Day 3 raw challenge and colon cleanse kit, Miso Dressing recipe

Hello!

It is the third day of my raw challenge and I am feeling great. I started the day off with 90 minutes of sweaty hot bikram yoga, which was perfect after my long run yesterday.

I am going to be starting a colon cleanse that I had purchased a few weeks ago. I bought it from Blessed Herbs and am excited to see what happens after reading the testimonials and seeing pictures of some people's results. Here is the kit I bought....

The best cleansing option requires a 5 day liquids only fast, which with my timing will be perfect because I am doing the juice club with Terces starting on the first of April.... see the link on the right side of my blog for more information on the juice club. So, tonight I will start the pre-cleanse (gradually decreasing your food intake and starting the supplements)  for the next 3 days then finish with the 5 day liquid fast. I will keep you posted on my results. Wish me luck!

It comes with a digestive stimulator....

and toxin absorber...

which is to be mixed with organic apple juice. I will make my own when I am home but if I need to I bought this...

Today I have eaten...

2 chocolate chip cookies (I had to test them after dehydrating all night to make sure they were perfect!) from yesterday's post. 

When I got home from yoga I had a Green Juice made with celery, romaine, 2 small oranges, 1 apple & beet greens. 

1/2 Banana

Lunch was a salad of spiralized zucchini, beet and carrot topped with tofu and Miso Tahini  Dressing made of...

1 tablespoon miso paste

1 tablespoon tahini

1 chopped green onion

1 tablespoon apple cider vinager

I felt like something sweet so although not raw, I had some popcorn topped with carob powder, stevia, cinnamon and a little salt. I have been loving popcorn since topping it with new things after reading how Averie makes hers. It is a nice light snack and keeps me from overdoing it on chocolate and nuts. 

I went over to my sister's and while there I  had a banana. I am hungry again and wondering what I want for dinner. I am supposed to be decreasing my food intake for my cleanse but I feel so hungry and I think it is because I haven't been drinking my Kombucha. I LOVE kombucha and have my own batch fermenting right now, but it has a couple weeks to go. I need to pick up a case tomorrow to get me through. It really decreases my appetite. 

Here is my starter batch of kombucha...

I used the baby that grew off the original SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) and started two more jars fermenting. Two more weeks and they will be done.

For dinner I had some leftover sweet potato cassarole, and made a couple lettuce wraps with almond butter and some cinnamon honey. Then I munched on a couple of the Lydia's Organics Copycat bars I made. Before bed I will take the toxin absorber from my colon cleanse kit. I'm off to a job interview in the morning... wish me luck! Hope everyone is feeling fabulous and loving life!

Eggplant Roll ups, Liquid Gold Elixir, Lydia's Organics copycat bars, Chocolate Cocoa Nib Cookies

Another beautiful day here in Northern California! I went for a run this morning with my running buddies. I ran 14 miles and the first seven were uphill, that was my first time running uphill for that long. I am used to doing rolling hills, you know, a little up, a little down, then do it over and over. The rolling hills are so much easier because you actually get to recover a little. The seven miles back downhill was a treat!

Today I have eaten...

Protein shake before my run made with a banana, protein powder and a tablespoon of almond butter.

After my run I had a tall glass of Green Lemonade and some mixed fruit drizzled with cinnamon honey. I used a banana (love bananas!) a mandarin orange, a couple strawberries, and a nectarine. Yum! The cinnamon honey rocks!

For lunch I made a green salad with lettuce, asparagus, carrots, cucumber, some of the thai curry tofu from last night, and drizzled with Natalia Rose's Liquid Gold Elixir salad dressing made of...

1 cup lemon juice

tablespoon garlic

tablespoon ginger 

3 tablespoons Nama Shoya

1 tablespoon raw honey

3/4 cup olive oil

It makes a big amount, so I store it in a mason jar and use it all week.

I used the same dressing to marinate some thinly sliced eggplant and mushrooms and have then warming in the dehydrator.

Here they are all nice, soft and warm...

I spread some pesto on each piece of eggplant, topped with a mushroom...

And rolled them up into little logs. Perfect snack!

Mackenzie and I watched a movie in the late afternoon and I snacked on some nuts while she enjoyed a bag of popcorn.

I started a few things in the dehydrator. I am making raw chocolate chip cookies, which I threw together a recipe based on the ingredients in the cookies I bought from One Lucky Duck, but with several tweaks. I used....

Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup almond meal

1/2 cup buckwheat groats

1 tablesspoon vanilla extract

dash of sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup cocoa nibs

a little less than 1/4 cup agave nectar

I blended the almond meal and buckwheat groats in a food processor then added the agave nectar, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. I stirred in the cocoa nibs by hand and dropped the dough by the teaspoon full onto my nonstick dehydrator sheets. I have then dehydrating at 105 and will remove them when dry on the outside but still chewy inside. 

I also started some more of my copycat Lydia's Organic's bars  but added a couple strawberries and a heaping tablespoon of hemp seeds. I dehydrate these at 105 until totally dry. 

The mixture...

On the sheet...

Remember to score it into bars after about 4 or 5 hours. 

Just for fun... a picture of Mackenzie with the Easter Bunny on Saturday. 

So nice to finally have her not be TERRIFIED of the bunny like she used to be!

My 30 day raw challenge/ Thai coconut sauce recipe/ smoothie recipe

Seriously wishing the weekend were longer! I have decided to do a 30 day challenge where I will eat 90% raw or more. I will be allowing myself some tofu (I have been craving it) and protein shakes before my long runs. I eat mostly raw anyway but have been getting off track on several occasions, then I notice a huge difference in the way I feel... I feel like crap! So, since I want to drop a few pounds too before bikini season, this challenge will be perfect for me. Please follow me and cheer me on!

Everyday I will post what I ate that day, any recipes and how I am feeling. So here I go. I started the morning off with a green smoothie.

Super Green Smoothie

2 huge handfuls of mixed dark greens

1 mandarin orange

1/2 banana 

4 strawberries

coconut water kefir

ice

a few drops of vanilla stevia

1/2 teaspoon blue green algae

(what do you think of blue green algae?)

Later in the afternoon I ate a banana and a raw protein bar in the car... I was on the run!

The other day I bought some Thai green curry tofu and scored big on a case of young thai coconuts from the Asia mart... 9 coconuts for 11.00... can't beat that! The tofu inspired me to make a thai coconut sauce to go with the tofu and put those over some kelp noodles and veggies.

Sarah's Thai Coconut Curry Sauce

meat from one young thai coconut

1/2 cup of the coconut water (or more if you want it thinner)

1 medjool date

1/2 teaspoon garlic 

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 jalapeno

1 teaspoon curry powder

salt 

1 tablespoon almond butter

Blend it all in a food processor and blend well. 

The finished product...

I poured the sauce over my kelp noodles and veggies, topped with tofu and enjoyed!

There really are kelp noodles buried under all that veggie, tofu and coconut sauce! I finished my meal with a cashew butter filled raw chocolate cup. YUM!

Raw Doggy Treats

A couple days ago I decided to make some raw doggy treats for my Boston Terrier, Blaze. I am happy to say that he LOVES them! 

Puppy picture...

Recent picture...

I used 2 cups carrot pulp from making carrot juice

2 tablespoons chia seeds soaked in 1/4 cup water to make a chia seed gel

handful of coconut shreds

handful of raisins (optional)

1/3 cup almond meal (optional)

**** raisins can be toxic to dogs in large quantities, you can omit these if you are worried*****

Threw it in the food processor...

Blended well....

Scooped by the spoonful onto my dehydrator sheets...

and dehydrated until almost all the way dry. My spoiled doggy loves these and they are good for him. You might remember that I feed him kefir too! 

 

He is a lucky pooch! Do you have pets and what do you do to spoil them?

Manna Bread, Apple Crumble, Juice & Chocolate Shake recipes

Hello Bloggy peeps!

I feel like I have not posted on here in FOREVER! With my laptop getting fixed, well virus being removed, I have had to resort to using my desktop, which I don't like so much. I like the freedom to be able to move around if I want... know what I mean?

I have a few recipes to share. First, Manna Bread. Have you tried this? I LOVE bread and it is one of the things I can not go without. Raw or not, I have to have it. I saw some manna bread in the freezer section of my local health food store and had to try making my own after hearing rave reviews. So here it goes....

I started by sprouting 2 cups of white wheat berries....

In the food processor, I put a 1/4 cup of each, cashews, pecans and almonds and pulsed until roughly chopped and transfered to a mixing bowl.

I added 1/2  the sprouted wheat berries to the food processor.

and blended until it formed a dough.

I added 1 tablespoon cinnamon and a dash of sea salt and mixed that in. Then I moved the mixture to the bowl of nuts and added 1/2 cup raisins.

Mix well and form into an oval shape on a baking sheet or your dehydrator sheet. You can bake the bread in your oven at 200 degrees for 3 hours or dehydrate until the outside is crisp and inside is still tender, about 7 hours.

With the other half of the dough I processed it with 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning and some salt. I formed an oval log and placed it on the cookie sheet. I chose to bake this batch in my oven at 200 degrees for 3 hours. I have done a loaf in my dehydrator and it comes out perfect either way. Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside... YUM!

Yesterday I made some juices... first my Green Lemonade...

Romaine

Dark Greens

Lemon

Apple

Ginger

Pear

Then I made some Carrot Juice with...

Carrots

Apples

Pears

Romaine

Cucumber

Last weekend I made Averie's Apple Crumble with a couple tweaks. It was so good! I took it to my sister's and I swear we could have finished the whole thing ourselves!

I mixed 1/2 cup oats, 5 medjool dates and about 5 dried mission figs, splash of vanilla, dash of pumpkin pie spice and 1/4 cup alond meal in the food processor and pressed into a tupperware container.

I chopped an apple and a pear, with the skin on and tossed with cinnamon, lemon juice and agave nectar.

I then added the apple/ pear mixture to the crust.

The I mixed 1/3 cup oats, 1/4 cup pecans, splash agave nectar, splach of stevia, splash of vanilla and more pumkin pie spice, then topped the apple mixture with the crumb topping.

This is to die for! So yummy and easy to make... Thanks Averie for the recipe, I can't wait to try it with other fruits... strawberries, peaches, blueberries.... whatever!

Last, but not least, last night I wanted something chocolate, so I made a Banana Chocolate Shake in the Vita Mix. I threw in...

1 frozen banana
1 tablespoon carob powder
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
6 drops liquid chocolate stevia
1 cup rice drink (from Trader Joes, can sub almond or any nut milk)

Blended it up...


Topped with cocoa nibs and a strawberry. Pefect!

Tomorrow I will be sharing with you... homemade Good for your Dog, Raw Carrot Pulp dog treats!

Happy Sunday...

I woke up this morning and went for a 12 mile run with my running group... I feel great. It is so much better to run with other people, the time just flies by. I feel like I am ready for the half marathon in May... then when I am done with that I want to start training for a full marathon.

I had a good weekend hanging out with family and trying new recipes, which I would post pictures of but my camera is dead at the moment so I will do it tomorrow. I made sesame snap cookies from Ani Phyo's dessert book and  citrus "cheese"cake tarts. I'll post recipe with pictures soon.

I joined a fabulous group of supportive raw foodies at this site... Raw Food Rehab. Awesome people, recipes, motivation and more. Check it out!

Averie of Loves Veggies and Yoga (my favorite blog to read) is having a giveaway. Check it out here http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/

I bought a couple fruit trees over the weekend, a fig and dwarf peach. I got them planted and hope they do well. I am excited to have my own garden this year! Do you grow any of your own veggies?

I also finished my first batch of feremented veggies. I got the motivation to try this from the twins at pure2raw and am so glad I tried it, they are really good and great for you. Here is what I did...

First I shredded several carrots and sprinkled with salt...

Then I shredded cabbage and sprinkled with salt...

Then I squished it all together with my hands for several minutes to break down the cell walls in the veggies and get them to release their juices...

After there was a bunch of juice in the bowl and the veggies had broken down I stuffed a glass jar full of the mixture...

Then I put the special air lock lid on which helps to prevent mold from growing (you don't have to do this... you can just cover with a lid but check daily for any mold growing and remove it if you see some... the veggies are still okay.)

I popped it in the pantry to ferment for three days checking every day to make sure the veggies were covered with the juices. They taste great now after three days but I am going to wait until tomorrow to get them a little softer, then I will store them in the fridge. YUM!