Raw Vegan Cabbage Wraps & 4 Dipping Sauce Recipes

Hi awesome friends, how’s Wednesday for you?  Are you getting over the Hump?  I want to wish those of you celebrating Passover a lovely holiday,  and I hope that all that matzoh is going down nicely.  And a Happy Early Easter for those of you who are celebrating Easter!  I know some of you said you’re really looking forward to Lent being over so you can get your sweet tooth groove going again! 

Skylar waves her magic fairy princess wand and wishes everyone a Happy Easter and a Happy Passover! 

She’s “half and half“; I was raised Catholic, Scott’s Jewish, but neither of us are practicing organized religion or the faiths we were raised with.  We are more spiritual in our approach to life, rather than a specific religion, and she’s really being raised as a Silly Faced Wand Waving Happy Dancer Kind & Compassionate Soul who we are teaching to be Good and Loving to All! 

She’s so sweet and kind that it just melts me.  The Innocence of a Child is so beautiful!

I know every parent says that their kid is wonderful, but she kept running back to hug the Easter Bunny this past weekend and is such a little lovey dovey sweetheart.  I’ll stop now but it’s a Mama’s Right to Brag about Your Child!

I’m glad you enjoyed reading Yesterday’s Post with the synopsis of the comments to my Veganism for Compassion Post from the prior day.  Indeed, everyone’s responses were so articulate and well-formed, everyone played nice, and as I said yesterday, I loved learning more about each of your path’s and why you eat the way you eat.  

I also wanted to thank those of you who told me that, in general, you feel a bit judged by your choices in the sphere or in life, but you feel my blog is a safe place to share your path and beliefs.  I have worked hard to make my blog be one of openness and sharing, of non-judgment, and a place where readers are free to express their choices and what they do in their lives.  I am really proud and honored that you feel safe enough to share your thoughts and feelings and experiences here!

Which brings me to sharing pictures and a Progress Tab for my more-than-likely-Fitness Competition and Bikini Shows!  

I mentioned yesterday I was contemplating starting a Progress Tab with Pictures and thank you all so much for encouraging me to do so! 

The reason I hesitate is because of the potential for nasty and rude comments, 99% of which are anonymous.  For those of you who think I don’t get nasty comments, oh believe me, I have gotten my share!  People feel it’s approrpriate to ask me deeply personal questions and have also taken cheap shots at me, my lifestyle, my choices, my body and my appearance.  I do not address these people and will not give them the time of day by “responding” to them on my blog and since they are anonymous, I can’t respond to them on private email.  Anyone who finds the time to leave hate mail on someone else’s blog is really just pathetic, insecure, hurting, and is confused about what is appropriate and not, but that’s a whole other saga.

Not to mention the unsolicited “advice givers” I get.  I would not really be looking for advice or a critique of my progress, rather just sharing it.   For instance, when someone shows a picture of their new haircut, they are just sharing it.  They are not looking for you to tell them to make it blonder, part it down the middle, or cut another few inches off.  They are just sharing to share, and that’s what I would be doing.  But I fear that people would want to “armchair quarterback” my progress which is not necessarily constructive criticism, just criticism. 

Those are largely the reasons why I fear posting pictures, but you all may have encouraged me to Just Do It.  As well as practical insights like possibly disabling comments.  So, Stay Tuned Because I may do it….

Today Skylar and I had to run a couple errands, and after my Blogger Meetup yesterday with my Fitness Friend, I was feeling the need to read up on some things.  So I swung by B & N and picked up 3 magazines

Don’t Worry, My beloved Yoga Journal that I mentioned in This Post, is not being cast aside for all the reasons I explained

I read Oxygen every now and then and have read Fitness Rx in the past, but this was my first time purchasing Muscle & Fitness Hers.  I hope I learn some things…3 magazines were $18 bucks!  
Sheesh that seems so steep and I will subscribe not pay newsstand prices in the future if I can see myself really liking them!

We came home from our adventures and I fixed Skylar some lunch and I  munched on a few Foods Alive Flax crackers

The Original Flavor Flax crackers are a good gluten-free, high fiber, pretty neutral tasting cracker, that I can slather with everything from mustard to peanut butter if I want something crunchy to munch on.  

The Original Flavor is way more my speed than The Italian Flavor.  

While I munched Flax, Skylar Munched Pretzles from Newman’s Own Organics that I reviewed in This Post

She liked them, but didn’t seem to be in total “love” with them.  She’s kind of like me and doesn’t really love salt.  I think she’s more of a Chocolate Desserts girl.  Chip off the ‘ole block.

And then I decided to put the head of cabbage that I bought yesterday to good use and make some Cabbage Wraps.

My local Phoenix Blogger Meetup Buddy Maureen, loves her wraps, too! 

Cabbage is in season now, so it’s inexpensive, tasty, and readily available.   Take the cabbage leaves,  cut a “V” in it to get the thicker core part out

Lay your Filling In

I used a mixture of carrots, red peppers, cabbage, cucumber, unpictured sugar snap peas & cauli florets

Filling Options:
Other options include sugar snap peas, bean sprouts, peapods, daikon, radishes, diced cauliflower or broccoli, previously cooked rice, sweet potatoes or squash, hummus or other beans, you name it, whatever you have on hand, stuff it in!

Of course feel free to make and fill with a Nut Pate like…

My Sweet-n-Nutty Un-Chicky Salad Recipe
And if you’d like to Try it With Nooch, Check This Post for Recipe Info, too

…Or Another Nut Pate such as my Sweet & Tangy Chicken-Less Salad

Or Fill Your Wraps with Tofu like my Baked Sesame Ginger Maple Tofu 

Then Just roll Up

I’m still on the hunt for rice paper wrappers and have forgotten to order some online, and neither WF’s nor my grocery stores stock rice paper wrappers and I haven’t made the trek to an Asian market yet.  So til then, the Cabbage Wraps Worked!

Another Way I like to Wrap my Veggies is in my Raw Vegan Cucumber Wraps 

Or you could swap out the Cucumber for zucchini and wrap those.  Cukes or zukes, doesn’t matter.

I made about a dozen Cabbage Wraps and stored some for later.  They seem to keep very nicely for about 48 hours in the fridge.

A super simple, fresh, raw wrap with unlimited ways to stuff them!

And For Dipping Sauces Which Can Make or Break the Wrap.  Lots of Options:
Dipping Sauce #1 Averie’s Sweet Hot Mustard & Orange Sauce
2 Tbsp sweet hot prepared mustard 
2 Tbsp Agave (or Maple, Honey, or Yacon Syrup)
2 Tbsp of OJ 
Whisk to combine
There’s your sauce!
Optional Tweaks: It’s so easy to get creative and add ginger, garlic, onion, cumin, salt & pepper to taste, Flax or Hemp Oil, EVOO… or whatever flavor combos work for you.

 I know Heather has posted that she ate this Mustard, Beaver Brand Sweet Hot, at every meal yesterday and Katie‘s a fan, too!  I love this mustard and have been buying it for years.  At a little over 2 bucks a bottle, it’s my kind of value!  

You know I love my Mustard, remember this one I purchased yesterday?

Dipping Sauce #2 Vegan Slaw Dressing 

Vegan Slaw Dressing works wonderfully because it’s vegan cole slaw dressing paired with cabbage.  A perfect match!

Dipping Sauce #3
My Homemade high Raw Vegan Peanut Sauce!

Dipping Sauce #4
And Nooch makes everything taste better too!  Looking for a Vegan Cheezy Sauce?
Raw Cheddar Dipping Sauce for Veggies or as a Salad Dressing or Dip is Perfect With Veggies!

Dessert was Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate

Yoga Today is Kapotasana (King Pigeon Pose).  Please do not try this unless your back is thoroughly warmed up as well as your quads.  Yoga is not a competition and so please don’t force yourself into a pose!  I don’t want you to hurt yourself.  This is a pose to work towards with patience, compassion, and mindfulness for any limitations your body has.  That said, it’s a beautiful pose, your heart opens, love and lightness enter, and peacefulness & calm ensue over me when I am in this asana!

 

Tip of the Day:

Questions
1. Salty or Sweet?
This is so easy for me: Sweet!  I am sodium-sensitive, and Love Chocolate and Desserts, so Sweet, for sure!

2. Have You Ever Made Raw Wraps?  What’s your fave thing to roll and wrap with?  Collards, Kale Leaves, Rice Paper Wrappers?  Something Else? 

3. Do you practice or follow the religion of your childhood if you were raised with a faith?  Why or Why Not?  Do you believe in the things your childhood faith suggests now that you are an adult?  Or do you only identify with that faith because it’s just “there”, just “habit” or convenient?  Do you fear disassociating yourself from your childhood faith because you fear offending your family members?
For me, as a child, I never really believed or fully accepted all the tenets of Catholicism and as I became an adult, I let it drift away because it just didn’t speak to me or resonate with me.  Nothing “organized” really does.  I take a little Zen Buddhism mixed in with a little Torah and Mix that Up with a little New Testament and a heavy dose of Yoga and Do Unto Others mindset, and that’s what my “Faith” is.  
Tell me about your faith, or lack thereof, and how it’s evolved from what you were raised with. 

Stay Tuned For the Give Away Winner Announcement…
And a really cool review and Give Away Coming Up!  Hint: it has something to do with this type of household home bars products from CSN Stores!   And I can promise you’re gonna love this Give Away…