Nuts

Somedays I think I am going nuts...... Today I swear I could have eaten the arse off a skunk (that's one of my favourite Island expressions!) Anyway, I didn't do it, I was able to resist, but man oh man, even that container of Duncan Hines chocolate icing looked good.

I didn't have breakfast this morning as I had to take Nathan to the doctor's, then stop to fill a prescription and get a flat tire fixed to top it off...... so by the time I got home at 12ish, I was ravenous! I fed the kids and then made myself another power smoothie. That held me off, I tell ya they are quite filling! I snacked on fruit and yellow beans for supper and just now had my favourite Ezekiel bread with almond butter and raspberry jam (homemade by moi!!)

I am trying hard to stay as raw as possible. I do allow myself the Ezekiel bread just because it is made with sprouted grains and not flour, but technically it is now raw and besides, even if it was, I stick it in the toaster, so all rawness would be gone anyway. But if that's my only unraw food, then it's ok.

I will be starting up a website in the next few months and document my journey to raw and prove to myself and the world that it is possible to be raw in the winter months of Eastern Canada. It's just a little more challenging than the Ojai Valley of California...... which I would love to visit someday. Storm and Jingee have their raw village there. It sounds so interesting and wonderful. How I would love to have my own raw village with all other raw people around me. It would probably be so much easier to be surrounded with people who eat the same way rather than sit at the table with my family as they eat pizza while I chomp on carrots!

I am trying to slowly change the eating habits of my family as well. It would be so easy to get the baby going on raw foods only, except right now he doesn't have enough teeth to chew on carrots. But I do give him a lot of fruit and some cooked veggies. He eats beans of all kinds as well, so he is getting his protein. My kids all love the smoothies I make too so they are getting all kinds of good stuff and they don't even realize it.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents for today, I guess I just had to write it down somewhere that I was having a challenging day food wise but that I am glad to say I was able to control myself.

One of the articles in an email I get from Halleluja Acres spoke of why doesn't God take away my addictions. The answer was that God helps those who help themselves. How many times have I heard this being said!! Well this time it really sink in and I am helping myself!! I haven't had ice cream in 2 or 3 days now..... not because I didn't want to let me tell you!! In summer ice cream is pretty much all I think about. In winter i never think about it and couldn't care less if I had any, but now is quite different.......

Anyway, I'm going to soak my butt in the tub for an hour and read The Secret for the 2nd time. It's a good book, you should read it too!!

night night!!
Jo

Super Smoothie

Here is my smoothie before and after pictures.....

Delicious! YUMMY!!

Rawberry Pie Recipe

This is the original recipe found in a magazine:

Crust:
1 1/4 cup of cashews (unsalted)
1 cup of shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1 1/2 cup of dried fruits (apricots, prunes, cranberries, dates etc...)

Process the cashews in a food processor, add other ingredients and process until it is mealy.
Press in the bottom of a pie plate.

Fruit filling:
3-4 cups of fruits:
1/2 pineapple and 1 box of raspberries
2 cups of pineapple juice
2 tbsp of agar agar

put fruits on top of pie crust

In a casserole mix fruit juice and agar agar, bring to a boil
reduce heat and let simmer 5 to 10 min until the flakes are dissolved
mix well and pour over fruits

chill for 2 hours and serve.

That was the one my mother made. Mine was a little different as I didn't feel like paying $10 for a little bag of agar agar.

I used almonds instead of cashews for the crust and did not put coconut.
as a filling I processed half a pineapple and banana in food processor then topped it off with fruits I had: raspberries, blueberries, pineapple and mango.

What ever recipe you use..... enjoy it!

Mango Chutney

Mango is one of my favourite fruits, but it has to be ripe! I made this chutney based on a recipe by Matt Amsden and I love it so much eaten with flax crackers.

The recipe is as follows:

2 cups of chopped mango

2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice

2 tspn honey (you can also use agave nectar or maple syrup)

1 bunch of cilantro (which i am growing this year)

1/2 chopped red pepper

1/4 cup chopped red onion

2 green onions chopped (straight from the garden as well)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Anyway, that's my version. I always make my own versions of recipes I find since I live on the east coast of Canada, a lot of the stuff they have in California is not found here.

Smoothie Power!!

How to get everyone to eat their greens and other good stuff?? Hide it in a smoothie!
Here is what went into this morning's smoothie:

5 tbsp of hemp hearts
4 tbsp of Udo's Oil Blend
1 head of baby Romaine lettuce (taken straight from my garden, it was relatively small)
1 Avocado
1 Banana
Frozen cranberries and strawberries
cranberry-pomegranate juice

I usually add flax seed as well, but didn't have any left.
Lucas drank all of his huge glass and Nathan had a small glass and asked for seconds.

I must say though that I am fortunate to have the Vita-Mix blender which mixes it all so well you can't tell what's in it. I used to make these smoothies in my food processor or regular blender and it wasn't smooth enough..... Lucas wouldn't drink it cause he could see stuff in it. But with this super duper blender, the smoothie is smooth and you can't see traces of anything.

I have recently decided to try Udo's Oil Blend. I had seen it on the shelf at the health food store and read about it in raw books, but never tried it. they were giving free samples the other day at the health food store so I decided to try it out and well, I went back to get the big bottle. It's not cheap, mind you, but from what I can see it is very good stuff. Ou bodies need to be oiled and have a good ratio of fats, especially if not eating any other sources of fats. If you'd like to read up on it, the website is: udoerasmus.com/products then click on oil blends. Thee is a lot of good information about the fats and oils we need.

I've also been a fan of hemp hearts for several years. For more info visit www.buyhemphearts.com There is some great information there about all its benefits.

Anyway, I am down almost 40lbs now this year (that's being on and off raw) I try to stay raw as much as possible, but it's summer and it's hot and ice cream is darn good on a hot day!! So I kind of consider myself raw with ice cream! LOL....

I realized I should have posted the recipe for the raw berry pie and I will get around to doing it. As I type now, Nathan is pushing on my keyboard tray trying to get me off the computer, so it's hard to sit down and type something out.

Take care and eat well!!

Jo

Rawberry Pie

Here is my version of my mom's rawberry pie. It's a little different as I didn't have all the same ingredients but it turned out really good just the same. I will definitely be making this again and again!! Maybe even try different versions of it as different fruits are in season.
Must go eat some now, it's lunch time!! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

RAWness

I have been back on raw on and off over the last few months. I don't know why I don't just always stay on it as I feel so much better when I do. It's just so tempting to have all the nice looking things out there to eat I guess. Thing is after I eat them I don't feel good inside or out. The past 2 weeks I was in Quebec visiting my family and came back with an extra 12lbs! Mind you, I gorged ridiculously on all things I could put my hands on. Needless to say I was very discouraged when i hopped on the scale Monday morning! After 2 days back on raw, I have managed to shed 7 of those pounds. Good thing that the last ones on are generally the easiest to take off. Hopefully by next week, I should be back on track.

I have been reading a lot on rawness to the point where I sometimes get bored with it and don't read anymore. That is my mistake, I should keep on reading even if I don't feel like it. In one of the websites I visit, they suggest journaling as a form of helping me in my journey, so I will be using this blog to journal and start posting recipes again as I forget them after a while.

I received an email today from a raw foodist talking about Kaya Kalpa where men would go in underground caves for 90 days and meditate. They were in complete darkness and quiet with only some cleansing herbs. This would totally rejuvenate the body and even help hair and teeth to grow back. This man also talked about the importance of sleep and how we don't get enough of it. I totally agree with that. I need sleep and wish i could get a lot more of it. He also mentions that those who live the longest are those who eat the least. We tend to eat and eat until we are bloated and uncomfortable. this is so not gopod for our bodies as it used up so much energy to process these foods and doesn't have enough left to regenerate and rejuvenate itself.

When I eat raw, I am rarely hungry and find myself eating less. Our bodies don't need everything we put into it. So why is it that we feel the need to overstuff it?

My goal now is to reduce the amount of food I eat even if it is raw. I will eat why I need and not what I want. Need and want are two so very different things.

i would also like to start having raw potlucks again. It is fun to see what people can come up with. If you are reading my blog and would like to partake in raw potlucks, please let me know.

My mom made an awesome mostly raw pie while I was visiting her, even Lucas couldn't believe how delicious it was. Here is a picture of it, doesn't it look absolutely marvelous?!! I can't wait to make one and enjoy it again!!

There are so many wonderful delicious things we can eat that are not processed...... berry season is here now, so I think I may go pick berries today and enjoy them!

Have a good day everyone!

Busy

Well, hello again if you are still there..... you may have given up on me since I haven't posted in like 5 months. I guess I've just been busy with the 3 kids and with the invention of Facebook I just find it easier to post my daily quote, upload my pics once a month and move on. If the babies would ever sleep at the same time it might be easier, although when that happens, I always seem to have a million other things to do. Then there is the fact that I'd love to read a book, which I rarely have time for.
What on earth did I ever do when I didn't have children.?? As I type, Nathan has come to me and I caught a whiff of a soiled diaper..... so it looks like I'll have to end this session sooner than planned.

I will find my camera, plug it in and add a few pictures of our recent activities including Nathan turning 2.

See you soon!