Happy Friday! I am so glad the weekend is here and the sun is shining! I woke up and went for a 7 mile run this morning and I was dragging. It was harder than my 10 mile run last weekend. I think I need to start eating a little something before I run more than a few miles. Last weekend I ate an energy bar before my run and it helped to keep me going strong. I had bought a box of these bars when I found them on clearance on Vitacost.com. They are really good, kind of tastes like a Lara Bar.

Another thing about running... does anyone get blisters on their feet? When I first starting running longer distances I got a HUGE blister on the arch of one of my feet, I had to stop running for about a week to let it heal. During that time I bought new shoes (I did not know that you should run in shoes a 1/2 size bigger than your normal size because your feet swell) and some thorlo socks. At 10.00 a pair they are not cheap but they helped a lot. The best thing I have found are these patches that you stick to the inside of your shoe wherever you are prone to blisters.

Very inexpensive and work fantastic!

When I got home from running I was starving so I drank a protein shake and has some of the gingerbread granola I made the other day with almond milk and a banana. It was so good and tastes just like the Kaia brand that is around 9.00 a bag.

Gingerbread Granola

1 cup sprouted buckwheat

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut

1/2 Cup Raw almonds

1/4 cup maple sryrup (could use agave, honey or yacon sryrup)

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Allspice or Nutmeg

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

8 medjool dates

Blend medjool dates to make a paste. Toss everything else together with the date paste and dehydrate for 4 hours or until dry at 105 degrees.

One of my favorite things to eat is seaweed salad. I usually buy sun dried wakame and make my own. I had this the other night...

Wakame Salad

4 or 5 strips wakame

1 small orange peeled and segments removed

whatever juice you can squeeze from the orange after cutting out the segments

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

dash of chinese 5 spice powder

1) soak wakame in warm water until soft

2) mix everything together and enjoy.

I have since found these kelp noodles...

The WHOLE bag only has 18 calories! I am going to have these for lunch with a miso/ nut dressing. I'll post the recipe later.

Have a great weekend!

Raw Sweet Potato Cassarole & Smoothie Recipes

I woke up in a fabulous mood today! I just knew it was going to be a good day. I dropped Mackenzie off at school and headed for the yoga studio. I did 90 minutes of bikram yoga then came home and made a yummy smoothie. I used...

1/2 head of romaine lettuce
5 leaves of kale
1 banana
2 mandarin oranges
1 cup nut milk kefir
ice
6 drops of vanilla stevia.

1 heaping tablespoon bee pollen (For information on benefits of bee pollen and where I get mine click here)
 

This made enough for 2 smoothies.

I also made a Sweet Potato Cassarole and it is to die for! I wish I had taken pictures along the way. You must try this. I thought it would have a weird texture but it doesn't... it is perfect! I split it into two portions (after cutting the recipe in half) and froze one.


Ingredients

• 1  cup pecans or walnuts

• 4 cups peeled and chopped sweet potatoes

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/2 cup dates

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup honey

Directions

1) Put potatoes, 1/4 cup nuts, dates, cinnamon, water and vanilla in processor and puree till smooth.

2) Pour into a casserole dish.

3) In another bowl, mix the remaining nuts with salt and honey, and sprinkle over the potato mixture.

Amazing! I will be making this sure during the holidays!

Apple Pie, zucchini wraps, smoothie and cracker recipe

Hello,

I just need to take a minute to vent. Where I live we run on electricity and propane. In my old house I used to have to fill the propane tank a few times a year, and a bit more in the winter. Keep in mind I am in Northern California so it is not like we are getting close to zero or anything. I moved into a new house last December and have had to fill the tank 3 times now at 400.00 a pop, that is almost once a month. Something has to be wrong, I have not been using the stove, the heater has been set at 60 at night and around 65 or so when I am home, it is just my daughter and I, can we really be using that much? I have someone coming out to check for a leak today (another 96.00 to the propane company) so we'll see what they say. If there is no leak... do I really have to budget 400.00 a month for propane on top of the PG& E bill? That is crazy!

Anyway... on Sunday I made the Apple Pie from Ani Phyo's Raw Food Kitchen book, Mackenzie and I loved it so I thought I would share the recipe. I cut the recipe down because I didn't want 16 servings.

In food proccessor:

1 cup almonds

Proccess, but not to powder, and add

1 cup medjool dates

dash of sea salt

process again

Press mixture into individual

 dessert cups or a small bowl after adding a little almond flour to the bottoms

(Helps to get your fingers a little wet)

Cut 2 peeled apples into thin slices and add 1/4 cup raisins and 1 tablespoon cinnamon

In the food proccessor...

1 small orange

about 6 dates

proccess into a syrup, you may need to add a little water

add syrup to apple mixture and toss

Spread apples into each cup onto the pie crust. Enjoy!

This morning I made a green smoothie with...

1/2 cup nut milk

1/2 cup coconut kefir

1 banana

5 drops vanilla stevia

1 small orange

ice

3 leaves kale

Blend and enjoy... the coconut kefir makes it tangy and creamy... LOVE it!

Zucchini Wraps

1 zucchini

splash of Braggs liquid aminos

2 tablespoons flax meal

sea salt

proccess in food proccessor

spread onto non stick dehydrator sheets

Dehydrate at 145 for an hour then drop down to 105.

Take them out when they are dry but still pliable. Wrap your favorite veggies inside and enjoy.

Cheese Crackers

So, I just finished a bag of chees-y quackers from One Lucky Duck and I loved them, but not the price. Here is my attempt at recreating them...

1 cup soaked almonds

1/2 cup flax meal

sea salt

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 red bell pepper

Proccess until smooth, add water if you need to. You want it to be thick, but easily spreadable.

Spread onto teflex sheet...

Start at 145 for a hour and drop down to 105. After 4 hours peel back non stick sheet and continue to dehydrate until dry. 

Averie's Cookbook give-away!

Averie of loves Veggies and Yoga is having a cookbook giveaway... click here to enter now!

Banana Coconut Smootie/ Gingerbread Granola Recipes

Happy Saturday! I started off the day with a 10 mile run and I feel great. Nothing like a good workout in the morning to get the day started. After my run I came home and made a Green Smoothie, this is my yummiest yet! I used...

1 banana
1 scoop protein powder
1 mandarin orange
2 tablespoon of my coconut kefir
The water from the coconut I opened yesterday
Ice
slash of orange juice
3 large leaves kale

Blend together and enjoy. The coconut kefir and protein powder made it super creamy... yum!

A few days ago I made some gingerbread granola. I love the flavors of gingerbread and wanted to put them in something healthy... like granola.

What I used...

Gingerbread Granola

2 Cups Rolled Oats (optional)

1 cup sprouted buckwheat

1/2 cup sprouted quinoa

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raisins ann dried cranberries

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut

1 Cup  Raw Cashews, Coarsely Chopped
1/4 cup maple sryrup (could use agave, honey or yacon sryrup)

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Allspice or Nutmeg

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/3 Cup Finely Minced Crystalized Ginger

Toss all but the last ingredient together and dehydrate for 4 hours or until dry at 105 degrees.

I also managed to get some seeds started and ordered a raised bed kit from Gardner's Supply, I am determined to grow some of my own veggies this year! Here are the seeds I started...

Lettuce, beets, squash, peppers, cucumbers and I forget what else! Looking forward to some warmer weather so I can get these planted outside! Do you grow your own veggies?

Energy nuggets, sprouting, smoothie recipe, gingerbread granola

A couple days ago I was feeling like making some raw bars... they turned out to be raw nuggets. They are really yummy!

Pecans
Cashews
Maple syrup
sesame seeds
dried cherries
raisins
carob chips

Mix it all together and scoop a tablespoon full onto a piece of plastic wrap. Squeeze into a ball. Store in the freezer or fridge.

Onto my kefir making. I was so excited to get the kefir grains in the mail so I could get my own started. There are lots of health benefits to eating kefir.. click here for more info.

These are the kefir grains (don't know what's up with the bottom of the picture)

This is the kefir I tried to make with Almond milk, I don't know why it looks curdled????

My dog, Blaze, enjoying his kefir. Boston Terriers are known to have GI issues... so kefir could only help!

This morning I opened this coconut, drained the water, used some of the meat in the smoothie recipe below and saved the yummy water.

Here is the coconut milk kefir I have working right now. Yummy!

For lunch today I made a great smoothie made of...

1 banana

1 nectarine

coconut meat

small orange

ice and water

So simple, so good!

End of Juice Feast...

I felt so good during the juice feast that I want to do it again. Or at least replace a meal with just juice or a smoothie everyday. I felt so much lighter and better about myself. In the past couple days post juice feasting I have been overeating... why do I do this? I need to take inventory of how I am feeling when I do this.

I will get back on track... I want to feel as good as I was last week.

So, for those who don't know, I am taking some classes at the junior college. Currently... Microbiology. So, it is approaching midterm time and I think the stress of wanting to do well and having so much to study makes me turn to food for comfort sometimes. It seems that grabbing something to eat is a way to distract myself from the work I need to be doing... especially when I am having trouble with it.

Do you do this?


Here is my affirmation for the day...

It is easy for me to be in control of my body; both with my eating and exercising habits.

So... I was just reading someone's blog and at the end she wrote 5 things she was grateful for... what a good idea. So...

I am grateful for being able to be going back to school
I am grateful for having an amazing daughter
I am grateful for being able to sit here in peace right now
I am grateful for having the means to make healthy decisions

What are you grateful for?

Update on juice feast/ smoothie recipe and Kombucha started!

It is a lovely Sunday here in Northern California, beautiful day, sun shining, family and friends close... what could be better? I am continuing to do my juice/smoothie fast or "feast" and it is going great. I made a green lemonade and just drank a gingerade kombucha. While I was drinking my kombucha I started my own batch of kombucha... I am so excited to see how it comes out. Here is a picture of the one I drank and my first batch!

Ready to ferment out of any sunlight...

For lunch I enjoyed this smoothie...

Creamy Orange Figgy Delight

1 banana

1 Orange

1 tablespoon Lucuma powder

3 dried black mission figs

2 handfuls of sprouts

1 cup almond milk

Ice

Pop in Vita Mix and let her whirl!

Ready to enjoy along with my favorite Glass Dharma straw!

AND....

Affirmation of the day...

I deserve to have positive experiences.

I am worthy.

If feelings of unworthiness come up,

I go deeper and realize them

as illusions.

Fruit Cookies... totally versitile recipe.

Raw Fruit Cookies


1 apple or pear, peeled and chopped (can also use pineapple)

1/3 cup raisins (or any other dried fruit)

2/3 cup unsweetened organic dried shredded coconut

*1/3 cup raw almond butter (or any raw nut butter)


Mix together all ingredients and do one of the following…

Form into balls and refrigerate until set.

OR

Form into balls and press flat onto a nonstick dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate to the desired dryness at 105 degrees.

*For a nut free cookie, substitute the nut butter for 1/3 cup shredded coconut soaked in water for one hour then squeezed to remove excess water.

Happy Saturday, Smoothie Recipe & Treats

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Wanted to share a couple recipes with you of things I have been enjoying. This morning after my bikram yoga workout I made a yummy smoothie. Here is what I started with..

1 cup almond milk

1 banana

handful of sprouts

1 tablespoon cocoa nibs

1 tablespoon Lucuma powder

2 strawberries

handful of blueberries

4 leabes swiss chard

ice

Toss everything in the vita mix...

 

Give it a whirl....and here it is...

 

YUMMY!

I got a package I have been eagerly waiting for as well. The treats I ordered from One Lucky Duck.

I ordered the gingerbread cookies, chocolate chip cookies, blonde macaroons and the striped cookies. I tucked them away until Wednesday, when  I will be done with my seven day juice/smoothie fast.

I can't wait!

I have had a request to create a nut free raw vegan gingerbread cookie. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Affirmation of the day...

I transcend fear by meeting it willingly

and looking for what is deeper

than the fear.

Under the fear, no matter how many layers

there are beneath it,

I always find my true self,

the awake, empty awareness that I am eternally.

Recipes to come later and an update on my juice fast! What recipes are you looking for? Anything from the SAD you would like to see recreated or a raw food favorite that you would like to learn to make yourself?

Lydia's Organics Raw Food Bars

I am in love with these. They are fantastic and I could eat one evryday, what I don't like is having to pay 3.00 per bar. So I came up with a copycat recipe that is pretty darn close to the original. I did not have raspberries, like the original bar, but feel free to add those if you want.

Raw Banana Coconut Bar

2 Bananas
1/4 cup flax meal

Blend these in a blender until smooth

2 Cups shredded unsweetened coconut

Stir into banana mixture

If mixture is too thick to spread add a little water or coconut water.

Spread onto non-stick dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate for 6 hours at 105 degrees. Turn over onto dehydrator tray and score into bars. Continue to dehydrate overnight or until completely dry. Enjoy!

If desired (they are fabulous as is and don't need it... trust me) add raspberries, strawberries or mango to the mix.

Friday

It has been a great day! I feel amazing doing this juice/ smoothie feast... I know this may sound extreme but it is really changing my life. I feel so much more clear, happy and at peace with myself.

Today I had...

Green Lemonade (from Natalia Rose's Raw Food Detox Diet)

Romaine Lettuce
Kale
Lemon
Apple
Celery

Then I had some Carrot Juice while making Gena's Butternut Squash Soup which I added curry powder to.

I just finished the best smoothie ever! I would post a picture but I need to find my cord to my camera. Anyway, here is the recipe...

Banana Nut Smoothie

1 banana
1 cup almond milk
1 cup water
4 ice cubes
2 tablespoons nut butter (I used cashew)
Dash cinnamon

Blend it up and enjoy... it is fabulous! I am slurping up the very last bit through my glass darhma straw.

Raw "uncook" books I have purchased...

If you are new to raw and are wondering what books to buy, I have a few suggestions. These are all books I have purchased and love. Some I got on amazon and some are ebooks you can download right onto your computer.

"The best of the Sunny Raw Kitchen" by Carmella

This is an ebook and it is great. The pictures and recipes are fabulous and there is a sliding scale for payment options, which is always nice for those on a budget.

Next...

Heather Pace's Just Desserts ebook. OMG! The recipes in this book are fantastic and the recipes are so versitile, well written and the pictures are great. I love this book! 

 

I also love the books by Sarma Melngailis. Beautiful book... beautiful pictures... fabulous recipes! I am always browsing through Living Raw Food: Get the Glow with More Recipes from Pure Food and Wine to see what I want to make next.

The next ones I like the most are by Ani Phyo. The books are well written with lots of great recipes and pictures. As you can tell I love books with recipes... afterall we do eat with our eyes first.

Ani's Raw Food Desserts

And...

Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes

 

Last one...

I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude

This book is full of delicious recipes from Terces Engelhart, owner of the Cafe Gratitude restaraunts.

I hope you enjoy these books as much as I have.

Juice Feasting..

Do you want to join am online group of supportive people who are juice feasting for the first seven days of each month? I am so glad I joined, I feel great and Terces Engelhart who started the juice club is so supportive, with a blog and daily emails to help keep you going. Check it out here... Juice Club

Terces use affiramtions, as I do, so I will share the one from her with you today.

"I am perfect, whole and complete"

Thursday

I woke up this morning feeling great! Doing this juice feast is helping me to realize that I am strong and in control of the choices I make in my life. It feels great to cleanse the body and the mind. I feel more at peace with myself and know that I can accomplish whatever goals I set for myself.

Today I did Bikram yoga, came home and made a green smoothie...

1 banana
4 strawberries
handful of blueberries
huge handful of the sprouts I grew
handful of greens
tablespoon of each twister powder and cocoa nibs
water
ice

Around 1:30 I made a carrot cake smoothie (it came out more like juice but was really yummy)

1 cup carrot juice
dash allspice
dash cinnamon
1/8 cup cashews

Blend it up and enjoy!

The rest of the day I enjoyed a kombucha and for dinner a YUMMY Orange Creamsicle Smoothie...

2 small mandarin oranges
1 cup almond milk
splash vanilla
1/2 cup orange juice
ice cubes
1 banana

blend it up! So good! Perfect for dessert!


I also enjoyed watching a video made by Michelle and Lori of Pure2Raw on how to make fermented foods. I ordered a scoby and am excited to start making my own kombucha. The videos are great!

Onto another subject. I had mentioned that I bought a gowear.fit calorie monitor. I have been wondering how many calories I am burning doing 90 minutes of hot sweaty bikram yoga. Some sources on the internet say up to 1000 calories... I wish. I wore my monitor today and it seems to be around 350 calories I burned. I think I need to do yoga a couple days a week and run the other days. I like the yoga for the stretching and relaxation and the running for the calories burnt.

New day... fresh start.

Wow, I got way off track yesterday. It went from juice in the morning to way overeating in the afternoon. I have to figure why I do this. Started by me having a yummy raw cocojoy then proceeding to eat every sweet thing in the kitchen, raw and not. I am not going to beat myself up... today is a new day and a fresh start.

On a positive note... I got my Vita Mix in the mail yesterday as well as my glass straws from glass Dharma. Yay! All the motivation I need to get back on track. I made myself a mint chocolate smoothie (recipe below) and sipped it down with my pretty new glass straw. The shipping of the straws was super fast by the way. Here's to a day of happiness and good choices!

Mint Chocolate Smoothie

1 banana
small handful mint leaves
cocoa powder (heaping tablespoon)
Maca powder (tablespoon)
Ice (few cubes)
water (a cup or so)
5 leaves kale
handful of romaine
1 tablespoon cocoa nibs

Blend and enjoy!

Around lunchtime I enjoyed a tall glass if carrot/apple juice and a kombucha. When I got home from class I had a yummy glass od juice made of...

1 pear
4 stalk celery
1/2 head of romaine
6 leaves kale
1 lemon

So refreshing!

For dinner I can't wait to enjoy the coup I made earlier in my new vita mix (still so excited to have it!) This recipe is courtesy of cafe gratitude, a delicious restaraunt in Healdsburg, California.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

Ingredients:

Soup:

2 Thai young coconuts
2 tablespoons minced ginger root
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium dates, pitted
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu (a natural soy sauce)
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon Indian curry powder
1 jalapeno pepper

Garnish

1 avocado, cubed
1/3 cup diced tomato
1/3 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup marinated shiitake mushrooms
8 cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

1. To make the coconut into coconut milk, open the coconuts with a cleaver. Put the coconut water in a blender. Next, scrape the coconut meat from the shell and add it to the coconut water in the blender. Blend the milk and meat together.
2. To the coconut milk add all the remaining ingredients, except those for the garnish. Blend well until creamy and slightly warm.
3. Divide soup into four soup cups, garnishing each with a quarter of the garnish mixture. Top with cilantro leaves and serve

Juice Feast/ Fast

So, today is day one of the juice feast I posted about earlier. I was going to wait until Wednesday because I had planned a lunch date for tomorrow but decided to just do mostly juice until then and then just juice for the next few days following. This is my first time doing this, so a few days would be great for me.

Today I did eat a small amount of solid foods... so far I have had..

Green Juice
Carrot/ Apple Juice
Kombucha
Water with lemon
Romain lettuce with almond butter and honey
Smoothie... banana, cocoa nibs, twister powder (cocoa, maca, hemp) blueberries, kale, honey, cinnamon and almond milk... YUMMY!

I do have to say that I am surprised at the fact that I am not hungry... it goes to show me that my body DOES NOT need the amount of food I was giving it.

My goals...

Listen to my body
Feel when I am hungry and when I am full
Eat when I am hungry, not bored
Love myself
Nourish myself
Think positive

I CAN and WILL accomplish my goals!

Have a great day! :)

Happy Sunday!

It has beeen a nice weekend and I have doing good with my eating (for the most part.) I even went with my sister to a little gathering at a friends, actually we played Bunko... a dice game and I won... Yay! So, there was tons of cooked food screaming at me at be eaten... pizza, cookies, you name it... but I refrained and did great. I stuck to some organic rice crackers and veggies... I am super proud of myself.

I have been doing bikram yoga again and boy are my legs sore. I can run and run and they don't get sore but they are from the yoga. Just goes to show you it's good to incoprorate different things into your routine. I am loving it. The hot room makes you suoer sweaty and you can feel any toxins being released... it is nice.

So.. yesterday afternoon, Mackenzie (my daughter) and I watched legally Blonde together and shared a bowl of popcorn dusted with cinnamon and I added some carob chips to mine. It was a yummy snack. Later in the evening after dinner I was feeling like something sweet so I made some vegan oatmeal cookies, not raw but very good. Here is the recipe... (my changes are below the recipe)

1 mashed banana
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 of a cup of regular sugar
slightly less than 1/3 of a cup (about 1/4 of a cup plus 1 teaspoon) of oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 of a teaspoon of salt
2 cups plus one my-sized handful (about 1/4 of a cup) of oats
3 tablespoons of water plus maybe a few more drops

Directions:

Mix the vegan brown sugar, vegan sugar, oil, and water. Add the banana and vanilla. then mix in the already pre-mixed together mixture of flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oats. If it is too thin, let stand a bit so the oats can absorb the excess liquid. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 13 minutes. To check if they are done, flip one over and it should be browned. Rip off a chunk to see it it is still raw. I usually let them sit a bit before I take them off the cookie sheet because, well, I do not really know, but it makes me not cook them too long because they finish cooking outside of the oven. I should mention to drop them by the tablespoon.

I followed almost exactly except I did not add any sugar but added maple syrup and agave, just a squirt or so of each. I folded in some walnuts and carob chips... YUM! So, I know I ate too many but they sure were good and not bad for you.

What I ate today...

Today I ate...

Green Lemonade

Salad with veggies and cilantro almond butter dressing
Romain lettuce with almond butter and honey inside... all wrapped up :)

Carrots/ bell pepper

Avocado Sandwich (avo on sprouted grain bread with lettuce and mustard)
2 more pieces bread

2 small squares dark chocolate
coconut water

I am going to start doing Bikram yoga again tomorrow. It has been a long time but I want to add some variety to my workout routine. It will be hot but I love it!