tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7513737103638360272024-03-13T14:03:41.920-04:00Eating Like Orangutans!The Chronicles of a Raw Vegan FamilyMissy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-77364121561123950122013-06-09T17:56:00.002-04:002013-06-09T17:57:27.966-04:00New Blog and a Low Fat Raw Vegan Portobello Mushroom Pizza Recipe!Well, folks, the time has to broaden our horizons! Eating Like Orangutans was a wonderful adventure, and we are so happy to continue to share it with everyone. But now, we have moved! :)<br />
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<a href="http://rawnewlife.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBBZ9vn5BEbjZvvd93-yEhSD-MUlkXOuC71fgLYA6zXWQM5QnQ_2tFt3ccAwidEi2aQ5hzNPFaBXrIHKjkb9i43IxO7BaLVrut2CN4uWAvlw-LaLI6OTJX1ozUPoSmOFIa7l0VWi9P7-3/s400/NICKLOGO.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Please come visit us at our new home, <a href="http://www.rawnewlife.com/">http://www.rawnewlife.com</a>, where we will be sharing Nick's journey to optimal health (with the ultimate goal of running his first marathon on June 1, 2014), along with low fat raw vegan tips, tricks, and recipes, like this delicious...<br />
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...Low Fat Raw Vegan Portobello Mushroom Pizza!<br />
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<a href="http://rawnewlife.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-portobello-pizza-recipe/" target="_blank">Click here for the full recipe</a>! <br />
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<a href="http://rawnewlife.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-portobello-pizza-recipe/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil6csLunF5jbS9lgiGbedcBuSXwQsK5s0q1T-lP-zywT70vo6aPKfj8XH7NSjWCAWvQhJv6idmRXt8MVto1feuYSdNYlO4EHXBhac2BjCWHvElyfqNuYgYPd3OYuPQH6D7tNvuvNRVNPd2/s400/IMG_20130608_155350.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Also, don't forget to subscribe to Nick's youtube channel by clicking here, and like him on his facebook page by clicking below!<br />
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See you on the other side! Thanks for reading! :)Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-77729694120067467482013-04-02T00:01:00.004-04:002013-04-02T00:03:23.647-04:00100 Squats a Day 30-Day ChallengeHi! I'm still here! Things have been a little crazy lately, and honestly, I just haven't felt like blogging. To update everyone regarding my previous post, I did indeed pass my NARM! I am now a <a href="http://www.narm.org/" target="_blank">Certified Professional Midwife (CPM)</a>. And not only did I pass my NARM, I kicked its butt with a score of 89! Not too bad, eh?<br />
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In less happy news, I had to re-home my dog, Panda "Ru" Bear. To keep a long story short, he bit my 14-month-old daughter in the ear and drew blood. This was not a case of "toddler tormenting the dog", either. She was eating a banana, he wanted her banana, she wouldn't give it to him, and he attacked her. She was absolutely terrified, and her ear was bruised and bleeding (it's mostly all healed now--yay breastmilk and salt water for wound cleaning!). He's always been aggressive with children, growling and baring teeth, but never like this. :-( I found him a forever home with a wonderful couple who has two other little dogs and a few cats, and he is settling in nicely. I can't really explain with words how much I miss him. He's been a part of my life for almost 8 years. He stayed by my side and comforted me while I went through some pretty difficult times. He was my baby. But he simply couldn't live here anymore...the risk was too great. I've wanted to write a blog post about feeling emotions while eating a low fat raw vegan diet...because man, there's no hiding from them when you don't drug yourself with fat-laden, difficult to digest foods. But, losing him is still too painful at the moment. Maybe another time.<br />
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As far as our move to Sarasota...well, it is absolutely incredible here. We LOVE it! After a couple weeks of cold weather, the sunshine is back and warm on the skin. I've been gardening a lot lately, and my plants seem quite happy (which is a nice change from every other garden I've had). My little raised bed has romaine lettuce, kale, baby spinach, oregano, basil, grape tomato, zucchini, and scallions. And a little over a week ago, my husband and I went to a friend's hobby banana garden, dug up a bunch of finger banana "pups", and I transplanted 9 of them in our yard. One of them isn't gonna make it, but the other 8 are growing like champs! Then, a couple days ago, a wonderful friend of mine (<a href="http://www.lovinglifeadventures.com/" target="_blank">who is going to be hiking the Appalachian Trail with her partner--powered by a plant-based diet!</a>) gifted us with some beautiful plants including a 3-year-old "Lemon Zest" mango tree, a 1-year-old avocado tree, 2 baby mamey sapote saplings, and some cilantro and microgreens. Overflowing with green abundance! :-)<br />
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Anyway, on to the squats! Ted Carr, a high carb raw vegan athlete, has challenged THE WORLD to do <a href="http://www.100squatsaday.com/30-day-challenge/" target="_blank">100 squats a day for 30 days</a>! The newest challenge began today, April 1st, and Nick and I decided to go for it. We took photos of each other before we began our squats, and will be taking a profile photo every day for 30 days so we can create a progression video at the end of our challenge. We are really stoked about this! I've watched the body changes that other squatters have experienced and needless to say, some of them are absolutely phenomenal. I've been walking for about 45 minutes daily since moving here to Sarasota, and Nick has started attending yoga 4-5 days per week. But this is the first high-intensity workout that either of us have done, so even though it's exciting, it's a little scary, too!<br />
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April 1, 2013<br />
Day 1 of 100 Squats a Day 30-Day Challenge <br />
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Missy's Before Photos <br />
Scale this morning says 117 lbs (5'1.5"). <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/892146_10201081948076727_1052448766_o_zps98d753ab.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 892146_10201081948076727_1052448766_o_zps98d753ab.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/892146_10201081948076727_1052448766_o_zps98d753ab.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/892913_10201081947636716_1776393453_o_zps1e8490a7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 892913_10201081947636716_1776393453_o_zps1e8490a7.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/892913_10201081947636716_1776393453_o_zps1e8490a7.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/882270_10201081947276707_412283796_o_zpsa9112fa5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 882270_10201081947276707_412283796_o_zpsa9112fa5.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/882270_10201081947276707_412283796_o_zpsa9112fa5.jpg" /></a><br />
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Nick's Before Photos. Scale this morning says 175 lbs.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/903279_10201081948476737_1615421837_o_zps5ac0d115.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 903279_10201081948476737_1615421837_o_zps5ac0d115.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/903279_10201081948476737_1615421837_o_zps5ac0d115.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/882529_10201081949476762_647094371_o_zps6cdd5a16.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 882529_10201081949476762_647094371_o_zps6cdd5a16.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/882529_10201081949476762_647094371_o_zps6cdd5a16.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/903456_10201081949116753_1182695103_o_zps6b6b9290.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 903456_10201081949116753_1182695103_o_zps6b6b9290.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/903456_10201081949116753_1182695103_o_zps6b6b9290.jpg" /> </a><br />
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So how'd we do? Did we make it? Did we do all 100? Or did we collapse into a crying puddle after 40 squats? <br />
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Well, we did it! And neither of us did too bad! Nick's time today was 3:12 and mine was 3:38. It was HARD. Man. It was hard. I had to take a couple breaks. My legs felt like rubber afterwards, but the soreness didn't set in until later in the evening. I feel like tomorrow is going to be way harder than today, but I'm determined to do it.<br />
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At the end of the week, Nick and I will be filming videos of our squatting to share on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100SquatsaDay?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank">100 Squats a Day Facebook page</a> to get helpful tips and critiquing on our form. I'll also be blogging about our progress weekly. And at the end of the 30 days, I'll post our new photos and stats, and share the progression video. <br />
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On the food side of things, I'm going overt-fat-free for the next 30 days to help re-balance my candida levels, and Nick is doing it for a week or two to support me until I can look at avocado and tahini without salivating. Because of both this and the intensity of squatting, we're going to have to majorly amp up our caloric intake. We'll probably both be shooting for 3500 calories per day from ripe, sweet fruity carbohydrates. That's a lot of mangoes, folks. Mmm... :-)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/20130324_170217_986_zpsf670c22e.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130324_170217_986_zpsf670c22e.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/20130324_170217_986_zpsf670c22e.jpg" /></a>Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-42074221910680439522013-03-05T22:07:00.001-05:002013-03-05T22:15:20.043-05:00Guest Post: Nick's StoryWhew, it's been a rough few weeks! For those of you who do not know, I am (was) a student midwife at the Florida School of Traditional Midwifery. I graduated the academic portion of my schooling back in August and just finished my clinical requirements last month (woot woot!). In order to receive certification and licensure, however, a candidate must also pass the NARM Written Examination. Last Wednesday, my family and I traveled to Orlando, Florida from Tallahassee, Florida in order for me to nervously fill in a million scan-tron bubbles for 8 hours. Do I really need to mention how glad I am that that's over? Still waiting on my results, but I'm feeling pretty confident that I passed. :-)<br />
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So after my big test, we drove back to Tallahassee, packed up our house, and moved to Sarasota! Five hours south of where we were living. I was so ready to get out of cold Tallahassee...I missed the sunshine and warmth. And, of course, what greeted us when we arrived in Sarasota? Temperatures dropping into the low 40's! Seriously?! Florida is so crazy. It's warming up here again, thankfully. I'm ready to go to the beach!<br />
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Anyway, due the insanity of the last few weeks, I haven't been able to work on any of my current projects (this blog being one of them), and I am still far from being completely settled in. Unpacking a house with the assistance of a 14-month old baby girl is pretty much an oxymoron. It just...doesn't happen. Not quickly, anyway. It's slow-going over here, but we're getting there.<br />
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My husband Nick, however, has managed to find the time to write a guest post for this blog. Below, he talks about how he got into raw foods and veganism and how changing his diet changed his life. Nick is an amazing person and I feel so incredibly lucky to have him as my husband and partner-in-crime. Without his support, encouragement, and dedication, I don't know if I'd be able to stay on the raw foods path. Thanks, Nick! I love you, babe. <3<br />
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<b>Nick's Story</b><br />
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For as long as I can remember, my
weight has always been an issue for me. As a kid I always shopped in
the "husky" kids department, I swam in pools or at the
beach with a shirt on, I always had low self-esteem, and I couldn't
play sports. I had been this way for so many years that I felt that
this was who I was and just how I would be...that regardless of what
I did, I would always be fat. I had accepted it as a part of me. I
wasn't happy with it...in fact I hated it. I hated myself. I had
terrible depression. I was angry for feeling the way I did, but no
matter what I tried to do for my health, nothing made a difference.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/nick_zps48b2a3d8.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo nick_zps48b2a3d8.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/nick_zps48b2a3d8.jpg" /></a> </div>
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At my heaviest weight I was 222 lbs and
6 feet tall. That put me into the obese weight range (though I
didn't find out that I was obese until later in life). My depression
led me into a very dark part of my life. When I first went to
college, I partied too much and didn't focus on school at all. I
dropped so many classes that I could have passed easily, but instead
of going to class I would sleep in because I was exhausted all the
time. The reason that I was so exhausted was because I was up every
night until the sun came up, drinking, playing video games, and
simply being stupid. However, this all came back to my depression,
which originated from my weight.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/nick2_zps853b5a1b.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo nick2_zps853b5a1b.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/nick2_zps853b5a1b.jpg" /></a> </div>
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In 2009, my wife Missy and I started
dating, and she helped me to end the depression that had plagued me for so many years. I fought it for so long that looking back now, I cannot believe I lived under such a fog. However, my dietary habits caused many health issues that did not leave with the depression.
I never went to the doctor because I was afraid to get an answer as
to what was wrong with me. From what I have been reading lately, I
assume that I suffered from stomach ulcers and colitis. I had severe
stomach and intestine pains that would make me call out sick from
work because I had trouble standing. I would regularly have
diarrhea. I had bloody stools. Blood in my vomit. All of my life,
I had migraines. I had all of these problems for years, but I
refused to get looked at. I would make excuses: I don't have time,
it isn't that serious, I can't afford to go to the doctor, I can't
afford to take time off of work, what would the doctor do anyways?
All of these excuses, but the real reason was that I was afraid of
the doctor, afraid of what he would tell me was wrong. So I just put
up with it...it had been that way for years and had stayed the same,
so I just chalked it up to another part of my life.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/2009_zps8f8603da.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 2009_zps8f8603da.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/2009_zps8f8603da.jpg" /></a> </div>
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It wasn't until I
changed my diet that things began to change for me, health wise.
Missy had watched a documentary called "Food Matters", if
you haven't watched you should, it is on Netflix. Watch it tonight,
it might change your life. The documentary was about the health
benefits of raw foods. Missy wanted to try a 30 day raw food
challenge, so I figured why not and joined her. Before this
challenge, I was the person who made fun of vegetarians and vegans.
I mean if we were herbivores then why do we have K-9 teeth? Why are
our eyes on the front of our head? Everyone knows that eating a
vegetarian diet isn't healthy...I mean where is your protein going to
come from? Everyone knows that you need protein, I read it on my
milk carton as a kid in school! I was raised to believe that steak
is manly, eat it bloody! Within one week of me changing my diet to a
completely raw vegan diet, which is documented at the beginning of
this blog, I no longer had any stomach pains. None what so ever. I
had put up with them daily for years and just like that, gone. I had
more energy, more clarity, and I knew that something had changed in
my life.</div>
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We continued the challenge. The first
two weeks or so we did a very high fat raw diet (aka “gourmet raw”,
lots of nuts and seeds. I went through a detox period and cleared a
lot of bad stuff out of my system. After about two weeks the worst
of the detox symptoms came to an end. At around the end our detox,
we found out about the "80-10-10 Diet", which is a diet
that focus on 80% of calories from carbs, 10% from fats, and 10% from
proteins. Basically, you eat two to three large fruit meals a day,
and then a large salad for dinner. We were hooked immediately and I
felt better than I had ever felt in my life.</div>
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During our 30 day raw challenge, I was
serving food in a very high end fancy prime beef steak house. I was
surrounded by temptation; in those 30 days I had more free food put
in front of my face than in the other 22 months that I worked there.
The restaurant would get very busy, everyone would get completely
overwhelmed, and before I had changed my diet I would have been in
the same boat (in the weeds), but something was different when I ate
this way. My thoughts were clearer, better organized, and I couldn't
get overwhelmed. I became a much better server simply by changing my
diet.</div>
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By the end of the 30 days, I was down a
total of 28 lbs. I no longer had diarrhea, stomach pains, vomiting,
migraines, or any other issues. I had more energy, I was more
emotionally stable, and my thoughts were clearer. I found that once
I removed everything else from my diet, that I didn't miss it. I did
get the occasional craving; cheese was one that stayed with me for a
while. It took some time but now the thought of cheese is really
gross to me. It is rotten, fermented, rancid, cow milk. What sounds
good about that? Just because you make a nice name for it and
indoctrinate someone into eating it, doesn't make it good or healthy. </div>
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Eventually, we got through the
challenge and we both felt so good that we decided to continue eating
this way. However, we only managed to keep it going for another two
to three weeks because we got pregnant, Missy almost immediately got
a bad gum infection, and then she subsequently developed a really bad
aversion to any fresh foods. So we switched to a cooked vegan diet.
However, we did not know how to cook without oil at that time, so we
ate a moderately high-fat cooked vegan diet and I began to put some
weight back on, though nothing like before I was vegan.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/2011_zps7fa9bd20.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 2011_zps7fa9bd20.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/2011_zps7fa9bd20.jpg" width="442" /></a> <br />
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After our daughter was born, Missy decided to start
eating a low fat raw vegan diet again. I kept eating cooked food for
a while because we had a lot of food in the house to finish off
first...I didn't want to waste it. Then, when I was trying to finish
the food off in order to go back raw, I kept noticing that we would
have something left over, and then I would have to buy something else
in order to eat said leftover food. Then there would be some of the
second thing left over, and I would have to get more of something
else to finish that. It turned into a loop where I was just stalling
before going raw. After a while I eventually said enough, and we got
rid of the rest of the cooked food.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/2012_zpse6d271fb.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 2012_zpse6d271fb.jpg" border="0" height="480" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/2012_zpse6d271fb.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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We stayed on the raw diet for a few
months until money got tight, and then we started to supplement the
diet with rice (no salt, no oil) for extra calories. It didn't take
long for that extra rice on our salads to turn into steamed rice and
vegetables, and then into soup, and then into three cooked meals a
day. Cooked foods have a way of getting a hold of you. They are
addictive and they are subtle about it. We kept our foods low fat (no oil) and low salt. We ate all the food we could stuff into our faces (tons of rice, potatoes, pasta, even bread). We didn't gain any weight this time, though we really didn't lose any more either.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/2012a_zps409ed58f.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 2012a_zps409ed58f.jpg" border="0" height="480" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/2012a_zps409ed58f.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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After a while we were able
to get back into the swing of things, and got back on the path of raw
foods. That is where we are at now, 100% raw for the past two months
(apart from an episode of steamed rice and veggies the night we moved
to Sarasota because our bananas weren't ripe yet). Feeling better
than I ever have. The weight started coming off again and is still coming off. I am ready to
start focusing on my exercise to really start to see more changes in
my body. The benefit of this diet is that it encourages you to go
out and run, do yoga, or join a gym.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/IMG_20130305_214934_zps8cf963c6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_20130305_214934_zps8cf963c6.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/IMG_20130305_214934_zps8cf963c6.jpg" /></a> </div>
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This diet has changed my life in many
ways. The difference between a meat-based diet and a plant-based diet is simply night and day, and the difference between cooked food and raw food is amazing.
You have so much more energy, you get so many more nutrients, and you
just feel all around better. I know that most of the changes that I
have experienced have been subjective and are not easy to quantify,
but if you give it a shot yourself you will be amazed. Try starting
like we did, do a 30 day trial. 30 days is not that long of a period
of time really. You can do anything you want to do for just 30 days.</div>
Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-26294026637360691782013-01-27T21:53:00.001-05:002013-01-27T22:18:32.971-05:00So what exactly does a high carb raw vegan eat?I've received a few requests to document what we eat in a typical day. Now, for those of you who have been considering experimenting with a low fat high carb raw vegan diet, I don't want you to be turned off by the slight monotony of what we eat. I absolutely love the way we eat. I love not worrying about what we're going to make. I love not taking an hour to decide on dinner, an hour to cook it, a brief moment to devour it, and an hour cleaning up. This is actually the fourth time we've gone raw, and so I believe we've finally discovered a way of eating that is satisfying to our tastebuds, our schedule, and our wallet. This is what works for us, but it is NOT the only way to live this lifestyle.
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>BREAKFAST: </b><br />
For breakfast, both Nick and I drink two quarts of a fruit smoothie (usually around 6 large bananas, 5 medjool dates, and 2 cups of frozen mango, pineapple, & cherries, about 1200 calories)...each. Yes, you heard that right...2 quarts of smoothie EACH. Ariana drinks about 14 oz of the same smoothie (usually about 1 large banana, 1-2 medjool dates, and 1/2 cup frozen fruit) for breakfast in addition to breastfeeding every 1-2 hours during the day and through the night. As you can see from the photo below, one of us usually drinks our smoothie right out of the blender so we don't have extra quart jars to wash. Simplicity at its finest!<br />
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Our chunky munchkin after finishing her breakfast smoothie.<br />
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<br />
<b>LUNCH:</b><br />
For lunch, Nick, Ariana, and I have...the exact same thing as breakfast! Remember, there are many ways to live the high carb raw vegan lifestyle, but after experimenting with raw recipes and complicated fruit dishes, two smoothies per day is simply the easiest way for us to get our carbohydrate calories in. <b> </b><br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/IMG_20130127_220506_zps78671b58.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_20130127_220506_zps78671b58.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/IMG_20130127_220506_zps78671b58.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>DINNER:</b><br />
For dinner, we each eat our own giant salad. A typical salad for me would consist of 1 head of romaine lettuce (a large head, not just the romaine heart that come three in a bag), 3 large zucchinis spiralized into noodles, a couple tomatoes, some celery, a few diced green onions, and whatever other veggies look tasty at the moment. We top our salads with a blended dressing. Mine is usually fresh herbs, the juice of one lemon, the juice of one orange, and 1/2 cup hemp seeds. Nick's is usually 2 tablespoons of tahini mixed with the juice of one lemon. No salt. No oil. We finish dinner feeling satisfied and light...not so stuffed and full that we need to lay down and sleep it off.<br />
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Ariana enjoys a whole avocado, a medium tomato, zucchini noodles, and the juice of an orange for dinner. She loves it!<br />
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<br />
<br />
...So is this all we ever eat? Just two smoothies and a big salad? No, not always. We snack on fruits like apples, oranges, kiwis, fresh berries, exotic bananas (mmm...ladyfingers...), and whatever other fruits appeal to us. But our staple food, at the moment, is bananas. Lots, and lots, and lots of bananas. Why bananas? Bananas are calorie-dense, high carbohydrate, rich in vitamins and minerals, delicious (when ripe!), and cheap. We buy our bananas in bulk for around $23 for a 40 pound case. We buy at least two cases per week on different days so we always have some bananas ripening. Running out of ripe bananas is something we can't afford to let happen. If we do happen to plan poorly and run out of ripe bananas (we do not eat bananas unless they are covered in brown spots), our fallback is medjool dates.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/C360_2013-01-27-00-08-49_zps882ae724.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo C360_2013-01-27-00-08-49_zps882ae724.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/C360_2013-01-27-00-08-49_zps882ae724.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
What we use as a staple fruit changes seasonally. In the spring, we feast on delicious mangoes. In summer, much of our day is spent diving face-first into ginormous watermelons. In fall, we're back to bananas and dates, and in winter, if we can find good citrus, we spend hours juicing oranges. Sometimes we get adventurous and buy the weirdest tropical fruits we can find...like the jackfruit we bought at our local Indian market the other day. So amazingly delicious!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/C360_2013-01-27-18-47-26_zpsb14c3d07.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo C360_2013-01-27-18-47-26_zpsb14c3d07.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/C360_2013-01-27-18-47-26_zpsb14c3d07.jpg" /></a><br />
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<br />
And sometimes we do spice things up a little bit by creating an extravagant low fat high carb raw vegan gourmet dish. It's rare because it takes a lot of work and time, and as busy parents, we'd rather spend that time with our daughter. But every once in a while it's nice to have something a little different. Last night, for example, we had raw vegan burritos, courtesy of Kristina Carillo-Bucaram over at <a href="http://fullyraw.com/" target="_blank">Fully Raw/Rawfully Organic</a>! They were delicious and different...and very time consuming...just what we needed to remind ourselves that simple is usually better but change can be nice, too. :-)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/C360_2013-01-27-17-11-32-1_zpsa1501856.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo C360_2013-01-27-17-11-32-1_zpsa1501856.jpg" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/C360_2013-01-27-17-11-32-1_zpsa1501856.jpg" /></a><br />
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I hope you enjoyed a peek into our daily menu! After reading this post, you are probably wondering...but why so much? Why so much food? Why so many calories? Why so many carbohydrates? WHY SO MUCH FRUIT?! This lifestyle is definitely one of ABUNDANCE not restriction, and those are very valid questions, my friends! Stay tuned for the answers in a future post. For now, I'm off to dream about sapodillas and ataulfo mangoes. Mmm...good-night.Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-14822902076132624562013-01-17T22:30:00.000-05:002013-01-27T22:20:45.494-05:00Too much sugar! Or is it?So Monday marked one full week of being 100% high carbohydrate low fat raw vegan. Yay! I'd do a little celebration dance, but I'm currently drinking 8 bananas, 5 medjool dates, and 2 cups of frozen mangoes and pineapples. Do you know what that looks like? I'll tell you what that looks like. It looks like a blender completely full of yellow smoothie. I mean, all the way full. There was about 1/2 an inch of empty space in the top of the blender. This equals a little over 2 quarts. That is my breakfast. How many calories were in my breakfast? About 1300. How long does it take me to drink my breakfast? About an hour. Wait...doesn't that smoothie contain too many carbs?<br />
<br />
Ah, carbohydrates. Let's talk about carbs, shall we? As the mother of a one-year-old (OMG, how can she be one year old already?!), I do not have the time to go over the differences between complex carbs and simple carbs, how the body and specifically the brain depend on carbohydrates for fuel, or how, during times of insufficient carbohydrate intake, the body can convert stored fat into glucose for use as fuel (a process called "gluconeogenesis"), producing toxic byproducts called "ketones" in the process. No, that's not what is important right now. You can read all of the above in the nutrition section of any good, basic anatomy & physiology textbook (and indeed, I recommend you do so). What I want to talk about right now is my own personal experience with a low-carb lifestyle versus a high-carb lifestyle.<br />
<br />
My beautiful mother, like most American women, has made an effort to take care of her body for as long as I can remember. I can remember doing step-aerobics with her when I was a little girl, eating some of her cabbage soup when she and my grandmother did the cabbage soup diet together, joining our local Curves gym together, and cutting out bread, pasta, and potatoes with her when she started the Atkins diet. I have never been one of those lucky people who could eat whatever I wanted while never gaining a single pound. I've struggled with my weight since puberty, and my yearly school photos show a steady increase in weight all the way through middle and high school. The few times I managed to lose weight were during major life upheavals that led to severe calorie-restricting due to stress.<br />
<br />
As you can see from the photos below, I have been struggling with my
weight for a long time now. Before finding a high carbohydrate low fat
diet, I simply couldn't understand why dieting and exercise wasn't
working for me. Sure, I could restrict calories and lose weight, but I
could never keep it off. As soon as I stopped restricting calories, the
weight piled right back on. And I could never restrict calories for
longer than a few months because I would get lethargic and depressed. <br />
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1998 (14 years old)<br />
<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/47730_1538691263899_5641608_n_zps20931387.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/47730_1538691263899_5641608_n_zps20931387.jpg" /> </a><br />
<br />
When my mom went on the Atkins diet back in 2000, I saw her lose
substantial amounts of weight, and so I tried it with her. However, I
was not a big meat eater, and so though I lost a little bit of weight,
it was mainly due to calorie restriction, and after a while (of
essentially starving myself on salads, canned green beans, and a little
bit of cheese and milk), the cravings for carbohydrates became so
unbearable, I binged hard and gained the weight back plus more. My mom,
however, has an admirable amount of willpower, and she maintained an
Atkins diet for a couple years. She maintained her weight loss, but
started exhibiting strange symptoms: she was exhausted and weak,
couldn't sleep, experienced periods of nausea, and had a strange
sweet/fruit smell to her breath (signs of ketoacidosis). Eventually,
she couldn't stand feeling so sick all the time, and reintroduced the
occasional higher-carbohydrate food, but the fear of starches has stuck
with her to this day. She now maintains her weight by daily exercise,
eating small amounts of low-fat meat, and eating large portions of fresh
fruits and leafy greens. <br />
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2002 (17 years old)<br />
<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/resized1_zps5509f044.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/resized1_zps5509f044.jpg" /></a>
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<br />
In October of 2003, I went vegetarian for moral reasons and have not
touched meat since. However, during those early years, I was the only
vegetarian I knew, and I had no idea what to eat. I basically lived off
of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheese pizza, spaghetti
marinara, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes with lots of butter
and sour cream. I loved salad and ate it a couple times a week, but was
smothering my lettuce in olive oil and vinegar dressings. I basically
ate a high fat, high carbohydrate diet devoid of anything fresh. I
didn't grow up in a fruit-eating household, so I almost never ate
fruit. Eating this way, my weight skyrocketed to the highest it has
ever been and pretty much stayed that way until February of 2008 when I
lost a large amount of weight due to extreme stress. <br />
<br />
2003 (19 years old)<br />
<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/f89adbdc_zpsa3c75561.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/f89adbdc_zpsa3c75561.jpg" /></a>
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2004 (20 years old)<br />
<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/LiveJournal%20Pictures/pumpkin008.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/LiveJournal%20Pictures/pumpkin008.jpg" /></a><br />
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2006 (22 years old)<br />
<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/meandmom-1_zps6d8f5df3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/meandmom-1_zps6d8f5df3.jpg" /></a>
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2008 (25 years old, after losing about 20lbs due to stress/calorie restriction)<br />
<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/19564_1281171278728_4758175_n_zpsd1ae1446.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/19564_1281171278728_4758175_n_zpsd1ae1446.jpg" /></a><br />
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The very next year, however, after adopting a high fat low(er) carb
traditional foods diet (rich in organic grass-fed butter, organic
grass-fed milk, raw organic cheese, yogurt, nuts/seeds, fermented foods
such as kimchi and sauerkraut, salads, and an abundance of cooked greens
and vegetables...no grains, no potatoes, hardly any fruit), my weight
steadily went up again. I was so, so frustrated! And I was craving
sugar like crazy! <br />
<br />
2009 (26 years old)<br />
<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/181690_1880524538712_279012_n_zps1d11b104.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/181690_1880524538712_279012_n_zps1d11b104.jpg" /></a>
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2010 <br />
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Then one day in early 2011, I watched a video called "Food Matters"
in my nutrition class in midwifery school. In the documentary, there
was some crazy guy named David Wolfe (I don't agree with his nutritional
recommendations, but I do thank him for introducing me to my current
lifestyle) who only ate raw foods. Whoa! What a concept! And one that
made enormous amounts of sense to me. So, as what normally happens
when I become interested in a new concept, I dove in head-first and
researched like crazy.<br />
<br />
I discovered a whole new world of
alternative living. My first intro to raw food was the "gourmet raw
food" lifestyle that most raw foodists live. There I found elaborate
recipes based on nuts and seeds such as raw vegan tacos, raw vegan
cheesecakes, raw vegan pizzas, even raw vegan burgers and fries! Whoa!
And I found <a href="http://www.therawfoodfamily.com/" target="_blank">Ka Sundance</a>, a raw foodist who, along with his wife Katie,
were raising their four children on a raw vegan diet. I was so very
hooked. <br />
<br />
Then, in April of 2011, Nick and I went on a
30-day raw vegan challenge. I compiled recipes and made weekly
meal-plans and grocery lists. We loved every minute of it and started
shedding weight immediately. However, this gourmet raw way of living
still seemed unnatural, as we were smothering our dishes with tamari (a
form of soy sauce), eating a lot of cacao (raw chocolate), and using
copious amounts of agave nectar and maple syrup to sweeten our
desserts. I couldn't help but think...if raw veganism is the most
"natural" way to eat, then why do I still need all these condiments?
And that's when I discovered the 80-10-10 Diet, aka Low Fat/High Carb
Raw Veganism.<br />
<br />
The 80-10-10 Diet was unlike anything I'd
ever heard of. Not only did it advocate consuming a diet made up of
80% of calories from carbohydrates (oh my...yummy!), but it also
proposed that we get those calories from fruit. From fruit? Really?
Isn't fruit just a snack or a dessert food? Dr. Douglas Graham thinks
not, and indeed, he believes that fruit is the perfect human food. So
like our closest relatives, the bonobos and chimpanzees, Nick and I
began eating a diet completely full of the most delicious food on
earth...FRUIT! And after only a week, we both felt better, physically
and mentally, than we had ever felt in our entire lives. More energy,
clarity of mind, strength, stamina, happiness and joy! Who would ever
believe that all these positive things could come from simply eating
nothing but fruit and raw leafy greens? We are most definitely
believers now!<br />
<br />
2011 (after going raw vegan!)<br />
<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/Raw%20Food/248813_232215913459967_6526710_n_zps4d70976d.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/Raw%20Food/248813_232215913459967_6526710_n_zps4d70976d.jpg" /></a><br />
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And then...as most of you know...I became pregnant! You can read all
about that journey in previous posts. For now, I will stick to the
nutritional side of my pregnancy. In my first trimester, after only a
month and a half of being raw vegan, I had morning sickness that was not
bad enough to cause vomiting, but was definitely bad enough to cause
major food aversions. I couldn't eat anything except fresh pineapple
and plain boiled potatoes for the first trimester. Every once in a
while I could stomach some citrus or bread, but it was rare. And so
Nick and I decided to stop eating 100% raw throughout my pregnancy until
my food aversions went away. We knew that we were vegan for life,
however, and so I consumed a cooked vegan diet throughout my pregnancy
and felt pretty good except for some restless leg and acid reflux (which
I've had all my life since childhood). Eating as much food as I
wanted, I gained 35 pounds during my pregnancy and had almost no
swelling even in the very last days of pregnancy. <br />
<br />
2012 (39 weeks pregnant; I weighed one pound less here than I did at my heaviest back in 2004 not pregnant)<br />
<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jelti/media/100_0057.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/100_0057.jpg" /></a><br />
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About 6 weeks after the birth of my daughter, I went 100% low fat high carb raw vegan again. I felt absolutely incredible! I lost all the baby weight plus more in about 3 months and my energy levels were good (though not as good as they could have been...turns out I was anemic from heavy blood loss postpartum, but I did not find out until later, and I have since remedied this via supplementation). Nick also went raw with me again, and lost another 10 pounds. <br />
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2012 (my daughter was about 4 months old here)<br />
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Unfortunately, due to finances (or lack thereof), we could not afford to continue eating 100% raw, and so we switched to a high carbohydrate low fat cooked vegan diet, aka "<a href="http://www.drmcdougall.com/" target="_blank">The McDougall Diet</a>". I was very worried that starting to eat cooked again would lead to weight gain (because carbs=evil was still somewhere in the back of my mind), even though I had done a <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/W8079E/w8079e0m.htm" target="_blank">modest amount of research</a> on the very subject and read studies that showed that the only way people were able to gain weight on a low fat high carbohydrate diet was to be massively overfed (some 3500 calories over their caloric output), and even then the subjects in the study <b>spontaneously burned more calories</b> during the 9 days of over-feeding, so the researchers had to keep increasing calories to maintain an over-feeding state. And when the weight gained (4.6 kg) was analyzed, most of it was muscle growth and water weight (<a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/48/2/240.full.pdf" target="_blank">Glycogen storage capacity and de novo lipogenesis during massive carbohydrate overfeeding in man</a>).<br />
<br />
But then the months went by and I ate, and ate, and ate. I ate a lot because I'm a breastfeeding mother and I was hungry! We ate the food that we could afford, which was mainly rice and beans, pasta, rolled oats, and vegetables. We were able to afford some fruits, mostly bananas, and we sometimes splurged and made our own bread. Our friends and family would shake their heads in disbelief when they saw the size of our carbohydrate portions (like large dinner plates full of spaghetti!), and they couldn't believe it when we didn't gain weight. But the fact of the matter was, we didn't. Not one pound between the two of us. We ate more food (in regards to volume) at one meal than some people eat in a day, and still we did not gain weight. The proof is in the (fat-free vegan) pudding.<br />
<br />
But, after having experienced eating a high carbohydrate (high fruit) raw vegan diet, eating all the pasta I wanted simply paled in comparison. I knew that once we were more financially stable, we would switch back to 100% raw. So on January 7th, we did just that. And on January 12th, we celebrated our daughter's first birthday raw vegan style, complete with raw vegan raspberry pie for Ariana, who absolutely loved it.<br />
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We have already experienced amazing changes. Further weight loss (another 5 pounds for each of us), energy-levels increasing, skin clearing, and better digestion. I'm so excited to be continuing this journey. Nick and I have decided that as long as we only see benefits, we will continue living this lifestyle. I'm not usually the biggest fan of labels, because I believe that words have power, and labels can be used in either a positive or negative manner. But I have to admit, it feels good to be a raw foodist again.Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-5311151647722561242013-01-06T11:47:00.002-05:002013-01-27T22:21:49.964-05:00LFRV, HCRV, HCCV...wait, what's with all the abbreviations??Whew! What a wild couple of years it's been! So much has happened in the past two years. So many changes...some good, some not so good. And a few were so incredibly life-changing that they led me to start writing in this blog again...and so here I am.<br />
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April 4, 2011<br />
Nick (my boyfriend of about one and a half years at the time) and I decide to take a 30-day Raw Vegan Challenge. I had already been lacto-ovo vegetarian since October of 2003 and had dabbled in raw foods that first year of being vegetarian. Nick was not vegetarian, had no intentions of going vegetarian, but was spontaneous and up for an adventure. So I created this blog to document our journey and we stopped cooking the next day! The challenge was life-altering. Nick shed 30 pounds and healed his chronic severe stomach issues. I lost 15 pounds and felt years of brain-fog float out of my life forever. After the 30 days were over, we decided to stay vegan for life and stay on the raw food path for the time being.<br />
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<b>Before Going Raw Vegan </b></div>
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<b>After 30 Days of Raw Vegan</b></div>
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May 4, 2011<br />
I blame the raw food. To this day, I seriously blame the raw food. On May 4th, after having charted my cycles for many years, I had my first ever "Hmm...shouldn't my period be here by now?" and bought a pregnancy test that day. It was positive. I was pregnant. I was <i>pregnant!! </i>Trying to convey the tsunami-like emotions crashing through my brain that day would take a whole other blog post, so I'll just say that my sweet girl was very, very wanted and very, very <b>early</b>. I still had another year left of midwifery school, and gosh darn it, I had just finally started getting my body into the shape I had always wanted it to be! But underneath the doubts, fear, and apprehension, there was so, so much joy. I was going to have a baby with the most kind-hearted, amazing man I had ever met. I was going to be a mother.<br />
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Two weeks later...<br />
I got a horrible gum infection at the site of my bottom right wisdom tooth. Many years ago, when my chipmunk-faced classmates were returning to school after having their wisdom teeth extracted, I sent out a desperate plea-like prayer to the universe that I would have plenty of room for all four of my wisdom teeth. I was terrified of dentists (along with bees, aliens, and the apocalypse), and would rather suffer crooked teeth than face an extraction. So imagine my delight when all four of my wisdom teeth grew in when I was in my early 20's! Fast forward to the middle of May 2011, and I was singing a different tune. The infection came out of nowhere. It was most likely due to pregnancy hormones softening my gums and my lack of flossing (oops). I couldn't chew food and completely lost my appetite. I took strong echinacea tincture, padded my tooth and gum with fresh plantain poultices, and tried to rest. It got worse and worse. I tried to drink raw soups with lots of garlic and lemon. I lost about 5 pounds in one week. The pain was so severe. I eventually resorted to antibiotics and the infection cleared within days.<br />
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When I was able to chew again, I had severe food aversions to pretty much everything except pineapple and plain boiled potatoes. I cried the first time I ate a potato. I had desperately wanted to continue on my raw foods path while pregnant, but it just wasn't happening. The thought of raw foods, even previously cherished fruits, was absolutely sickening. We started cooking. Throughout my pregnancy, I ate a diet of whole grains, vegetables, some legumes, and fruits. We were new to vegan cooking and used lots of olive oil. I gained 35 pounds during my pregnancy...not too bad, but I had low energy, hip pain, and restless leg syndrome. Looking back, I should have supplemented because I simply was not getting enough fresh foods, including green leafy veggies. Other than the mild discomforts, though, it was an amazing pregnancy. Hearing my baby's heartbeat with my fetoscope and feeling her movement inside my body were simply indescribable experiences.<br />
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June 25, 2012<br />
I married the love of my life! We had a beautiful outdoor ceremony on Vilano Beach in St. Augustine, Florida and a vegetarian reception at my mother- and father-in-law's house. Nick and I feasted on baked vegan eggplant, spaghetti marinara, salad, and a delicious vegan carrot cake. It was a wonderful day! We flew to Costa Rica for our honeymoon the very next morning.<br />
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January 12, 2012<br />
I birthed my baby girl on my bed at home! See<a href="http://eatinglikeorangutans.blogspot.com/2012/05/homebirth-of-ariana-genevieve.html" target="_blank"> the blog post below this one</a> for Ariana's birth story!<br />
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March 2012<br />
Ariana started showing signs of colic in the middle of the night, so I immediately cut all cooked foods and allergy-inducing foods out of my diet. I went 100% low fat high carb raw vegan (80-10-10 style), and her symptoms disappeared overnight. Nick joined me about 2 weeks later, and together we were HCRV/LFRV for about 4 months. We started including low fat cooked vegan foods into our diets when finances wouldn't allow us to continue 100% raw. We both felt the effects of cooked foods (digestive imbalances, mood swings, low energy, skin breakouts) after so many months of eating raw and vowed that once finances were more stable, we'd go back for good. <br />
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August 25, 2012<br />
I graduated from <a href="http://www.midwiferyschool.org/" target="_blank">The Florida School of Traditional Midwifery</a>. After three intense years of schooling, I was finally done...with the academic portion, anyway. I still had/have some clinicals to do (4 births left!!), and will take my <a href="http://narm.org/" target="_blank">NARM Written Examination</a> on February 20th in Orlando, Florida.<br />
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And this leads us to...<br />
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January 6, 2013, aka, TODAY!!<br />
Today, my friends, is our last day of eating cooked food! We are using up whatever is left in our cupboards and fridge (potatoes, collards, sweet potatoes, a little bit of brown rice, and some soy milk) and preparing for our first day back to 100% high carb low fat raw vegan TOMORROW!!! Can you tell I'm excited? I wish I could explain how amazing I feel when eating this way. The clarity of mind is incredible, I shed water weight immediately (we do not use table salt), my skin clears up, my energy levels go through the roof, I have more patience, I sleep more soundly. The benefits are too numerous to document them all here so I will save that for a future blog post.<br />
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Anyway, we have almost a full case of ripe bananas, and I'll be making some low fat raw vegan pie tarts tonight to get us ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow evening is also grocery day, so we'll be picking up some citrus, greens, pineapple, fresh herbs, and a few bags of frozen fruits. We'll also be ordering a case of fresh dates from <a href="http://www.shieldsdategarden.com/" target="_blank">Shields Date Garden</a>. Yum!!<br />
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So what's this blog going to be about, you ask? My answer to you is...an experiment! An experiment to determine how on earth I can manage to combine raw food and nutrition with midwifery, homebirth, and parenting with a little bit of gardening and yoga thrown in the mix. I'll scatter some raw vegan food porn in there as well, along with some beautiful pictures of my family and the beautiful Florida beaches. Click Subscribe...you know you want to.Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-71238978155865159372011-05-03T01:34:00.003-04:002011-05-03T01:51:08.924-04:00The End of Our 4-Week Raw Vegan ChallengeYesterday was the last day of our 4-week Raw Vegan Challenge! And what a great day it was! Nick, my mom, and I all went to Blue Springs and spent the day there. We brought a delicious Kickass Kale Salad and some lovely mangoes! We drank coconut water, jumped off a high dock into the spring, and canoed lazily down the river. It was a beautiful day.<br />
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Nick and I both enjoyed our Raw Adventure so much! The foods were all incredible and the results were just amazing. We wanted to share how we felt about this whole raw vegan thing, so we documented our thoughts below.<br />
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<b>NICK'S THOUGHTS</b><br />
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<i>So, where to begin? We have just completed our 4 week challenge of 100% raw foods...about halfway through we changed it to follow more of the 811 diet (80% of cals from carbs, 10% of cals from fat, 10% of cals from protein). Over the course of the month, I went from 202 lbs. to 186 lbs, a change of 16 lbs. My skin has cleared up on my face and back. I have felt clear headed at work and have had high energy. The foods we have eaten have been very good every day (except the second day, too many mushed up foods). There are many positives to this diet, and lifestyle. As far as I can tell there are almost no negatives to this diet at the same time. It just feels natural and right. For now I want to continue with these eating habits; I do not know if I am ready to 100% commit myself to a completely raw diet, but I will be taking it a week at a time. It feels like a huge change to me, but looking back over this month it hasn’t been hard at all. I don’t know why I am hesitant to commit myself to this permanently, I love the foods, the energy, and being so clearheaded. This feels biologically right to me. I suppose changing what you have known all your life is a difficult choice, coming into this I was happily an omnivore. Going from the Standard American Diet to completely raw and vegan feels like night and day… maybe it’s the change I need. Looking at my thoughts it seems like it should be plain which path I should take. I will give it some time. For now nothing is changing; I will stay with the 811 plan.</i> <br />
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<b>Missy's Thoughts</b><br />
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<i>Alright, my turn. I’ll start with the physical stuff. During our Raw Vegan 30-Day Challenge, I lost a total of eleven pounds (going from 140 to 129 pounds). My skin has cleared up, but not quite as much as Nick’s (I still have some blackheads on my face). I have a lot more energy and motivation to get things done. My addiction to refined sugar is GONE. That is probably the best thing I could ever have done for myself…breaking my sugar addiction. Even though we have raw cacao in the house, my chocolate addiction seems to be gone, as well. When we go grocery shopping, chocolate bars, cookies, etc. don’t even really register as “food” anymore. Maybe that’s because they’re not.<br />
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As for the emotional stuff…well, it feels good to be vegan again. I’ve been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for about seven and a half years, but I was vegan for the first six months. When I started eating eggs and dairy again, I always bought free-range/organic eggs and always organic dairy as much as possible. But whenever we went out to eat, I didn’t concern myself with whether or not the eggs or dairy were organic. And there was always guilt. When I first went vegetarian all those years ago, I did it because I simply did not want to be responsible for the death of these intelligent animals. Yet, by continuing to consume eggs and dairy products, I felt quite the hypocrite. It is so freeing to know that no animals are dying for the food that I eat.<br />
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I also feel like Nick and I have gotten closer throughout this past month. It’s been so much fun to create and eat these new foods together. We have only gone out to eat once (and got big ol’ salads!) since beginning this adventure, so we spend more time together enjoying our meals at home. It feels meditative and intimate. He’s been my support person throughout this whole thing, and I’m not sure I could have done it without him. It’s just so nice to be with someone who is spontaneous and will try new things with you. I love that man. <br />
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So, I will be continuing a high-fruit low-fat raw vegan diet permanently (unless the Zombie Apocalypse happens…then I might eat cooked rice or possibly human brains). There is simply no way I could go back to eating the way I was before. I just feel too good, emotionally and physically. I’m really happy! This adventure has literally changed my life!</i><br />
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And so I don't end this post without including a bit of food porn, our dinner was an amazing mango salsa salad. The ingredients in the mango salsa were ripe champagne mangoes, tomatoes, red bell peppers, one jalapeno pepper, purple onion, garlic, celery, cilantro, and lemon juice...all mixed up in a big bowl. Then we mixed in the zucchini noodles and served it all over baby spinach. It was just incredible. Pure, simple food. It doesn't get any better than this, folks.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=mangosalsasalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_mangosalsasalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-5316735360176954852011-04-30T00:26:00.001-04:002011-04-30T00:28:32.768-04:00Day 24 and 25I am so sleepy! It's been an absolutely crazy week filled with studying and final exams...hence the reason I'm behind on blogging again! Today is actually day 26, but I won't be able to blog about today until tomorrow. Ha! <br />
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So, firstly, I'd like to present to you...my first <b>case</b> of bananas. A 40 pound case of bananas. <i>For only five bucks.</i><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=boxobananas.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/boxobananas.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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Nick and I have many, many smoothies in our future. :)<br />
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<b>The Day Before Yesterday's Breakfast</b><br />
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<b>The Day Before Yesterday's Lunch</b>: Cherry Banana Ice Cream.<br />
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<b>The Day Before Yesterday's Dinner</b>: Sushi again! Our favorite!!<br />
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Nick and I went out to eat the day before yesterday, for the first time since starting our raw food adventure. Our friends Helen and Tommy invited us to <a href="http://www.bocafiesta.com/">Boca Fiesta</a>, an awesome little bar/restaurant here in Gainesville. We were a little apprehensive when they invited us, mainly because we didn't know what we could eat there...and we were worried that we'd really miss their mojitos! But we went out, ordered their "Build Your Own Guacamole" and two veggie salads, and then put the guac on the salads. It was great! And we had a really awesome time with Helen and Tommy. So glad we went. :)<br />
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<b>Yesterday's Breakfast</b>: Sapote Mango Blueberry Pudding. OMG, yum. So it was our first time trying mamey sapote and although it was perfectly ripe and the flavor was fantastic, it is kind of a dry fruit, so we decided to whip it up into a pudding. It was just delicious.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=mameysapote.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_mameysapote.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Yesterday's Dinner</b>: <a href="http://rawon10.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-13-2011.html">Vegetable Noodle Stew</a>. My avocado was not ripe, so I used four tablespoons of tahini instead. Oh, and I used no salt or pepper...the celery and tomatoes were salty enough. This stew turned out great. We LOVE zucchini noodles!!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=veggienoodlestew.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_veggienoodlestew.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Oh, btw...Nick and I bought those crazy toe shoes today and we love them!! :D<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=rawnick.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/rawnick.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-6666250507722885102011-04-26T22:41:00.001-04:002011-04-26T22:43:15.373-04:00Day 22 and 23Nick and I have been busy studying for finals, which are tomorrow, so although we're eating lots of raw yumminess, I haven't really been able to keep up with this blog as much as I'd like to. Hopefully once finals are over, I can document a lot of raw stuff that's been on my mind lately. I want to make some kind of post for those interested in going raw--kind of like an intro post. I am still totally a beginner, but I'm one of the lucky ones who learned after only two weeks of eating 100% raw that a high-fat raw food diet is <b>not healthy</b>...unfortunately, most of the raw information that's freely available on the intrawebz is all about high-fat raw foods (aka "gourmet" raw) because that's what those new to the raw lifestyle tend to gravitate towards (including myself until I did some more research and picked up <a href="http://www.amazon.com/80-10-Diet/dp/1893831248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303871170&sr=8-1">"The 80-10-10 Diet" by Dr. Douglas Graham</a>).<br />
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For those interested who cannot yet pick up a copy of the aforementioned book, an awesome website to check out is <a href="http://www.raw-food-health.net/">Raw Food Health</a>. Great info there. <br />
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Anyway, gotta make this short because I need to do some more studying. Wish me luck on my finals! :)<br />
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<b>Yesterday's Dinner</b>: Raw Vegan Chili. I kinda combined two recipes for this; <a href="http://kellysfacesmells.blogspot.com/2010/04/raw-vegan-chili-and-raw-meal-plan-for.html">here</a> and <a href="http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/raw-food-diet/raw-recipes/raw-vegan-chili-recipe/">here</a>. I added frozen corn (defrosted first), cayenne powder, cumin, two dates for sweetness, and blended a few chard leaves into the sauce. This chili turned out GREAT with a nice crunch, but next time, I will make it a bit less spicy...although Nick thought the amount of spice was just right.<br />
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Before adding the sauce:<br />
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All mixed up with some nutritional yeast sprinkled on top:<br />
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Yum. :)<br />
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<b>Today's Breakfast</b>: Deliciously fresh papaya, bananas, and local blueberries! Oh this was probably the best papaya I've ever had! We bought it early last week while it was still green and patiently (yeah right!) waited until TODAY to finally eat it. And it was so worth the wait!! So buttery and sweet, juicy and amazing. Truly, a fantastic papaya. The bananas and blueberries complemented it quite nicely.<br />
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<b>Today's Dinner</b>: Kickass Salad with Creamy Tomato Celery Dressing. I got the idea for the dressing out of the 80-10-10 book. I put two tomatoes, four large celery sticks, the juice of one lemon, a handful of fresh basil, one clove of garlic, and about four tablespoons of tahini in the blender and blended it all up into a delicious dressing that tasted great and salty, without adding any salt at all! Then I poured it over some romaine lettuce, sunflower sprouts, jicama, tomato, onions, bell pepper, and chopped celery. It was such a heart and filling salad. I'm excited to experiment with fresh, raw dressings that don't include salt or oil. Nick really liked it, too! <br />
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And now, back to the books!! Good night!Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-65752136544966743992011-04-25T11:59:00.001-04:002011-04-25T16:20:23.190-04:00Week 4 Meal Plan and Grocery ListI can't believe this is the last week of our One-Month Raw Vegan Adventure! Nick and I have had a lot of fun discovering new recipes and eating so healthy. Our skin has cleared up exceptionally, our energy levels have really gone up, and we have lost a lot of weight. So far, in three weeks, Nick has released 12 pounds and I have released 10. IN ONLY THREE WEEKS...and that's been solely by stuffing our faces with fresh raw food. Nothing else has changed, not our lifestyles or exercise routine!! This is amazing, amazing stuff. I am very happy. :)<br />
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Here is Week 4's Meal Plan:<br />
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Lots and lots of fruit again this week! In fact, I'm hoping for almost an 80carb/10protein/10fat percentage ratio. It's not quite perfect yet, though, but it's getting there. Mmm...I am really full of mangos and bananas right now.<br />
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And here's the grocery lists for the week. I like how they're getting smaller as the quantity of fruit gets bigger. :)<br />
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<b>Today's Grocery Shopping List</b>:<br />
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2 or 3 Bunches of Bananas<br />
2 bunches of grapes<br />
3 large red bell peppers<br />
2 zucchinis<br />
4 large tomatoes<br />
1 bunch cilantro<br />
romaine lettuce<br />
baby spinach<br />
4 little cucumbers<br />
one bunch chard<br />
2 ripe pears<br />
Portobello mushroom caps<br />
sprouts<br />
sugar snap peas<br />
green onions<br />
one little parsnip<br />
fruit to snack on (oranges, peaches, pluots, etc.)<br />
2 packages dried dates<br />
2 lemons<br />
Oh, and dish soap. ;)<br />
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<b>Wednesday's Grocery Shopping List</b>:<br />
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Possibly more bananas<br />
One case champagne mangos<br />
One large watermelon<br />
strawberries<br />
jicama<br />
5 zucchinis<br />
5 tomatoes<br />
celery if needed<br />
one pack fresh basil<br />
4 lemons<br />
one bunch chard<br />
one large bunch grapes<br />
kiwis if needed<br />
nori<br />
sprouts if needed<br />
2 red bell pepper <br />
Portobello mushroom caps<br />
fresh Thai coconut OR coconut manna<br />
one small papaya<br />
one bunch kale<br />
<br />
Yay for raw food goodness!! ♥Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-52633763185828217222011-04-25T00:17:00.001-04:002011-04-25T00:20:26.447-04:00Day 20 and 21 - Happy Easter, Happy Spring, Happy Sunday!I hope everyone had a wonderful day today, no matter what holiday (or no) you celebrate! ♥<br />
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I'm going to combine days 20 and 21 for simplicity's sake, mostly because I'm behind on blogging again. Also, Nick had to work today, and I went to my mom's house for Easter, so I didn't get to make any intricate recipes. But I do have a few photos to share.<br />
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Hmm...and I also want to mention that while I am trying my best to document breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I am not documenting any snacks at all. Nick and I eat lots of fruit between meals, and Nick snacks on trailmix at work almost every night. Because we're eating so much fruit lately, and fruit kinda speaks for itself, I'm really only documenting and taking photos of the meals that took some time to put together and make. <br />
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As for caloric intake, I am consuming about 1600 calories per day at this point, while Nick is consuming 2000-2200. Some days, depending on if we eat a meal high in nuts/seeds, avocado, olive oil, or coconut, we might get a LOT more calories...but it's averaging out to be the numbers above. How are we getting this many calories by just eating fruit and veggies? We've been gradually increasing our portion sizes. When we have fruit, we don't just have an apple or an orange. For example, I ate three mangos and an orange for breakfast this morning while Nick ate a smoothie that contained three bananas, a cup of frozen strawberries, a cup of frozen blueberries, and two cups of chard leaves. It ended up being a full quart of smoothie! And when we eat salads, we don't just have a dinky little salad on a salad plate. We eat a MIXING BOWL full of salad EACH. Yum. :)<br />
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This is a prickly pear:<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=pricklypear.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/pricklypear.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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Nick and I bought it from our local grocery store a couple days ago, and tried to eat it for <b>breakfast</b> yesterday. Only, it tasted very bland, and I'm pretty sure I got an itty bitty cactus thorn stuck in the tip of my tongue. Also, it was full of very hard seeds, albeit edible. We didn't like the prickly pear, and so it went in the compost heap. We ate tons of mango for breakfast instead.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=mangomango.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/mangomango.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<b>Yesterday's Lunch</b>: Just Your Average Salad. Romaine, baby spinach, avocado, tomato, scallions, purple cabbage, sugar snap peas, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper, nutritional yeast. Yum.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=saladleftovers.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/saladleftovers.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <br />
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<b>Yesterday's Dinner</b>: Green Goddess Smoothie! We blended up four bananas, a cup of frozen strawberries, a few handfuls of baby spinach, and a little bit of cinnamon. We didn't get a photo, but it was tasty. :)<br />
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So today was Easter Sunday, and Nick had to work. I was very bummed that we couldn't spend the day together (probably not as bummed as Nick, though, since he's the one who had to work!), but I did have a wonderful time visiting my mom, her husband, my brother and his girlfriend, and my little nephew.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=forblog.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/forblog.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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Before Nick went to work and I left for Mom's, though, we had <b>breakfast</b>. Nick's was that kickass smoothie I mentioned earlier in the post, and mine was the amazing three champagne mangos. Sooooo good!! Then, because Nick would be at work all day and wouldn't get a lunch break, I packed him lots of fruit to eat throughout the day: two peeled and segmented oranges, two sliced kiwis, two apples, two pluots (cross between plum and apricot), and a little baggie of trailmix. He later reported that the fruit was yummy and held him over til he got out of work!<br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: Kickass Kale and Chard Salad. I brought my own "Easter Dinner" to Mom's house because they were having a traditional dinner of meat and potatoes, and I knew I'd get hungry eventually. This is key, folks! Bring your own food to things like this and you won't have to worry about whether or not there will be food for you to eat! Anyway, the salad was kale, chard, one garlic clove pressed through the garlic press, the juice of a large lemon, and a little sea salt--all of it squished and mixed with my hands to help the lemon juice break down the cell wall of the greens. This salad was very yummy, and my mom loved it, too!! I also brought two oranges with me, and then Mom gave me an Easter basket filled with fresh fruit. I stayed full until dinner!<br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://girlonraw.com/2011/02/raw-ms-pesto-pasta-recipe/">Zucchini Pasta Pesto</a>. Not much to say about this one other than the fact that it was AMAZING. The only thing Nick and I will do differently next time is make more of it!!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=pestopasta.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/pestopasta.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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And off to plan the week's meals! Hope everyone had a great day! :)Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-81329333438938486352011-04-23T03:14:00.000-04:002011-04-23T03:14:07.872-04:00Day 19 and Still Loving It!I can't believe tomorrow is already Saturday AGAIN and it will be time to make the week's meal plan and grocery lists AGAIN. Wow! Time is flying by!<br />
<br />
Oh, and I was quite happy today when I saw a package in my mailbox! The book I ordered last week, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/80-10-Diet/dp/1893831248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303542197&sr=8-1">"The 80-10-10 Diet" by Dr. Douglas Graham</a> was finally here! I read it most of the evening and just keep finding myself nodding my head in agreement. His writing style is great, and I especially enjoyed chapter one. I will definitely keep everyone updated as I continue to read through the book. :)<br />
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<b>Breakfast</b>: Half of an approximately 10 lb watermelon. Yep, you read that right. I didn't weigh the watermelon, but it was pretty heavy, and Nick and I each ate half for breakfast this morning. It took me about an hour and a half to finish mine, but I did it! OMG, and it was the best watermelon I've had in so long! So sweet and juicy and dense. I wish I had bought two of them! Maybe I will go to the Asian grocery store tomorrow and pick up another one. That's how good this thing was. <br />
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(This photo makes them look flat. They weren't.)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=watermelon.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_watermelon.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: <a href="http://rawon10.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-25-2009.html">Zucchini Hummus and Veggies</a>. Alright, so here's the deal. The consistency and texture of this zucchini hummus was GREAT! If I would have known you could make kickass hummus with zucchini instead of chickpeas, I would have done it long ago. Anyway, the recipe itself, in my opinion, needs a bit of tweaking. I normally love curry, but the flavor combo of this hummus was a little weird. Next time, I think I will make a more Mediterranean-flavored hummus by leaving out the curry and using some basil, oregano, and sundried tomatoes or something. I'll experiment with it a bit and see how it turns out next time.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=zucchinihummus.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_zucchinihummus.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://goneraw.com/recipe/springrolls-spicy-ginger-dipping-sauce">Spicy Ginger Springrolls</a>. Hey, these were really good and they looked neat, too!! We used chard instead of collards because our local grocery store didn't have any good looking collards, and they came out great with the chard! Inside our springrolls were marinated shiitaki mushrooms, bell pepper, sugar snap peas, purple cabbage, avocado, and scallions/green onions. Fresh wasabi and tamari to dip them in and YUMMY!! Delicious.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=springrolls.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_springrolls.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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I really hope our gazillion bananas are ripe tomorrow! I want bananas! And now it is after 3am and I'm going to bed. Night!Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-2741376796071213432011-04-23T02:56:00.001-04:002011-04-23T02:56:43.746-04:00Day 18<b>Breakfast</b>: Half a honeydew and a banana (two bananas for Nick). This was delicious but not enough food! However, we ran out of bananas! So there was nothing we could do. Poor hungry bellies. I think I may have eaten a couple Medjool dates to take the edge off, lol.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=honeydewreal.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_honeydewreal.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Later, I found an AWESOME website explaining how to make sure we never run out of ripe bananas again! Here it is: <a href="http://www.raw-food-health.net/FruitRipening.html">The Art of Fruit Ripening</a>.<br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: Whatever Veggies Are in the Fridge Salad. This was a tasty salad!! Romaine lettuce, baby spinach, my own sprouted lentils, jicama, tomato, yellow bell pepper, soaked sunflower seeds, zucchini, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, nutritional yeast, and a little bit of tamari. So good!!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=salad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/salad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<b>Afternoon Activity</b>: Saying good-bye to my kombucha. I made a couple great batches of kombucha, but haven't drank it in a long time. So my most recent attempt, a kava kava kombucha experiment, kinda just sat on the kitchen table for the past few months. The scoby did WONDERFUL and just grew and grew. But, because I don't anticipate drinking kombucha again, it was time to say good-bye, and so I gave my scoby to the earth in the backyard.<br />
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That thing was at least 2.5 inches thick.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=scoby.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/scoby.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: Whatever Fruit Is Left in the Fridge Salad. Yum! Strawberries, orange slices, kiwi, and grapes.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=fruitsalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/fruitsalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-43523760274299936482011-04-21T10:57:00.000-04:002011-04-21T10:57:35.007-04:00Day 17 -- Still a day behind!Yesterday was day 17, but I was too exhausted to blog last night. And I didn't feel good. Wanna know why? Because I didn't listen to my body or my intuition.<br />
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So our local grocery store sells these shelled English Peas. And every time I see them, I'm like, "Wow! I bet those are crisp and sweet!" So I buy them. And then when I actually eat them, they are not crisp and sweet. They are hard and bitter. So I drown them in coconut vinegar (which you can get super cheap at your local Asian grocery store, btw), nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. And then, because I have a thing for vinegar, I eat a TON of them.<br />
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And so there I was...last night, bored, waiting for Nick to get home, hungry but not wanting to eat another banana because I knew Nick would want them when he got home and I was worried we'd run out before we could get more. So I went to the fridge and looked at the peas. Now, something inside me actually said, "Don't eat those. They are hard to digest. They don't actually taste very good. You're going to get a bellyache." And then what did I do? I rinsed the peas, put them in a mason jar, smothered them in the salt, vinegar, pepper, nutritional yeast, and then started eating them with a spoon right out of the jar. I gobbled down half the jar before I realized what I had done and immediately regretted it. I had heartburn from Hades and my stomach hurt. <br />
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No more English Peas for me.<br />
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<b>Breakfast</b>: Yesterday's breakfast was almost half of a golden, juicy, sweet pineapple and about two cups of purple grapes. It actually took Nick and I about an hour to get through all that delicious fruit, but I'll tell ya, it was AMAZING. I love pineapple. Ripe pineapple and mango are probably my two favorite fruits... <b>after</b> lychee, of course. We didn't get a photo because I was running a little late for school. I think I'm going to buy another pineapple today. Mmm! :)<br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: <a href="http://www.rawmazing.com/raw-food-and-cravings/">Strawberry Mango Salad</a>. This was such a beautiful salad! And the jicama added amazing crisp flavor and some heartiness. The pumpkin seeds were a perfect touch. We didn't add the avocado because I wanted to save the only ripe one we had on hand for dinner. We will definitely make this salad again (maybe today because we still have half a jicama left!). Oh, I didn't use any agave in the dressing...Nick and I are finding agave to be too sweet for us lately.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=honeydew.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/honeydew.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://www.rawfoodnation.org/2010/mexi-fiesta-soup/">Mexi-Fiesta Soup</a>. Sound familiar? That's because it was the first raw dinner we ever made! And it was so tasty that we decided to make it again. Only this time, we forgot the onions (which was fine because it was just as tasty without them) and used a bit more corn.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=mexifiestasoup2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/mexifiestasoup2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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I am finding myself getting a little impatient with weight loss. I know I am steadily losing weight at a healthy rate (about 1.5 to 2 pounds per week), but I want to hurry and get to my body's healthy weight so I can stop worrying about weight loss and start getting my body to its optimal state of health. But see there? I'm making excuses. Why do I have to wait to lose more weight before I begin building strength in my body? I don't. If I want to build strength, I need to start now. It's so easy to say, "I'll start doing ______ when _______ happens." That is not the way to reach your goals. That is the way to drift further and further from them.<br />
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Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm going to go clean up the house, take a shower, go get the rest of the week's groceries, and then go walk my dog and get some exercise. I think I'll do some yoga and attempt push-ups today. That sounds like a good goal! :)Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-56347898236544633632011-04-20T14:11:00.002-04:002011-04-20T14:19:09.323-04:00Day 16Yesterday was day 16 of our raw food challenge and day 2 of LFRV. I had a paper due for my breastfeeding class today, so I did not get a chance to blog yesterday. But there are definitely a few things I'd like to mention about living a low-fat raw vegan lifestyle.<br />
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Alright, remember how I said a few posts back that the main concept of LFRV was to get 80% of your calories from simple carbohydrates (fruits), 10% from fats (avocado, coconut, oils), and 10% from proteins (nuts and seeds)...? So, that's a TON of fruit. I've been using Fitday.com to track our caloric intake, temporarily, in order to make sure we are eating enough calories to prevent low energy and lethargy. And I've quickly realized that we need to eat a WHOLE BUNCH MORE fruit than we originally anticipated. We've bought the fruit...and we're eating it. But here's some things to note for those interested in going LFRV:<br />
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1) You will be ravenous shortly after eating your huge fruit meal (because fruit, when eaten by itself, will digest very quickly).<br />
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2) No problem, you'll just eat more fruit, right?<br />
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3) Well, yes you should, however, it's simply not that easy to eat all that fruit if you're not used to it!! Yesterday, I thought I'd die if I had to eat one more ounce of sweet fruit! I wanted salt, vinegar, and hot sauce to counteract my sugar-abused tastebuds.<br />
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4) Keep at it, though. Eat those giant fruit meals (<a href="http://veggiewave.com/8_food_combining_rules">following good food combining rules</a>) and eventually your tastebuds will start craving all that delicious fruit sugar, your stomach will expand to fit all that bulk fiber and water, and your energy levels will soar. This is the theory of the 80-10-10 diet.<br />
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So how is it working for us so far? Like I said, it is difficult for us, at this moment, to consume such large amounts of sweet fruits. However, we are only on day 3 of our LFRV lifestyle, so we anticipate that this will get easier. Our energy levels are very good, though...and really, really <b>stable</b>. I was worried about this. I thought if I ate too much fruit, my blood sugar would crash (like it used to do when I ate candy, cookies, chocolate, brownies, or cake), but this has not proven to be the case at all! Also, Nick and I are still steadily losing weight and our skin looks fantastic (especially Nick's...he's always had pretty nice skin, but now he has virtually no blemishes/blackheads/pimples/etc. at all!). I am loving this so far! :)<br />
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<b>Breakfast</b>: Green Goddess Smoothie. Only, this smoothie turned out BROWN instead of green because we used rainbow (mostly red) chard. Haha! We blended about 7 rainbow chard leaves, 2 <a href="http://www.30bananasaday.com/forum/topics/how-does-ripe-fruit-look-taste">ripe bananas</a>, 2 ripe pears, about one cup of blueberries, and some fresh mint leaves out of our garden. And we each drank a whole pint of it each! It was absolutely delicious, but I'm bummed because I didn't get a photo of the dark brownish purplish earthy color. Next time! :)<br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: Banana-Heavy Sweet Fruits. Mmm...the custard-like texture and flavor of banana mixed with the nectar-sweet flavor of the mango and the slight tartness of the fresh blueberries made this one amazing lunch! Nick and I had one and a half bananas each, split the honey mango, and split about a cup of blueberries. Halfway through, though, I had to force myself to keep eating. I was full and my tongue said, 'No more sweet stuff!', but I knew I needed to finish to get enough calories for the day. So I finished it all, and it truly was delicious, and I was proud of myself for finishing. This non-fruit-eater is learning to love her fruits, though it is taking time and patience.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=yumlunch.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_yumlunch.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: Mmm...SUSHI!! Lots of sushi!! So we've been experimenting with rice substitutes to put in our sushi. You may remember that when we first had sushi two weeks ago, we used parsnip rice (fresh parsnip processed in the food processor). It made a lovely sushi, but definitely had a parsnip taste. Then, last week, we made our sushi with Raw Pecan and Swiss Chard Pate. It was very yummy, but far too rich for a sushi, and the pate overpowered all the other tastes and textures. So last night, we tried raw daikon (an asian radish) processed in the food processor as a sort of rice. And it wasn't <i>bad</i>, but it wasn't good either. When processed up, the daikon smells a little funky...slightly like old cabbage...and the taste once again overpowered the rest of the flavors in the sushi. So, we rolled one more sushi roll each, and used plain ol' sweet clover (you can totally use alfalfa) sprouts as the 'rice bed'. And that, my friends, was absolutely perfect!! It made a very light, crisp, tasty sushi, and all the flavors (plus the tamari and wasabi, mmm...) blended very nicely together. We will keep experimenting, but so far, the sprouts take the cake! (The photo below is the sushi with the daikon 'rice'.)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=angrysushi.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_angrysushi.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Speaking of sprouts, here is an update on our sprout-growing experiment. So half the quinoa sprouted, and the other half didn't. The raw sesame seeds did not sprout. Both the quinoa and sesame attracted FRUIT FLIES. Majorly. We keep our windows open most days, and the little suckers would crawl right through the window screen and then into our sprout jars! I had to keep opening the lids to get them out, and then washing the sprouts. But finally, I gave up. I just couldn't handle the fruit flies anymore. And I just got really wigged out by the fact that there were probably fruit fly eggs in our quinoa and sesame seeds. So both went into the compost heap. :(<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=deadsprouts.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/deadsprouts.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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However, the green lentil sprouts grew like CRAZY and did not attract even a single fruit fly! So I harvested them yesterday and have two more batches starting now, and one batch of red lentils (they are split like split-peas, so they may not sprout, but what the heck, I'm trying it anyway).<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=yaylentilsprouts.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/yaylentilsprouts.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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I'll be back later tonight with today's meals! Gonna try to make it to the farmer's market between classes to get some fresh, local, yummy produce. Hope everyone has a great day!Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-22961439111024061282011-04-19T00:59:00.003-04:002011-04-20T21:30:53.852-04:00Day 15Today was our first day experimenting with Low-Fat Raw Vegan (or 80-10-10). <br />
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<b>Successes</b>: Ate lots of sweet, juicy fruits. Felt great for most of the day. Took Panda for a nice, brisk walk.<br />
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<b>Challenges</b>: Did not eat enough of sweet, juicy fruits. Lost energy in the early evening and am really, really tired now.<br />
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The concept we're trying to follow is two big fruit meals, snack on fruit between meals, drink lots of water, and eat a big, green dinner that may or may not contain nuts, seeds, or fatty fruits (avocado, coconut). <br />
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We realized today that a couple bananas, an avocado, some berries, a pear, and an orange simply ain't gonna cut it. Both Nick and I were very hungry throughout the day, but either ran out of time to eat (before going to work) or ran out of <i>ripe</i> fruits!!<br />
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<b>So, to solve these dilemmas</b>:<br />
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1) We're going to keep three bunches of bananas in the house at all times, at different levels of ripeness. One bunch will have some brown spots and be totally ripe and ready to eat now. The second bunch will be completely yellow, ready to have some brown spots in a day or two. And the third bunch will be greenish-yellow. That way, we will never run out of bananas.<br />
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2) We're going to keep some dried Medjool dates in the cars, so we have something quick to snack on in case of lack-of-fruit emergencies. (I consider dates to be either once-in-a-while dessert food or emergency fare.)<br />
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3) We're going to buy twice or three times as much fruit as we bought this week. I solved this one today by going to a couple different grocery stores and buying another bunch of (ripe) bananas, another bunch of grapes, 6 navel oranges, and 2 ripe avocados. That, plus the other fruit we bought yesterday, should hold us off til Wednesday.<br />
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4) We're going to eat more fruit.<br />
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<b>Breakfast</b>: Nick's breakfast was one large mango, a banana, and a cup and a half of organic frozen mixed berries. My breakfast was a cucumber, a large ripe tomato, a cup of grapes, and the juice of one Valencia orange. (For the LFRV or 811 diet, neither of our breakfasts contained a sufficient amount of food. We'd need to double that.)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=mangobananaberry.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/mangobananaberry.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=tomatocucsalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/tomatocucsalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: Nick's lunch was a cucumber, tomato, onion salad with a tiny bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and also a pear, an orange, and about one and a half cups of grapes. My lunch was a banana, 2 cups of coconut water/juice, 2 Medjool dates, a Navel orange, and about half a cup of fresh blueberries. (No photos of lunch, oops.)<br />
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Nick bonsai'd another tree today! This one is a little azalea bush. I like the shape of it. :)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=bonsai2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/bonsai2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<b>Snack</b>: Nick brought about 3/4 cup of trailmix to work and ate it this evening. I snacked on another banana and a small handful of trailmix.<br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/raw-food-diet-recipe.html">Guacamole Salad</a>. We were both absolutely ravenous by dinner time. I made the guacamole and then put it on top of romaine, baby spinach, and sunflower greens with a little bit of coconut vinegar. We had HUGE plates of it, and it was just delicious. Then Nick had an orange and a banana for dessert. I am too full from dinner to eat dessert.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=guacamolesalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_guacamolesalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Tomorrow, we're going to eat a lot more fruit! Good night! :)Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-73573307762129171482011-04-17T23:38:00.001-04:002011-04-17T23:40:06.855-04:00Day 14 -- Two Whole Weeks Raw!<b>Breakfast</b>: Blueberry Maca Flax Smoothie. This morning's breakfast was a blended up delicious drink of 2 <a href="http://www.30bananasaday.com/forum/topics/how-does-ripe-fruit-look-taste">ripe bananas</a>, 1 cup of frozen blueberries, 2 tablespoons of freshly ground flax seeds, 1 tablespoon of <a href="http://www.skyfieldtropical.com/Details.cfm?ProdID=38&category=">Skyfield Tropical's Gelatinized Maca Powder</a>, 1 tablespoon of coconut manna/butter, a few handfuls of fresh baby spinach, a spoonful of honey, and a little bit of filtered water for blending. Talk about a power smoothie!! Maca does it for me every time, and I had lots of energy for hours! Next time, I think I will actually use 2 spoonfuls of honey, as maca has a strong (not unpleasant, but strong) flavor that goes really well with honey. This was a great breakfast!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=blueberryflaxmacasmoothie.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/blueberryflaxmacasmoothie.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: We forgot to eat lunch! We had a very busy afternoon looking at nurseries for little trees for Nick to bonsai, and then went to three different local grocery stores to get our first half of the week's shopping done. We discovered that the Asian grocery store has a million times better prices for fresh produce than our normal grocery store (which we love and would not stop going to for the rest of our groceries and some produce). We also discovered that we are simply not classy enough to shop at Fresh Market. Nick does not own a dress suit and I refuse to wear heels. Anyway, between the Asian grocery store and our little Ward's Supermarket, we got some delicious foods!!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=groceries.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_groceries.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=groceries2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/groceries2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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I love opening the fridge and seeing such beautiful, colorful foods!! ♥<br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://rawon10.blogspot.com/2010/02/february-21-2010.html">Marinated Mushroom Salad</a>. Another success from "Raw on $10 a Day or Less." We added some organic frozen sweet corn to the marinating veggies and reduced the Agave syrup from two tablespoons to one. It was a really filling, yummy salad that we will definitely make again.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=marinatedmushroomsalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_marinatedmushroomsalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Tomorrow starts our slightly modified version of Low-Fat Raw Vegan or 80-10-10, which is basically, lots and lots of sweet, yummy fruits!! Exciting! And now off to bed...can't believe I'm actually going to be in bed before midnight, for once. :PMissy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-7275155532574811812011-04-17T14:47:00.001-04:002011-04-17T20:30:38.836-04:00Week 3 Meal Plan and ThoughtsI will tell you what...meal planning is <b>time-consuming</b>. I have been working on our Week 3 Meal Plan for a few hours now. Yes, hours!! But...in the long run, I end up spending <i>less</i> time planning our meals now that I get it all done in one day. Nick and I used to just stare inside the fridge and kitchen cupboards, trying to figure out what to eat for dinner. We'd do that before just about every single meal! And then, sometimes we'd just say, "Eff it, let's go out for dinner." That simply doesn't happen anymore now that we have a basic outline of our meals, and because I make our grocery shopping lists at the same time as the meal plans, we never have to worry that we won't have a particular ingredient. So honestly? I love meal planning. (Yes, I am aware of how nerdy that sounds.)<br />
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Oh! Before I share our meal plan, I want to mention something awesome! Today is Sunday, and Sunday is the day we go to our local Publix grocery store and weigh ourselves. Remember, last week Nick released 5 pounds and I released 3. Well, this week Nick released 4 pounds and I released 2!! That is 9 pounds total for Nick and 5 for me! In just two weeks!!! This is seriously unbelievable. We are not dieting at all! We eat three large meals per day, we snack between our meals, and we walk our dog 4-5 times per week. That is it. All we've done differently is changed out all our cooked foods for fresh, raw foods. And you all have seen how yummy these foods have been! We are both loving this way of living and eating, and can't wait to see what gifts the next couple weeks will bring.<br />
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Alright, here is Week 3's meal plan!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=Week3MealPlan.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_Week3MealPlan.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Do you see anything different with this meal plan versus the other two? That's right, there's WAY more fruit! And the reason is this: I have been researching what some people call the Low-Fat Raw Vegan Diet and others call the 80-10-10 Diet (they are a little different, but essentially the same core foundations). I am really not fond of labels, so I just call it Lotsa Fruits! Anyway, the concept is that primates, including humans, thrive best when they eat about 80% carbohydrates (from fruits), 10% fats (avocado, plant-based oils, coconut), and 10% proteins (nuts, seeds). <br />
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The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/80-10-Diet/dp/1893831248">80-10-10 Diet is actually a book written by Douglas Graham</a>, and is a much more strict version of what Nick and I will be trying to do next week. It encourages one to eat lots and lots of one type of fruit per meal (called "mono-meals" or "mono-eating") along with <a href="http://files.meetup.com/410532/Food%20Combining%20Chart.pdf">proper food combining</a>. I have never heard of food combining until a couple days ago, and it really makes sense to me. Evidently, some foods digest much faster than other foods, and if you eat both foods at the same time, the faster-digesting foods will start to ferment in your stomach while the slower-digesting foods do their digesting thing. This leads to gas and bloating, stomach cramps, indigestion, and other stomach upsets.<br />
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Interesting stuff, eh?<br />
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So anyway, next week, Nick and I will be focusing much more on fruits and greens, and much less on nuts, seeds, and oils. Taking it one week at a time, ya know? We will see how we feel next week before deciding what to do during Week 4! :)<br />
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<b>Sunday's Grocery Shopping List</b><br />
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Olive oil<br />
balsamic vinegar<br />
3 Avocados<br />
1 onion<br />
4 tomatoes<br />
2 bunches cilantro<br />
1 lemon<br />
1 lime<br />
1 head garlic<br />
nori sheets<br />
1 largish daikon root<br />
3 sweet largish red peppers<br />
Portobello mushroom cap<br />
pecans<br />
walnuts<br />
macadamia nuts<br />
bee pollen?<br />
BANANAS!!!! At least 2 bunches!<br />
cashews<br />
2 small papayas<br />
baby spinach<br />
swiss chard<br />
purple grapes<br />
kiwi for snacking<br />
plums for snacking<br />
2 ripe pears<br />
celery<br />
2 avocados<br />
2 mangos<br />
fresh strawberries<br />
1 small jicama<br />
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<b>Wednesday's Grocery Shopping List</b><br />
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1 big yummy melon<br />
sunflower sprouts<br />
1 red bell pepper if necessary<br />
baby spinach if necessary<br />
6 little cucumbers<br />
scallions<br />
2 ripe avocados<br />
collard greens<br />
shiitaki mushrooms<br />
snow peas<br />
napa or purple cabbage<br />
1 small fresh ginger root<br />
Nama Shoyu<br />
raw sesame oil<br />
celery if necessary<br />
2 large tomatoes<br />
2 onions<br />
2 mangos<br />
3 kiwis<br />
4 oranges<br />
1 bunch kale<br />
1 lemon if necessary<br />
1 cup macadamia nuts<br />
2 cups cashews if necessary<br />
1 young green coconut<br />
1 jar coconut butter (manna)<br />
fresh strawberries & blueberries<br />
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My goodness, I love raw food! I'll tell ya...there's nothing like opening your fridge and seeing such amazing colors and all that fresh, beautiful food. At this point, I can't imagine any other way of eating. ♥Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-87896414084451510212011-04-17T01:29:00.002-04:002011-04-17T01:45:34.809-04:00Day 13!!You may be wondering why I post the day's entry at around one in the morning (which is technically the day <i>after</i>). Well, the reason is that Nick works a late shift and usually doesn't get home until around 11:30pm or midnight. Then we have dinner, then we clean up the kitchen, and only <i>then</i> do I have time to blog. I would post the next morning instead of so late at night, but I'm too afraid that I'll forget what I want to say. So until Nick no longer works late, this is how it works for us. :)<br />
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Nick's mom Lynn and her friend Whitney came over for brunch today! It was very nice to see them, and we had a lovely late morning/early afternoon meal of <a href="http://foodsforlonglife.blogspot.com/2009/06/raw-zucchini-spaghetti-and-walnut.html">Raw Zucchini Spaghetti and Walnut Meatballs</a>. You may remember that we also had this meal <a href="http://eatinglikeorangutans.blogspot.com/2011/04/day-4.html">last week</a> and it was such a success that we decided to make it again. And lo and behold, it was a success once again! Both Lynn and Whitney raved about how yummy and <i>filling</i> it was, and asked lots of questions about raw foods. Unfortunately, in the hustle and bustle of food preparation and hostessing, I forgot to take photos of the lovely meal! So you'll just have to trust me when I say it was pleasing to both the eye and the palate. ;)<br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: Fruit and Cream. Mmmm...something about this meal seriously reminded me of some sinful comfort food. It was soft, sweet, luscious. Ripe banana, ripe honey mango, ripe blueberries from the farmer's market, and topped with fresh cashew milk that we made yesterday. I find it so strange that this girl who used to commonly say, "I just don't like fruit. I prefer veggies." is now CHOWING DOWN on delicious ripe fruits and wanting more and more. I could seriously eat this stuff all day.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=fruitcream.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_fruitcream.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Snack</b>: Trail Mix Part 2. I make this trail mix mainly for Nick, who takes a little baggie of it to work every night. This batch has almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, golden raisins, goji berries, chopped dates, chia seeds, and sea salt. This batch was really cool because the chia seeds all stuck to the sticky raisins, making it easier to eat them! <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=trailmix2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/trailmix2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://rawon10.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-25-2009.html">Waldorf Salad</a>. This was a delicious and unique salad! I've never had Waldorf Salad before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but this was really tasty. We used a lot of grapes and left the agave nectar out of the dressing. Also, I ran out of walnuts, so those weren't included, and also ran out of celery but used a small, crisp cucumber instead. We would definitely make this salad again! <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=waldorfsalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_waldorfsalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Nick and I are going to be doing a little side experiment of raw living next week, so stay tuned for the menu and grocery list. I am exhausted tonight and didn't have time to do it, so it will be the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning. Then we're going for a bike ride! And then we'll be doing homework for the rest of the day. Oh joy. :P<br />
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<b>P.S.</b> I forgot to mention! My quinoa and green lentils have SPROUTED!!! Still waiting on the sesame seeds. I will take a picture tomorrow when the sprouts are a little bigger and easier to see. Good night!Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-83684855539834709682011-04-16T01:28:00.001-04:002011-04-16T01:32:27.462-04:00Day 12 and Two Beginners Growing SproutsI am so excited to try my hand at growing sprouts!! In yesterday's blog post, you can see that I soaked three different seeds: quinoa, sesame, and green lentils. Today, Nick made a beautiful wooden sprout rack to hold our sprouting jars! And so the sprouting adventure officially begins!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sproutrack1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/sproutrack1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sproutrack2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/sproutrack2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sproutrack3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_sproutrack3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sproutrack.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_sproutrack.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Ta da!! Isn't it just lovely? Now my little sprout jars can hang out upside down to drain out all the moisture and gets lots of air circulation! (For a great video showing how you can grow your own sprouts, see "Sprout Growing How-To Video" over to the right of this page, underneath the title "RAW Links".)<br />
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<b>Breakfast</b>: <a href="http://www.rawfoodnation.org/2009/strawberry-banana-ice-cream/">StRAWberry Banana Ice Cream</a>. After last week's <a href="http://eatinglikeorangutans.blogspot.com/2011/04/day-6.html">Banana Soft Serve Deliciousness</a>, we were very excited to try another raw version of ice cream. We followed the recipe exactly, even down to making the very creamy, very yummy cashew milk.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=cashewmilk.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/cashewmilk.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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However, using the blender DID NOT MAKE ICE CREAM. It made a smoothie. A delicious, sweet, creamy smoothie, but a smoothie nonetheless. So next time, we will use the food processor (like we did last week) and hopefully get a fluffy, creamy, actual ice cream consistency.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=noticecream.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_noticecream.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: Cucumber Boats with <a href="http://cookingforaveganlover.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/recipe-raw-pecan-chard-pate/">Leftover Raw Pecan Chard Pate</a>. That pate we had for dinner yesterday was so good, that we ate the leftovers on cucumber boats for lunch today. It was a savory and satisfying lunch, and I'm sad that there's no more pate left! We will definitely make it another time, though. It was just so tasty...and so green! Yay chard! <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=cucumbernutpate.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_cucumbernutpate.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: Spinach, Banana, & Cashew Milk Smoothie. So simple and so good. We had this yummy green smoothie last week and wanted it again for dinner tonight. To make it, just blend frozen <a href="http://www.30bananasaday.com/forum/topics/how-does-ripe-fruit-look-taste">ripe</a> bananas with a few handfuls of baby spinach, some nut milk (almond, cashew, whatever...you could even simply use a little water), and some cinnamon to taste. Definitely one of my favorite smoothies!<br />
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(This photo makes the smoothie look yellow, but it was a beautiful green color in real life.)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=spinachsmoothie.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/spinachsmoothie.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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Nick's mom is coming over with a friend for lunch tomorrow, and we will be making Raw Zucchini Spaghetti with Walnut Meatballs! That meal was just so amazing when we made it last week, so we're both excited to share it with others. See you tomorrow! :)Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-37171952290686841352011-04-15T02:57:00.001-04:002011-04-15T02:59:04.864-04:00Day 11Once again, I have lots that I originally wanted to blog about regarding raw foods, but it's almost 3am and I have got to get some sleep tonight.<br />
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So! I will make a point to blog about that stuff tomorrow. :)<br />
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<b>Breakfast</b>: I had a prenatal appointment to go to with my preceptor midwife this morning, and as usual, I was running late. So breakfast consisted of about 6 or 7 almonds and a banana. But you wanna hear the weird thing? I ate the almonds first, and then started eating the banana (on the way to the appointment), and when I was almost done with the banana, I realized that I was full. <i>Full??</i> After some nuts and a piece of fruit?! Strange things are happening to my body, and I think I like it. Overeating was a big problem for me in the past, and I'm starting to think that I might just be able to overcome it after all.<br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: Jicama Chili Salad with Cheezy Celery. I don't have a recipe for this salad because I just kinda threw it together. But it was TASTY and different. Sweet and spicy. The salad was made up of baby greens, sunflower sprouts, chopped jicama, one chopped orange, a handful of fresh blueberries from the farmer's market, some chopped sweet bell pepper, and an avocado. Dressing was extra virgin olive oil, coconut vinegar, chili powder, and salt & pepper. Very yummy! I also spread that leftover Brazil Nut Cheez from yesterday onto celery sticks as a tasty compliment to the salad. Lunch was SUPER filling, and kept me satisfied til dinner.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=jicamachilisalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_jicamachilisalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://cookingforaveganlover.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/recipe-raw-pecan-chard-pate/">Raw Pecan Chard Pate Nori Rolls</a>. I modified the pate recipe a little bit by reducing the pecans to one and a half cups and substituting a zucchini for the other half cup. And I used a TON of chard leaves...like 7 big giant ones. So my pate came out GREEN, whereas the photo in the recipe shows a white pate. Anyway, it was DELICIOUS in the little nori rolls, and extremely filling. We have a lot of the pate leftover, which will be served with cucumber slices for breakfast tomorrow. :)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=chardpecansushi.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_chardpecansushi.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=nickchardsushi.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_nickchardsushi.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>SPROUT TIME</b>!!! Yay! I am so excited to finally be getting my sprouts, well, sprouting! I looked EVERYWHERE for stainless steel wire mesh to make my own sprout jar lids but could only find aluminum. So finally, I bought just the lids (already had tons of canning jars) from <a href="http://sproutpeople.org/">SproutPeople.org</a>, a fantastic resource for those interested in growing their own sprouts. The lids arrived today, and so as you can see below, I wasted no time getting my sprout seeds soaking! From left to right is sesame seeds, quinoa, and green lentils. I AM SO EXCITED FOR MY SPROUTS TO GROW!! ♥<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sproutsoak.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_sproutsoak.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-77425870792229551032011-04-13T22:22:00.001-04:002011-04-13T22:25:13.713-04:00Day 10 and The Great Durian AdventureDudes...today, Nick and I ate durian fruit for the first time.<br />
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But first...<b>Breakfast</b>: Mango Banana Dream. We made a similar dish after our raw samosa mishap, only that time, we topped the bananas with a mango puree. This time, I wanted to eat mango chunks, so we chopped all the fruit, put it in a bowl, and topped it with raw cashews and shredded coconut. Divine!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=mangobanana.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_mangobanana.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Now, back to the durian. What is durian?--you ask. You may remember this fruit as being the only food Andrew Zimmerman (from the show "Bizarre Foods") would not take a second bite of, after he gagged and spit out the first bite. He bit off more than he could chew! (Har har.)<br />
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You may also have heard stories of durian...that mystical tropical fruit that is banned from some airports and not allowed to be eaten in some outdoor (yes, outdoor) cafes (This is a Durian-Free Zone!).<br />
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So, I'm here to tell you that a lot of what you hear is major hype. Nick and I went to our local Asian market this morning, picked a nice, ripe-looking durian, paid 8 bucks and change for it, and brought it home. And at lunch time...we cut it open and tried it for ourselves.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=nickdurian.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_nickdurian.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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The smell of the fruit before it was opened was very much like an over-ripe cantaloupe that has been sitting in the sun for a long time. It didn't smell like sewer, rotten onions, or horribly smelly feet--all descriptions that I've heard used before.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=cutopendurian.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_cutopendurian.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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The inside of the durian had a more pungent odor. But again, it was more like over-ripe cantaloupe than anything else. It wasn't repulsive, it was just different and strong.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=durianflesh.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_durianflesh.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Above is the durian flesh after it has been removed from the spiky shell. In your hand, it feels like egg custard that has a thicker sort of skin surrounding it. If you peel the skin/membrane off, the inside is like very soft custard/pudding.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=hmm.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_hmm.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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The photo above is Nick's first taste of durian. He kind of only licked it here.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=durianlovelol.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/durianlovelol.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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As you can see, his first actual <b>bite</b> was a bit more intense than the first lick/taste.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=missydurian.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/missydurian.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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Haha!! So here's me taking my first bite! And here's what I can share about the experience. When I first bit into the flesh, my senses were overloaded with the very pungent, almost egg-like odor of the durian flesh along with a SUPER sweet taste. If I had been silly (like Andrew Zimmerman) and taken a huge bite all at once, it may have been too much for me and could have caused me to immediately spit it out. But because I took such a little bite, I was able to really <i>taste</i> it without judging it based on the combination of smell and flavor. And the flavor truly is hard to describe. Once you get past the smell, the taste is kind of like really sweet mangoes and bananas combined. But, the skin of the flesh...the membranous part...really does have an egg-like odor, kind of sulphur-y. So...I kind of cheated. I peeled the membrane/skin off the durian flesh, and then simply scooped out the pudding-like inside. That way, I got the sweet taste without the egg smell. :)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=pandadurian.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_pandadurian.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Panda Bear, however, LOVED the skin of the durian flesh, and because I had so much of it after peeling it off my pieces, I fed a LOT of it to Panda. He kept coming back and begging for more!<br />
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Oh, and it has seeds, see?<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=durianseed.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_durianseed.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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So...would I eat durian again? I have a friend who once told me that it took him a few times of experimenting with durian before he started to like it, and now he can't get enough of the stuff. (Thanks, Tim, for the great suggestion!) So I've decided to buy it again in a month or so, taste it again, and go from there. I did not hate durian, but it was an intense, unique experience that may take some getting used to. So we'll see what happens in the future! <br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: Raw Leftovers. I had some fresh english peas marinated in apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, and salt & pepper, along with leftover Beet Love Salad, and some portobello mushrooms marinated in Braggs, sesame oil, and a little bit of vinegar. Great lunch that balanced my taste and smell sensations after eating that durian. ;)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=leftoverlunch.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_leftoverlunch.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://rawon10.blogspot.com/search/label/brazil%20nut%20cheez">Salad with Brazil Nut Cheez</a>. Remember last night when I blogged about making brazil nut cheez? Well, it was finished today, and we topped our salad with it. It turned out delicious and creamy with the texture of goat cheese. We will definitely make it again! I'm looking forward to spreading it on celery sticks as a snack tomorrow.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=brazilcheezsalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_brazilcheezsalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a> <br />
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I'd say today was an AWESOME day filled with yummy, interesting raw foods! Looking forward to another great day tomorrow. :)Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-952785787427956142011-04-13T00:40:00.002-04:002011-04-13T00:42:21.501-04:00Day 9 and Feeling Better Every Day!I want to start off by mentioning how much <b>fun</b> Nick and I are having with this raw food lifestyle. I have to admit that I was skeptical before we started because I thought it would be a monotonous and boring diet consisting of apples, oranges, bananas, and salads. I'm surprised those thoughts even went through my mind because I <i>know</i> there is a HUGE variety of fresh food out there, but still, stereotypes of raw food diets were somehow ingrained in my brain. As it turns out, there has been nothing monotonous or boring about this way of living and eating <b>at all</b>. Every day, I look forward to creating new meals and tasting new flavors. I am so excited to go into the kitchen and see what's for breakfast or lunch. I love opening the fridge and looking at all those fresh fruits and veggies. And the best part? <i><b>I love not having to scrub dirty pots and pans!!</b></i><br />
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<b>Breakfast</b>: Super Green Chard Smoothie. I've wanted to see how chard blends up in a smoothie ever since I was interested in going raw. Chard is such a mild tasting green, slightly bland and a little salty, and it seemed like the perfect smoothie green. And so it was! I blended two bananas, two ripe pears, a handful of mint leaves fresh from our garden, about 7 or 8 large chard leaves, and half a cup of frozen strawberries. It blended smoothly into a lovely green color, and the taste was really, really fresh, crisp, and sweet (but not too sweet). The mint was a wonderful addition and added great flavor! This smoothie recipe is going to become a new staple. I think I'll add some hemp seeds next time, too. Yum. :)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=chardpearsmoothie.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_chardpearsmoothie.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: <a href="http://www.rawfoodnation.org/2010/summer-salad-beets/">Raw Beet Love Salad</a>. This was a really great lunch! Nick and I each had huge bowls of it. I grated the beets and jicama in my food processor, and it splattered all over the walls. Seriously, it looked like a crime scene in my kitchen! But I cleaned the splatters right away so the beet juice didn't stain. Anyway, the only modification I made to the recipe was adding fresh spinach, sprouts, and some finely sliced green onions (scallions). It made a LOT of salad, and we had a ton leftover (which we stored in the fridge and ate later in the evening). Will definitely make this again!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=beetlovesalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_beetlovesalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://rawon10.blogspot.com/search/label/spinach%20tomato%20soup">Spinach Tomato Soup</a>. Tonight's dinner had a lot of potential, but turned out to be a bit of a disappointment because it was far too onion-y. I may try the recipe again, but next time I will blend two garlic cloves, the onion powder, and no fresh onion in with the tomatoes, spinach, and avocado. Then I will top the soup with a little bit of fresh diced onion, as per the recipe. The blended onion was just too much. My eyes have been watering all night even though all the dinner dishes are washed. We didn't finish the soup, unfortunately, but we did snack on leftover salad from lunch. At least it was a pretty soup! :)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=spinachtomatosoup.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_spinachtomatosoup.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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After dinner, Nick and I made cheez! Our lunch tomorrow is Brazil Nut Cheez with Grapes, and tonight we blended the ingredients for the cheez, covered it with cheesecloth, and put it in the fridge to thicken. Tomorrow morning, we will take it out, form it into circles, wrap it in cheesecloth, and press it. By lunch time, we will have delicious cheese! I tasted it out of the blender, and the flavor was indescribable. It was like the most amazing ricotta ever. I can't wait to eat it tomorrow!<br />
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We're also still eating those delicious Coconut Mint Brownies that I made yesterday. Those things are SO GOOD. :)Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-87732157334556697782011-04-12T02:24:00.002-04:002011-04-12T02:41:19.841-04:00Day 8I am exhausted because it is after 2 in the morning! I hate staying up this late, but Nick's work schedule lands him home at around 11:30pm, then we eat dinner, then we clean up, then we spend some time with each other, and before you know it, it's 2am. I keep telling myself that it won't be forever, though, and that helps.<br />
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<b>Breakfast</b>: <a href="http://rawon10.blogspot.com/2010/02/february-21-2010.html">Blueberry Fool</a>. This was our first ever raw food meal, and we loved it so much that we had it again today. Delicious, filling, satisfying. I love nut yogurts. :)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=blueberryfool2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_blueberryfool2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Afternoon Activity</b>: Bonsai Creation and Sunbathing. Just before Yule/Christmas, Nick and I bought a baby Southern Red Cedar (a Juniper, in actuality) from a live Christmas tree farm. <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=bonsaibefore.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_bonsaibefore.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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It's been growing happily in its pot since then, and today, Nick turned it into a bonsai!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=bonsainick.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_bonsainick.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Isn't it beautiful? My sweet man has talent! ♥<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=bonsai.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/bonsai.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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<b>Lunch</b>: <a href="http://www.rawfoodnation.org/2010/summer-salad-series-citrus-splash/">Summer Citrus Salad</a>. I modified this recipe a bit because I am not a fan of arugula, so I used spinach instead. Also, we had half an avocado leftover from our sushi dinner last night, so that went into the salad. Didn't feel like slivering almonds, so I used sunflower seeds. Don't like red pepper flakes/seeds, so sprinkled with cayenne in its place. And the salad turned out great! However, we were in a hurry to eat because it was almost time for Nick to go to work, so I ate half my salad before I remembered to take a photo! So here it is, half eaten! Haha!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=summersalad.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_summersalad.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://rawon10.blogspot.com/2009/12/december-13-2009.html">Marinated Broccoli and Mushrooms</a>. This turned out really tasty. I put it together after breakfast this morning and let it marinate in the fridge all day, tossing it occasionally. I used pine nuts instead of sesame seeds and we both really liked the results. The meal was filling and flavorful. We would make it again, but next time, I will use less agave, as it was a bit too sweet for my tastes. Overall though, it was a good, satisfying meal!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=mushroombroccoli.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_mushroombroccoli.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Dessert</b>: Coconut Mint Brownies. This recipe is from the Raw Foods Witch's dessert ebook that you can download for free from her website. The brownie base is made by blending up walnuts, dates, cacao powder, and vanilla extract. The coconut cream topping is made up of unsweetened shredded coconut, peppermint extract, honey or agave, and a bit of coconut oil. I used my food processor and had to scrape down the sides a few times, but the results were a smooth-textured, delicious brownie that we will most definitely make again! Very yummy and just enough sweetness.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=coconutmintbrownies.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_coconutmintbrownies.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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I wanted to talk more about a raw food lifestyle tonight, but I've run out of time and am just too exhausted. Stay tuned, though, as I've got some interesting stuff to share tomorrow! Good night! :)Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751373710363836027.post-69914900150632751652011-04-10T23:04:00.000-04:002011-04-10T23:04:22.354-04:00Day 7 -- One Whole Week Raw!!Today was our 7th day eating raw vegan! What an adventure it has been so far! I am still really enjoying it, and definitely loving experimenting with all these different recipes. Also, for those interested, Nick and I weighed ourselves at our local Publix scale last Sunday...just out of curiosity (we always weigh ourselves there). Now, I want to be clear that I did not choose to go raw to lose any weight. However, both of us weighed ourselves today, after one full week of eating raw vegan, and were surprised at the results! Nick has lost five pounds, and I lost three! It's very strange...we are not trying to lose weight. We are eating a TON of food!! We haven't changed our exercise routine (we walk our dog for about 30-45 minutes around 4-5 times per week), either. I'm quite sure this is initial water weight loss, but am interested in stepping on the scale next Sunday, too.<br />
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<b>Breakfast</b>: <a href="http://www.elanaspantry.com/raw-tapioca-pudding/">Raw "Tapioca" Pudding</a>. I actually made this recipe with almond milk instead of cashew milk and refrigerated it overnight. When I woke up this morning, the chia seeds had expanded and formed a gelatinous overcoat...very similar to tapioca pearls! I loved this pudding, and would make it again, but Nick did not like it at all. I had forgotten that he doesn't like real tapioca either, and the texture was simply too much like "frog eggs" (his term, not mine). He ate about half the jar and then gave up and ate orange slices. I will say this, though. The chia tapioca pudding held me off until DINNER. We didn't have lunch today, and I had no cravings or hunger pains all day. Crazy.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=chiapiocapudding.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_chiapiocapudding.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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<b>Dinner</b>: <a href="http://www.eatrawvegan.com/836/how-to-make-raw-vegan-sushi-nori-rolls/">RAW VEGAN SUSHI</a>!! (There is a great video included in that link, too.) <br />
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So...I've never made sushi before. Neither has Nick. This morning, I googled a few videos and found out that it didn't look all that difficult. We already had the food ingredients, including the nori, but bought the bamboo sushi rolling mat this morning while we were out and about. I was nervous because I didn't want to mess mine up, so I went really slow...and it turned out great!! Nick did his first, and his was great, too! <br />
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First, we made our parsnip "rice" and sliced up the veggies to go inside the sushi. We marinated the portobello mushroom slices in sesame oil, tamari, ginger powder, and garlic powder for about one hour. <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sushi1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_sushi1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Then, we spread the parsnip "rice" on the nori sheet, and layered the veggies.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sushi2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_sushi2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Like this, see?<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sushi3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/th_sushi3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a><br />
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Then we rolled it up really slowly and carefully. You need to watch the video in the recipe link above to get a good idea of how to do it. It really wasn't difficult at all, and when we were done rolling, we had RAW VEGAN SUSHI NOM NOM NOM!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sushimissy.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/sushimissy.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />
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We are definitely going to make this again, however, we are going to experiment with different sushi "rices". We're thinking of trying jicama and pine nut "rice" to see how it tastes. The parsnip rice was fine, but it definitely tasted like parsnips, and we're looking for something a bit more mild. It was delicious nonetheless, and with some Braggs Liquid Aminos and wasabi paste, I felt like I had gone to a 5-star sushi restaurant! :)<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/?action=view&current=sushinick.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jelti/sushinick.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>Missy, Nick, and Arianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06784381447671046635noreply@blogger.com0