Part II : Day 14

Last night was the end of our two week 100% RAW excursion. I lost 7lbs! I feel great. And we owe our ability to avoiding the latest illness spreading through our friends to our healthy diet.
We began eating cooked food again tonight for dinner. However we plan to continue having RAW for breakfast and lunch.
Why stop all together if the benefits are so great?
I love the direction our life is going!
Onward.....

Part II : Day 13

Last night I made vegan mini-chocolate chip cookies. Not completely raw. The mini-chocolate chips are vegan, but everything else is raw.
I used almond flour that I made with the almond pulp when I made milk.


2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 applesauce (we make homemade-use right away or it will spoil)
1 tbsp raw vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey
1 cup vegan chocolate chips 73% cacao

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
Stir together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl
Mix wet ingredients into dry
Form 1" balls and press onto a telflex sheet
Dehydrate 8 to 10 hours or until desired consistency.
Best straight from dehydrator, still warm.

1 day to go!!!

Part II : Day 11& 12

For the past few months we've been making our own RAW almond milk.
Milk made from almonds is rich, sweet, and packed with valuable vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and protein. It is literally almonds and water, blended together to form a milky liquid. While you can purchase almond milk at the store, commercial products tend to consist of more water and sweetener and less of the actual nut.
Other then having lactose intolerant family members, we drink homemade almond milk because it has many benefits. Almond milk is high in vitamin E, which acts as a fat-soluble antioxidant in the body, preventing cell damage. Almonds are also rich in vitamin B2, which is important for healthy metabolism.
Drinking almond milk is also a great way to get half of your daily requirement for magnesium, which helps with the uptake of calcium and potassium, prevents tissue calcification, and is beneficial for preventing irritability, depression, and PMS.
If you make this dairy substitute with fresh almonds, you will be consuming six carbohydrates and almost four grams of dietary fiber per serving.
So now that you've had your nutritional lesson on why we drink almond milk. Here is how you make it:

Homemade Almond Milk
2 cups of raw almonds (soaked overnight)
6 cups of healthy water
Blend in VitaMix for 2 minutes.
Pour through a nut milk bag (can be found on Amazon)- or you can use a cheese cloth

Keep the almond milk refrigerated. It should last you 5 to 6 days.

Almond milk is delicious in hot beverages like tea and makes an exceptionally rich cup of hot chocolate. It is wonderful over cold cereals. Using almond milk in pudding and baked goods recipes results in really superior dishes and it adds a subtle, but certainly not overpowering, taste of nuttiness to any recipe in which it’s included. And, of course, almond milk is quite tasty plain.

Finally, we dehydrate the leftover almond pulp and the grind it up. You now have fresh, RAW almond flour which you can use for a variety of recipes.

Part II : Day 9 & 10

Yeah, Yeah, I've been getting lazy with writing the daily posts. But I have good reason. I have been spending my energy playing with my kids, my husband and exercising.
Yes, that's right, me, the lady who won't even take her dog for a walk if it's below 60 degrees outside! I've been doing sit-ups every other night, chasing the kids around the house and playing music while I make dinner, so that I move my body. The kids and I have been having a blast dancing around the kitchen for the past few days.
I was talking to a friend of mine Monday night about eating RAW. She wondered how I get through the day. It dawned on me that I've only written about the three main meals and left out the grazing that goes on the rest of the day. The foods I eat are very simple. Mostly snacks that I feed the kids as well: bananas, oranges, apples, raw nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, cashews), dried fruits (raisins, apricots, cherries), and sprouted grains like mung beans. And of course, tons of "living" water.
For those of you that know me and my husband, we are big advocates of healthy water. I won't go into all the details; but briefly: Water from nature, the kind you find in natural springs and creeks is living with healthy bacteria and enzymes that our bodies need. The water that comes into our homes is dead water, being processed and sent through series of pipes that are underground, receiving no sunlight.
We did a ton of research and found a method that can bring the "life" back to water. We take the tap water and filter it through a Brita (my sister uses reverse osmosis, but we can't afford the machine, yet) then we put it in a clear glass container and set it outside in direct sunlight for at least 3 hours, and shade for another 3. Bring it back in and pour it through a strainer (clean out leaves and bugs that may get trapped in the water) and that is our "Living" drinking water. I have had friends tell me it tastes like water from a natural spring. Soo yummy! No chemicals!!
Give it a try and see what you think....

Part II : Day 8

Holy Moly, We made it over a week, and have less then a week to go.I am feeling great! I am having fun playing with the kids and my husband ;-) I am down 5lbs!! Only 15 to go!!!
Not an exciting day as far as food goes: juice and banana, kale salad, and quinoa with veggies. woo hoo.
That's all for today!

Part II : Day 6 & 7

I am combining this weekend's blog.
Yesterday I went to a gluten-free cooking class. I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know about gluten-free cooking. I guess I was hoping it would be more about baking and mixing flours. Oh well, it gave me a morning out. The instructor made gluten-free spaghetti, and I HAD to try it :-P Not RAW, but it sure did taste good!
So I came home and had a huge salad. Then I made RAW pizza for dinner. The kids ate real pizza and it was very tempting! But we were able to resist!!
To top off the evening, I made some very delicious Apple Raisin Cookies! The kids even enjoyed them. The photo above is all that was left after the 2 dozen cookies I made with Brianna (my 5 year old daughter).

Today, started as all days have started: juice and a banana. Travis has been adding this algae mixture. Not to delicious, but I can feel the difference in my energy and mood. I am much happier and less grumpy then normal.
I went to visit a friend of mine this morning and she said that she noticed a difference in my face. It looks thinner and my skin was radiant! (No! I'm not pregnant!)Woo Hoo! The RAW food is kicking in!!
Tonight we'll have zucchini and carrot spaghetti. I bought a spiral slicer last year that cuts the vegetables like angel hair pasta. I'll make some fresh marinara sauce in the Vita Mix to top it off. And we'll finish off those cookies tonight!!

Apple Raisin Cookies
2 C hazelnuts, soaked 6 - 8 hours and rinsed
2 Fuji apples
2 large bananas
1/2 C honey dates
1 t cinnamon
1 C raisins

Process hazelnut, apples, bananas, and dates through a Champion Juicer using the solid plate. (or you can use the Vita Mix)
In a large bowl, mix dough with cinnamon and raisins
Spoon dough on a dehydrator tray with a teflex sheet, and form into small, round cookies. ( I used a melon baller)
Dehydrate at 105° for 4 - 6 hours, turn cookies over and remove teflex sheet.
Continue dehydrating for 4 - 6 hours, or until desired moisture is obtained.

Part II : Day 5

Wow, I can't believe I've made it 5 days! It's been raining all week and all I want is to snuggle up and eat some warm, comforting food. If it wasn't for the dehydrator and Vita Mix to slightly warm of our foods, I don't think I would have lasted this long.
Today for lunch I heated up the curry carrot soup in the Vita Mix. And tonight I heated up the quinoa in the dehydrator and then added kale, tomatoes and mushrooms.
Tonight...I made some raw chocolate pudding! It tastes so good too! I am so excited. Chocolate is what I have missed the most these past few days.

Raw Chocolate “Pudding”
1 really ripe banana
1 avocado
1/8 cup cocoa
2-3 tsp raw honey
1/4 cup almond milk

Put all ingredients except the milk, into a food processor or blender and blend until well mixed. Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time to ease blending and to get the right texture. You can serve immediately, but I like mine well chilled.

Part II : Day 4

Today was a much better day. The vitamins did not give me a stomach ache! And made some curried carrot soup! It was so yummy! And very nice to have something semi-warm for dinner. I've posted the recipe below. The Vita Mix is the best for RAW food!

Curried Carrot Recipe
6 medium carrots, cut in large pieces
2 cups water
1 small onion, peeled
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon curry powder

1. Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.
2. Select Variable 1.
3. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High.
4. Blend for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

Part II : Day 3

Okay, so I am a day late writing this post. There is no excuse really. I was just lazy yesterday. we had a rainstorm, so the kids and I hung out all day watching the rain and playing board games. It was a great day!
As for our RAW experienced, yesterday was a good day.
As usual, fruit juice and a banana for breakfast. A big salad for lunch and then I made a quinao "stir fry". I cut up some marinated zucchini (olive oil, garlic and basil) some calard greens, and tomatoes. Then I put them in the dehydrator to warm it up. Soo good!
Still feeling tired and hungry, but it should be getting better soon! My body is detoxing and I know that this is normal.

Part II : Day 2

Last night's RAW tacos were fantastic! I soaked quinoa in taco seasoning and had that be the "meat" in the tacos; then topped with lettuce, tomatoes and guacamole.
Today started the same as yesterday, fruit juice and a banana.
For lunch, I had a quinoa taco salad with the leftovers from last night.
Tonight we are having my famous zucchini lasagna.
Physically, I'm out of energy and feeling hungry. I also remembered that last time, day 2 was the hardest too.
On a positive note, I have already lost 1.5 lbs!! Only 18 to go :-)

Part II : Day 1

Happy Valentine's Day. Today we started our two week RAW food diet.
Had a giant glass of fresh fruit juice and a banana. I'm still hungry!
We'll have a big salad for lunch and RAW tacos for dinner. The shells for the tacos take about 8 hours to dehydrate, and they are "cooking" right now. Smells yummy!
Other than feeling hungry right now, which I will fix with an apple after I'm done writing this post, I feel good.
This evening we'll take a walk (if it stops raining) and I'll be doing 100 crunches every other night.
I think that's about all for now.
Off to get that apple!

2 Week RAW Excursion

It has been a long while since I've posted. Mostly because the holidays and it's yummy baked goods makes living RAW not appealing at all.
But now, as I take a long hard look at how I physically feel and look, I realize it is time to kick my butt back into eating healthy again.
I want and crave the alert, energetic and sexy body that I once had.
So as a gift of LOVE to ourselves, Travis and I are committing to two weeks, starting on Valentine's Day.
Now, I have to motivate myself to make a menu plan so I know what to get at the farmer's market tomorrow.
Here we go, again.....