So I just thought I'd share this from Kristen's Blog. I follow her blog and she quite often lists what she's eaten or plans to eat for the day. I'm not as sophisticated as she is yet, but I'm working on being more creative. So check out her blog for daily eating plans.
Also, we made banana ice cream with chocolate sauce tonight. Bob, Hudson, and I enjoyed it. The rest of the family wasn't brave enough to try it.
We smooshed up about 4 frozen bananas broken into chunks in the food processor. I had to add just a swish of water to get it to smoosh up properly. But it ended up being a nice creamy soft serve consistency.
Then I made a raw chocolate sauce by whirling in the blender.
1/2 c soaked pitted dates
1 - 1 1/2 c water
1 - 3 TBS raw Cacao powder
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
and a pinch of salt.
I got this recipe from RawDawg Rory. Check out his raw recipe videos!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Really Quick
First, I'm so sorry to all the people that have stopped me and asked me about my weight-loss and what I've been doing. Why? Because it usually turns into at least a 45 minute discussion and my mouth going a mile a minute and trying to expunge all the information I've crammed into my brain in the last 3 months. So I apologize if it's more than you want to know. I'm trying to learn to send people to the blog so that they can accept or reject and not worry about having to get a word in edgewise to tell me that they're not interested.
Before I get interrupted again. . . don't ask what I got interrupted for. . . I'm going to try and answer a couple of questions I've gotten lately.
#1 - Why Green Smoothies? Can't you just eat it in a salad.
Answer - Generally you will consume way more greens in a smoothie than in a salad. I figure that I'm putting in enough greens for 4 good sized salads. Then what do you put on top of that salad so that you can eat it? DRESSING - full of fat and oils.
Also, we don't chew our food as well as we should to aid in our digestive process. How many times have you tried to chew your food 32 times?? We won't go into my hubby's description of his attempt to do this. We really should spend more time at the table and not in dinner conversation, but chewing our food. I'll leave this discussion by saying, when it goes down our throat it should be the consistency of applesauce. So, after all of that, when you drink a green smoothie the Blender has done the hard part of digestion for you!! So it's easier for your stomach to break it down into the easiest digestible particles and the nutrition can get out into your bloodstream faster than if you were to eat 4 salads.
#2 - What do you eat through out the day?
Answer - Well, I'm still new to all this Raw food thing and YES it is a MAJOR Paradigm shift!! Let's just say that for anyone who was raised making bread, cookies, pies, cakes, casseroles, etc. . . . It is a BIG deal trying to wrap your mind about NOT cooking anything!
First I just drank lots of green smoothie, sometimes 2 quarts a day. Then BIG salads. With homemade dressings, or just olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of herbs. Celery, carrots, homemade guacamole on cucumber chips, or hummus.
Now I have a breakfast of Smush with my 4 year old in the morning. . . He's learning to like it and Hubby thinks it tastes great. I just have to tell you . . Yesterday we were eating our Smush and 4YO said he didn't want to call it smush anymore. So he named it Malea! and tomorrow he said we'll call it Peter.
We soak 1 TBS golden flax seeds in water (overnight or at least 1 hour)then rinse it. This is kinda difficult cuz it gets really slippery/slimy. But try
We dump this in the blender with:
1 apple cut into chunks
1 banana broken in chunks
1 tsp cinnamon.
Whirl it all together and pour into a bowl. Top with small apple chunks, chopped bananas or raisins.
This makes enough for a small bowl for Hudson and a portion for me, but Hubby could eat the whole thing himself.
Lunch is either a salad or just a piece of fruit or handful of nuts. Green smoothie if I haven't drank my full quart for the day.
Dinner more salad or a raw entree. We've tried raw spaghetti and marinara and a few other things, but mostly I make some sort of whole food recipe for the kids from Green Smoothie Girl, or the The Original Fast Food Book. But my poor kids are going dairy-free and meat-free for the most part. Oh, Hubby now loves Lentil Tacos. He wasn't too happy for them when he was still eating meat, but now he's LOVING them!
OK, so that didn't end up being too quick, but hope that helps.
Lauri!
Before I get interrupted again. . . don't ask what I got interrupted for. . . I'm going to try and answer a couple of questions I've gotten lately.
#1 - Why Green Smoothies? Can't you just eat it in a salad.
Answer - Generally you will consume way more greens in a smoothie than in a salad. I figure that I'm putting in enough greens for 4 good sized salads. Then what do you put on top of that salad so that you can eat it? DRESSING - full of fat and oils.
Also, we don't chew our food as well as we should to aid in our digestive process. How many times have you tried to chew your food 32 times?? We won't go into my hubby's description of his attempt to do this. We really should spend more time at the table and not in dinner conversation, but chewing our food. I'll leave this discussion by saying, when it goes down our throat it should be the consistency of applesauce. So, after all of that, when you drink a green smoothie the Blender has done the hard part of digestion for you!! So it's easier for your stomach to break it down into the easiest digestible particles and the nutrition can get out into your bloodstream faster than if you were to eat 4 salads.
#2 - What do you eat through out the day?
Answer - Well, I'm still new to all this Raw food thing and YES it is a MAJOR Paradigm shift!! Let's just say that for anyone who was raised making bread, cookies, pies, cakes, casseroles, etc. . . . It is a BIG deal trying to wrap your mind about NOT cooking anything!
First I just drank lots of green smoothie, sometimes 2 quarts a day. Then BIG salads. With homemade dressings, or just olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of herbs. Celery, carrots, homemade guacamole on cucumber chips, or hummus.
Now I have a breakfast of Smush with my 4 year old in the morning. . . He's learning to like it and Hubby thinks it tastes great. I just have to tell you . . Yesterday we were eating our Smush and 4YO said he didn't want to call it smush anymore. So he named it Malea! and tomorrow he said we'll call it Peter.
We soak 1 TBS golden flax seeds in water (overnight or at least 1 hour)then rinse it. This is kinda difficult cuz it gets really slippery/slimy. But try
We dump this in the blender with:
1 apple cut into chunks
1 banana broken in chunks
1 tsp cinnamon.
Whirl it all together and pour into a bowl. Top with small apple chunks, chopped bananas or raisins.
This makes enough for a small bowl for Hudson and a portion for me, but Hubby could eat the whole thing himself.
Lunch is either a salad or just a piece of fruit or handful of nuts. Green smoothie if I haven't drank my full quart for the day.
Dinner more salad or a raw entree. We've tried raw spaghetti and marinara and a few other things, but mostly I make some sort of whole food recipe for the kids from Green Smoothie Girl, or the The Original Fast Food Book. But my poor kids are going dairy-free and meat-free for the most part. Oh, Hubby now loves Lentil Tacos. He wasn't too happy for them when he was still eating meat, but now he's LOVING them!
OK, so that didn't end up being too quick, but hope that helps.
Lauri!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
For Beginners
Well, DH just happened to mention in a talk at church that I'm doing something new with my diet. Thanks Dear! No pressure now to keep up with this new lifestyle.
Seriously, I have NO desire to go back to the Standard American Diet (SAD) because I feel so terrific now, I NEVER want to go back!!!
So for all those who are asking questions I'm going to start posting some beginner's help.
#1 - Cut out Sodas, caffeine. . .
#2 - Drink 1/2 - 1 Quart of Green Smoothie a day
What is a green Smoothie - it's probably the healthiest drink you'll ever have and it's so easy to make, this is how I do mine.
In my blender (Blend Tec) I put 2 cups of water and I smash in as much baby spinach into that 2 cups as I can just by hand. I blend that up. Then I add 2 TBS honey, 2 handfuls of frozen peaches, 1 handful of frozen strawberries, 1 banana. Set my BlendTec to XL Smoothie and let it whirl! I then pour this into 2 Quart size glass jars evenly and add enough water to bring both up to full. Now there's a quart for DH and a quart for me. And seriously our bodies appreciate the nourishment! When we're out of town we don't get these at all. We got home and made and drank our first GSmoothies and our bodies went AAHHHHH! That's is so good!
I know you're probably thinking I'm crazy. But it's true. Think about trying to eat all that spinach in just one meal. It would take forever for you to chew through all the spinach and eat like 2 peaches and a handful of strawberries! But the blender just did the biggest part of digestion for you! It's all liquified and all you have to do is drink the nutrition down!
So this is just a basic beginning. There is no hard fast rule for GSmoothies. Except that it needs some green stuff and fruit in it. So as a beginner start off with not so much green stuff. Spinach is good because it's a really mild flavored green, but you can substitute any leafy green, kale, chard, romaine, arugula, etc. . . Granted some are stronger tasting than others. So start with spinach and add others as you want to experiment. As for the fruit, Go for it! Apples, bananas, cherries, apricots, blueberries. One of my favorites is Apricots with blackberries! And your GSmoothie doesn't turn out green!! You don't need the honey in there either, but it helps sweeten it up a bit. Just DON'T put in White Sugar or an artificial sweetener. Go with RAW honey, or Grade B Maple Syrup. Just the sweetness from the fruit is best, but adding just a touch of a more natural sweetner is OK.
Hope that helps!! Feel free to post comments, suggestions, or questions.
Seriously, I have NO desire to go back to the Standard American Diet (SAD) because I feel so terrific now, I NEVER want to go back!!!
So for all those who are asking questions I'm going to start posting some beginner's help.
#1 - Cut out Sodas, caffeine. . .
#2 - Drink 1/2 - 1 Quart of Green Smoothie a day
What is a green Smoothie - it's probably the healthiest drink you'll ever have and it's so easy to make, this is how I do mine.
In my blender (Blend Tec) I put 2 cups of water and I smash in as much baby spinach into that 2 cups as I can just by hand. I blend that up. Then I add 2 TBS honey, 2 handfuls of frozen peaches, 1 handful of frozen strawberries, 1 banana. Set my BlendTec to XL Smoothie and let it whirl! I then pour this into 2 Quart size glass jars evenly and add enough water to bring both up to full. Now there's a quart for DH and a quart for me. And seriously our bodies appreciate the nourishment! When we're out of town we don't get these at all. We got home and made and drank our first GSmoothies and our bodies went AAHHHHH! That's is so good!
I know you're probably thinking I'm crazy. But it's true. Think about trying to eat all that spinach in just one meal. It would take forever for you to chew through all the spinach and eat like 2 peaches and a handful of strawberries! But the blender just did the biggest part of digestion for you! It's all liquified and all you have to do is drink the nutrition down!
So this is just a basic beginning. There is no hard fast rule for GSmoothies. Except that it needs some green stuff and fruit in it. So as a beginner start off with not so much green stuff. Spinach is good because it's a really mild flavored green, but you can substitute any leafy green, kale, chard, romaine, arugula, etc. . . Granted some are stronger tasting than others. So start with spinach and add others as you want to experiment. As for the fruit, Go for it! Apples, bananas, cherries, apricots, blueberries. One of my favorites is Apricots with blackberries! And your GSmoothie doesn't turn out green!! You don't need the honey in there either, but it helps sweeten it up a bit. Just DON'T put in White Sugar or an artificial sweetener. Go with RAW honey, or Grade B Maple Syrup. Just the sweetness from the fruit is best, but adding just a touch of a more natural sweetner is OK.
Hope that helps!! Feel free to post comments, suggestions, or questions.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Raw Chocolate Pudding
Hubby and I just had the yummiest pudding!!! Way better than Sugar Free Jello Pudding. Which is what I used to let us have as a snack. ICK!!!!
Don't freak out when I tell you that it was made with an Avocado!!! Seriously! The texture was so smooth!
I found the recipe by searching online for Avocado Chocolate Pudding. But this is how I did mine, because I didn't have all the "right" or enough ingredients.
Raw Chocolate Pudding
1 Avocado
1/3 c Agave Nectar recipe called for 1/2 c. That would have been too sweet for me.
1/4 c raw cacao powder
1 TBS Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 - 2 TBS Almond Milk
Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend, add the Almond milk slowly to add to the creaminess. It only makes maybe 1 1/2 cups. But I couldn't even eat all mine it was so chocolatey. I might even cut back just a smidge on the cacao powder.
Now you need to keep in mind that I haven't eaten any processed dessert in several months. OK, I did have a couple bites of a cheesecake when we were in Boston and Colorado Springs. But seriously that is it. So this might have something to do with my tastebuds being overwhelmed with the creamy goodness. However, Hubby thought it was downright yummy too! He said I could make it again for him, and he's a pretty picky critic.
Sorry I didn't take a picture. I wasn't planning on blogging about it until it was all gone!!
Don't freak out when I tell you that it was made with an Avocado!!! Seriously! The texture was so smooth!
I found the recipe by searching online for Avocado Chocolate Pudding. But this is how I did mine, because I didn't have all the "right" or enough ingredients.
Raw Chocolate Pudding
1 Avocado
1/3 c Agave Nectar recipe called for 1/2 c. That would have been too sweet for me.
1/4 c raw cacao powder
1 TBS Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 - 2 TBS Almond Milk
Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend, add the Almond milk slowly to add to the creaminess. It only makes maybe 1 1/2 cups. But I couldn't even eat all mine it was so chocolatey. I might even cut back just a smidge on the cacao powder.
Now you need to keep in mind that I haven't eaten any processed dessert in several months. OK, I did have a couple bites of a cheesecake when we were in Boston and Colorado Springs. But seriously that is it. So this might have something to do with my tastebuds being overwhelmed with the creamy goodness. However, Hubby thought it was downright yummy too! He said I could make it again for him, and he's a pretty picky critic.
Sorry I didn't take a picture. I wasn't planning on blogging about it until it was all gone!!
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