what you sprout.

In addition to being highly nutritious, sprouted nuts and seeds are more easily digested by the body, making the nutritional contents more usable by the body, thus how the provide an abundance of energy. The sprouted nuts, seeds and grains are best consumed raw. Heating them above 116 degrees begins to destroy the healthy enzymes and reduces the nutritional content.

Some seeds, such as sunflower, buckwheat, and pumpkin seeds yield a higher protein count when sprouted; making them an excellent source of protein for people with an active lifestyle. Consuming sprouts is easy. You can include them in a recipe, such as my raw granola recipe, or toss them in a salad. You can even season your seeds to make them more tasty.

Sprouting is very simple to do, it doesn’t take a small garden to accomplish, as I first thought when I heard about sprouting. You don’t need anything more than a mason jar and a sprouting lid, or something to cover the mouth of the jar, such as a fine cheese cloth.

Below are instructions on how to sprout seeds, nuts, and grains. In regards to nuts, almonds are the only nut that actually sprouts, but they typically have to be raw, organic, and unpasteurized, which is hard to find – but it is possible. Either way, soaking the nuts still makes them easier to digest, as with any nut. Almonds typically need to soak 8-12 hours. Most other nuts only need to soak for about two hours.

After sprouting seeds and grains, you will see tails grow on them, as pictured below. The length of the tail will depend on how long you soak them. Sunflower seeds will yield a small tail after just one day of sprouting, but if you sprout them for several days you will have a really long tail, making them a nice crunchy treat for salads. I prefer to keep my sunflower seed tails small though. It’s up to the person doing the sprouting how long they want the tails.

Sunflower seeds and wheat berries, "sprouting." Sunflower seeds take about one day to sprout. Wheat Berries take two days.

How to Sprout

1. First you will need to soak your seeds (pictured above). Refer to the chart below for the time it takes to soak your seed or grain. Place them into a mason jar (half full, as the sprouts grow and expand) and fill with filtered water, just until they are fully covered. You may need to periodically add more water as they will soak up a lot of it.
2. After your seeds have soaked for the appropriate amount of time, drain the sprouting jar and cover with a sprouting lid, or a fine cheese cloth (secured with a rubber band).
3. Set the sprouting jars at an angle so excess water can drain from the jar. I usually place mine in a drying rack as pictured above. Let the seeds set for the amount of time indicated on the chart below. You will also need to periodically fill the jar back up with water and drain to keep the seeds wet.
4. After your seeds are done sprouting place them in a dehydrator until thoroughly dry. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can leave them spread out to air dry. Store them in a mason jar inside your refrigerator for longer life.
5. Optionally, you can season your seeds and, or nuts. I prefer to season my sunflower seeds. This is best done immediately after soaking. Just place them in a mixing bowl, toss in some seasoning, and mix away. Garlic and sea salt is one of my favorite flavors to season sunflower seeds with.

Sprouting Chart

Sprouting Chart

And there you have it. All the information you need to know for simple sprouting at home. So, have fun with it, do some google searches for recipes involving sprouted grains. I have seen many great recipes, both cooked and raw, but remember, consuming them raw is best.

Sprouted wheat berries. Notice the white tails?

Sprouted chickpeas after two days of sprouting. Nice looking tail, eh?

Have you ever tried sprouting? Do you currently sprout? Let us know what you think about sprouting in the comments.

RAW Food, Recipes, Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
energy, enzymes, healthy, nutrients, nuts, seeds, sprouting
1 comment

Cinnamon Girls - A yummy raw dessert. Great for Holiday parties.

1. Proper portions are key. Continue maintaining a healthy portion of food at every meal; even at the big extravagant meals with family. The rule, “eat until content” still remains the same. If you eat until you are full, you have already overeaten.

2. Bring a healthy dish. Make sure to bring a healthy dish to your next Thanksgiving or Christmas feast to share with everybody. This will ensure you have something healthy to eat and are able to share the love with others at the same time. This might especially be important if you are vegetarian like myself.

3. Avoid the grazing tables. Fortunately, I no longer work in an office so I won’t be faced with the constant barrage of Holiday treats in the break room. You are best off avoiding them all together. Once you indulge it’s hard to not keep going back, unless you have a lot of self-control. Rather than grazing at the table, bring your own healthy snacks to curb your hunger, and as always – drink lots of water.

4. In addition to the grazing tables at work, avoid lingering around food when at parties. The temptation to constantly consume food is far less when it’s not right in front of you.

5. Make healthy holiday snacks. One of my favorite raw deserts to make around the Holiday’s is my raw oatmeal cookies. They are not only delicious, but healthy too! But remember, just because it’s raw food doesn’t mean you can’t overdo it.

6. Continue exercising. It can be easy to slip out of your regular exercise routine with all the extra time off work and time spent with family. Make sure you still maintain your normal level of exercise, if not more, because lets face it – you are still going to consume more calories, even if you manage to follow most of these tips.

7. Self-control is key. Just say no! When you are tempted to over indulge, just refuse to give into the temptation.

The Holiday’s can be a difficult time for even the healthiest of eaters to maintain a healthy diet. The tips above are just a few suggestions that have helped me at times. There is no magic formula for success, but I will say don’t forget to enjoy yourself. The Holiday’s are meant to share food with family and friends, so be careful that you don’t grow too pretentious about your “diet” that you alienate yourself from loved ones. Living life with loved ones is more important than food.

I would also like to share with you one of my favorite recipes that I like to bring to Holiday gatherings. This desert is one of my all-time favorite raw deserts.

Cinnamon Girls, from Matt Amsden’s Rawvolution

The Recipe
2 cups of raw almonds, finely ground in food processor
1/3 cups of cinnamon
1 cup of raisins
¾ cup of agave nectar
2 tbsp of olive oil

Directions: in a medium mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir until mixed well. Next, add the agave and olive oil and mix until a dough like consistency is reached. Using your hands, form ping-pong-sized balls and place into a container or large serving platter. Serve as is, or freeze overnight for a more solid consistency.

Health & Fitness, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
christmas, fit, health, holiday, RAW Food, thanksgiving
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Well, my wedding day is almost here and I managed to complete our Kickstarter project for Adventure Naturals. I knew I could get it done, but a small part of me freaked out when my business parter had to cancel our shoot last week due to flooding in his house. But we were able to shoot Tuesday morning, and I managed to edit the video in a short amount of time. It’s not perfect, but it will do until I get back from the Honeymoon and redo the entire thing!

I hope you will take a moment to check out our project and consider donating. Donating as little as $5 gets you an energy bar. We are trying to raise $5,000 on Kickstarter, but we really need $10,000 to get started, so please, keep on giving after the $5,000 goal is met. You still get gifts for the donation and we get closer to what we actually need to start.

Anyway, I will be out of pocket for the next week and a half (going on a cruise with my lovely new wife), but my business partner will be answering any emails and messages through Kickstarter. It’s always been my dream to run my own business, and what better business to start than a raw food company? It truly combines all my passions. So, please, help my dream become a reality

Climbing, Cross Training, Cycling, Health & Fitness, Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes, Running, Smoothie Tuesday, Trip Reports, Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
business, energy bar, food, kickstarter, RAW
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Raw Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies with almonds.

This is the first Nutty Friday post that isn’t exclusively nuts. This delicious recipe simply involves almonds as part of the recipe. These guilt free, raw vegan cookies might as well be called energy cookies. They contain both simple and complex carbohydrates, a most for any athlete. They would be great as a pre-run snack, or for sustained energy on a long hike or day of climbing.

This is probably my favorite “desert – snack” recipe. I originally made it with raisins, but I have a thing for baked oatmeal cranberry cookies, so thought I would give this a try. I hope you enjoy it as much as my fiancé and I do.

The Recipe

• 2 cups of oat grouts
• ¾ cup of dates (packed fairly tight and then processed into paste in a food processor)
• ½ cup of dried cranberries, chopped
• ½ cup of raw almonds, coarsely chopped (this can be done in a VitaMix or coffee grinder)
• 2 or 3 apples, coarsely grated. I recommend Gala or Honey Crisp apples

Place the grouts into a food processor or VitaMix and process until smooth. If using a blender, you may want to add some raw honey, agave, or maple syrup to help the dough turn over. Next, transfer the flowery mixture into a mixing bowl and add all other ingredients, and mix well.

After you have your mixture, shape into cookies and place on a mesh dehydrator sheet. Keeping your fingers wet while forming the cookies well make for easier handling of the batter. The batter should make about 12 cookies, depending on the size. After you finish placing the cookies on a dehydrator tray, dehydrate at 90 degrees until desired texture is achieved. Twelve hours is a good starting point.

RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
carbohydrates, complex, cookies, cranberries, cranberry, desert, energy, oatmeal, RAW, simple, snack, vegan
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Seasoned Lemon Pepper Cashews

Lately, one of my favorite snacks has been seasoned cashews. I have been creating a lot of batches in the dehydrator lately, and occasionally buying some store bought versions. I’m a huge fan of seasoning up cashews because of their light taste, which really allows for the flavoring to come alive!

I recently picked up a batch of raw cashews from HEB to make my first batch of seasoned nuts since moving to Austin. As I was exiting the isle, I noticed they had a lot of bulk seasoning mixes on the end-cap. After browsing through them, the lemon pepper seasoning stuck out to me the most, so I thought I would try seasoning up some of the cashews with this flavor.

The result was a huge success. I ate almost half the batch before they even finished drying. My fiancé also commented on how awesome they were. So, I am really excited about sharing this simple recipe that is easy to make, even without a dehydrator.

The Recipe

• 2 cups of raw cashews
• 2.5 TBSP of lemon pepper seasoning
• enough water to cover the cashews

Directions

1. Place the raw cashews into a large mixing bowl and fill with water just until they are completely covered and let soak for two or more hours (filtered water is best)
2. Drain the water from the bowl
3. Sprinkle half the lemon pepper seasoning into the bowl and mix thoroughly
4. Sprinkle in the remaining seasoning and mix thoroughly
5. If you have a food dehydrator, place the seasoned nuts onto a drying rack and dehydrate for 24-36 hours at 115 degrees
6. In an oven, place the nuts on a non-stick sheet and bake at 115 degrees for 24 hours; you may need to turn the nuts periodically to ensure consistent drying

Once the nuts are thoroughly dry and crunchy, they are ready to consume. I will warn you ahead of time. These guys are super tasty and addicting. Make sure you have some self-control before making these. Otherwise, you may end up eating 2 cups of nuts on your own, in one sitting.

Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
cashew, cashews, lemon, nuts, pepper, RAW, seasoned, seasoning
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RAW Chocolate Covered Cashews

Ever since discovering the RAW Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie, I have been somewhat addicted to this wonderful substance known as cacao. But, I will say this. As with any food, moderation is key. I have recently cut back my cacao intake after hearing of some negative side effects of the tasty powder. However, I’m not totally convinced that the positive benefits don’t outweigh the negative.

This recipe is really simple and only requires three ingredients. It takes almost no time to make, other than the time to dehydrate.

The Recipe

• 1 Cup of Cashews
• 1/2 TBSP of Agave*
• 1 TBSP of Cacao Power

*In the batch I made I actually used 1 TBSP of agave, but felt like it was too much.

So, start by placing one cup of nuts in a mixing bowl, then pour in the agave and mix thoroughly. Once the nuts are well coated with agave (add more agave if needed) pour in the cacao powder and mix until well coated. Next, place them on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for 24 hours. After 12 hours remove the nuts from the sheet and place on the mesh tray.

Alternatively you could use your oven set at a low temperature as well. Since the nuts are not roasting it is okay if you use a lower temperature, just make sure you keep it under 116 degrees in order for it to remain raw. This tasty little snack will provide you with healthy fats, carbohydrates, antioxidants, and protein. This is also a good “energy” snack because of the carbs from the agave and stimulant like properties in the cacao (called theobromine). But I would avoid consuming too many of them before physical activity because nuts are generally harder to digest than raw fruits and veggies.

Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
agave, cacao, cashew, energy, nuts, RAW, snack
2 comments

Black pepper medley, chipotle, and cayenne pepper seasoned cashews.

The other day while picking up some fruit at Kroger I ran across some seasoned cashews under the name brand Yumnuts. They were seasoned in black pepper and other spicy spices, so I decided to attempt my own raw version. They are very simple to make, all you need is your choice of raw nuts, olive oil, and spices.

I chose cashews, and for the spices I went with a black pepper medley, chipotle, and cayenne pepper. To season the nuts, place about 2.5 cups into a mixing bowl and pour about 1/2 TBSP of olive oil over them and mix well. Once they are coated with olive oil season generously. You can consume immediately, but I opted to throw mine in the dehydrator overnight to let the olive oil dry. I imagine they would air dry just as well.

Enjoy your homemade yumuts!

Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
almonds, cashews, nuts, seasoned, yumnuts
3 comments