Fun times and good beer in Portland

Well I made it one week straight eating only raw food. I felt really good and it felt like a really nice cleanse. I'm still eating 2 raw meals a day(most days), and a cooked meal for dinner. My pants are getting looser, but I'm not sure if I've lost any weight since I don't have a scale. I've been doing lots of walks almost everyday for an hour and fifteen minutes. I made some raw brownies here's the recipe I used. I cut the frosting recipe in half though.
recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=59196

I really like these they taste like a chocolate lara bar with frosting on it.

Just got back from Portland and tried this place called Vita Cafe in the Alberta District. I had a salad with their lemon tahini dressing and cup of tomato basil soup(not raw). They had a lot of vegan, vegetarian and a few meat options. I really wanted to try Blossoming Lotus but I didn't get a chance maybe next time. A few places I did go to was Portland Saturday Market. It was opening day and they had a little fruit stand with fresh fruit all sliced up and this was really good. We hung out at a really cool little brewpub called Tugboat Brewery which is a small pub with a nice atmosphere we didn't eat there, but we drank a few beers. We also hit up Deschutes Brewery in the Pearl and got to see our friend Brandi, that used to work in the Deschutes Brewery here in Bend. She treated us to a beer. Yes I'm aware that beer is not raw, but I love beer so I'm not giving it up just yet. Just for your information most wine is considered raw, although not all wines are vegan. So if you are going to serve a vegan some wine please make sure to check out some vegan wines.

Almond ginger nori rolls

Thursday, Day Four


Breakfast:

Green Smoothie- Mango, blueberries, raspberries, chard, microgreen sprouts, lime, merlin's magic and water.


Lunch:

Almond Ginger Nori Rolls(Ani's Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo)I'm guessing the measurements since I don't own this book. Deschutes Public Libraray has it though. Here's what I did.


Almond Ginger Pate
1 Cup sprouted, dehydrated almonds
1-1/2 inch piece of peeled ginger, rough chopped
1 large clove of garlic, rough chopped
1 meyer lemon, remove seeds
1/4-1/2 tsp. himalayan salt( I used closer to the 1/2 tsp.)
3 Tbl. water

Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until it's about medium fine chunks. Set aside

Chop the following vegetables
1 cup purple cabbage, chopped in thin strips
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cucumber, deseeded and julienned
1 carrot, julienned
1 baby yellow or red bell pepper, julienned
4 lettuce leaves(I used butter lettuce)

2 sheets of untoasted nori rolls(Nature's and Whole foods carries these)

Once your veggies are chopped and your pate is made get out a sushi mat and lay your untoasted nori scruffy side up. Place the lettuce leaves on the nori. Make sure you leave an inch on the side closest to you and 2 inches on the side furthest from you. After the lettuce, put the cabbage, cucumber, carrot, cilantro bell pepper in little rows, next to each other (look at the picture to get an idea of what I'm talking about). Place 1/2 the pate mixture on top of the veggies, wet the end furthest from you with some water and roll tightly away from you and towards the wet end. Push down to seal. Repeat for a second roll. Cut in half with serrated sharp knife. Serves 2

If anyone makes it let me know what you think. It's pretty filling and yummy. Going out for my walk now..

Take Care,

Jen

I've failed, so I'm just going to pick my self up and start all over again!

Well the 11 week raw food rehab didn't go quite as planned. In fact what the hell was I thinking trying to do a cleanse around my birthday and the holidays. El stupido! Not only did I fail at it, I fell hard. I started eating meat again the week of Thanksgiving until this last Sunday. I was almost 2 years vegetarian.(I ate fish once a week so I guess I was a pescetarian) I just started craving meat like crazy. I was having dreams about meat..very weird. So I experimented with it and I have to say, that while it tasted pretty good, it did not help me feel any better. I just had to find out if that was the missing component, it wasn't..

Where am I now in all this.. I started the raw food diet again on Monday. This time I mean business. I just want to feel good again. I've been feeling like shit for too long and I'm over it. I just got an allergy test in the mail that tests you for gluten, milk, soy and egg allergies. I want to lose the weight that all the stress and drinking has put on me and I'm finally to the point that I'm willing to do what it takes.

So on to what I ate

Monday:
Breakfast:
Green Smoothie(raspberry, mango, cherries, microgreen sprouts, spinach, cilantro, lime and merlin's magic.
Lunch: Raw Almond Hummus recipe is from here: http://www.drbenkim.com/almond-hummus-recipe.htm ( I cut the recipe in half, remove the parsley from the recipe and place it on top of the hummus, I also add in some cumin to the recipe and extra garlic. I also top with zaatar seasoning, cayenne and a little cold pressed olive oil) I love this recipe! I ate the hummus with cucumbers and my mexi flax crackers which I will post in the future after I measure everything out..
Dinner: Large salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, cucumber, tomato, red bell pepper, with some guacamole I made(2 avocados, 1/4 cup sweet onion(chopped), 1/4 of a tomato, 1/2 of a lime, a thin strip of jalapeno(chopped fine), pepper to taste, a little cilantro(chopped fine) and himalayan salt to taste. I also made some cilantro lime dressing in my vitamix blender.
Cilantro Lime Dressing
3 limes
3 Tbl. Olive Oil
1/4 cup cilantro
2 heaping Tbl. raw honey
1/4 tsp. himalayan salt
Blend in the blender until well blended.
Dessert: frozen bananas blended with almond milk to make a banana milk shake.

I will try and update what I'm eating and my weight loss more regularly.

Take Care,

Jen