Time to detox..

Starting to remove certain foods from my diet to prepare for some detoxing in January. The hardest two to give up are breads and cheese...I've been experimenting with different gluten free/dairy free recipes. Most have been good with a few that have been not so good. I had my first green smoothie today..Haven't had one of these in a while, since the fruit sugars were getting to be too much for me(ie.making me gain weight)..So not something I can have everyday any more. Making some raw crackers and Raw Key Lime Pie..I love Raw Desserts because they aren't too sweet and are actually fairly healthy for you. I'm making some stuff today in the kitchen so if anything turns out good I will post the recipe tomorrow or later today. Something with Kale probably maybe some kale chips..

Life has been hectic,stressful, and unkind lately. I am remaining optimistic as it does no good to be negative, plus we all have it so much better than many others in this world. So just remember to be kind the world has enough a holes! You never know how one nice thing can make someones day!

The best quote I've heard today.. "I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive."
- Gilda Radner

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

Raw Food Rehab 11 weeks of raw food

Just started another raw food cleanse it's supposed to last 11 weeks, it's called the raw food rehab. I know the last time I lasted a whole whopping 5 days of eating 100% raw. Mainly because once I know I can't have something I become obsessed with what I can't have.

Most people would be surprised to know that I eat rather healthy. I don't eat junk food, occasionally I will eat french fries from the Deschutes Brewery. For the most part I eat healthy. I drink a green smoothie for breakfast everyday, I normally eat a burrito(meatless) or veggie sandwich for lunch and then for dinner I'll have some roasted brussel sprouts or something vegetarian for dinner. I eat fish once a week. Lots of brown rice, broccoli..etc.. You get the idea..

What I've been doing that has brought me to this place is two things stress(from almost losing my house to foreclosure) and copious amounts of wine..

This is how things are going to go down now. I'm putting it out there.

1.) Wake up and make my green smoothie or green juice.

2.) Exercise at least 5 times a week for 1 hour. (I've been running and walking the river trail)

3.) Eat lots of raw food, and stick to this 11 week raw food rehab. (Which is at least 80% raw foods and 20% cooked foods)

4.)Continue my Holosync meditation cd.

In the words of my hero Yoda, " Do or Do Not, there is no Try!" (Ironic how my blog is called Trying to live the raw food life. Could there be a correlation to my many failed attempts)

Food Log for today October 16, 2009

Breakfast Green Smoothie consisting of blueberries, mango, cherries, papaya, lime, rainbow chard leaves, spinach, micro-green sprouts, water, chia seed gel, camu camu berry powder, merlin's magic, cilantro, and parsley. (All organic)

Lunch Raw Hummus made of raw soaked and sprouted almonds, raw tahini, lemon, garlic, himalayan salt, cumin, water, olive oil. With raw flax crackers which consisted of sprouted flax, pumpkin seeds, red bell pepper, onion, cilantro, carrot, sundried tomatoes, himalayan salt and cumin. A small salad consisting of romaine lettuce, spinach, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrot with my raspberry vinaigrette that is posted on this blog somewhere.

Dinner Will be Raw Tacos consisting of walnut taco meat, served with some hemp cheese dip, lots of veggies in a collard leaf.

Dessert if I feel like it, which I usually don't will be a little bit of some raw chocolate dipped into a banana.

August is almost over

The summer is almost over and the good news is my house is pending right now. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to sell my house in this horrible market. This has been an extremely stressful summer. Almost having my house foreclose, my best friends husband killed himself, and I was there while my friend told her 10 year old daughter that her dad was dead. This is probably one of the most painful things I've ever experienced. He killed himself on July 5, 2009, so sad. July was a horrible month! R.I.P. Brad Pruitt a memorial account has been set up at Bank of the Cascades for his daughter Lucy Pruitt the account is the Brad Pruitt memorial fund. If you knew him or his partner of 15 years Beth Seiler please give what you can. Beth is now a single mother in these tough financial times...

On a raw food note. I have barely eaten any raw food lately, just fruit and salads. I've been drinking way too much wine to drown my troubles and now I need to get serious and do a cleanse. I'm thinking next week I will start another raw food cleanse. Lots of green smoothies, fruits and vegetables and I will more than likely get a colonic. I really want to be hypnotized to eat more raw food and not always cave in to eating burritos and macaroni and cheese. If anyone out there can recommend a good hypnotherapist let me know. I was thinking Jane Meyers sounded good. Recipes to come shortly, I promise. I've got some new recipes in the works.

Take Care,

Jen

Raw Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream

My house is for sale right now and I have been really busy and not eating as raw as I should. I am still eating 1-2 raw meals every day, but I've been really stressed out and feeling kind of sad and slightly depressed. I'm really trying to snap at out of it as I know I have it so much better than most others. I am trying really hard to stay positive about my house selling! My financial picture is not where I want it to be. So when I am blue I try to channel it into something creative. So I've been experimenting with different ice creams and I'm pretty stoked on this strawberry one. Definitely better for you then dairy ice cream and better than nasty tasting soy ice cream..

Raw Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream

5 Cups organic frozen strawberries

4 Tbl. raw agave syrup

2 Tbl. raw unrefined coconut oil, melted

1/2 Cup raw cashews

2 Cups raw almond milk ( I will post the recipe below)

1/2 a vanilla bean, seeds from the inside scraped

a few pinches of himalayan salt

4 dates, pitted

1/4 Cup fresh organic strawberries, chopped fine

Place the first 8 ingredients into a high speed blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into and Ice Cream maker and let it run for 10 minutes, then throw in the remaining strawberries and let it run for another 5 to 10 minutes until it resembles ice cream.

I have a cheap ice cream maker the brand is Rival. I got it for a few bucks at goodwill. If you don't have an ice cream maker you can freeze the mixture and then run it through the food processor or blender again.

Here is my almond milk recipe that I that I taught in my raw food 101 class. It is so much better than any preservative ridden store bought version and you can control the sweetness:

Almond Milk

1 Cup almonds, soaked in water, overnight

3 Cups filtered water

1 Tbl. coconut oil

2-4 dates, pitted 

1/2 tsp. gmo free lecithin

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. himalayan salt

Rinse and drain the soaked almonds and place into blender with 3 cups of water. Blend for a few seconds until well blended. Pour mixture into a nut milk bag that is set into a bowl or large measuring cup. Squeeze out the milk(reserve the pulp, for another use).  Rinse out blender and pour the nut milk back into the blender. Add additional ingredients and blend until well blended. Serve chilled. Makes 3 cups lasts 3 days in fridge.