Saturday, November 27, 2010

Over-Processed

Here is the trailer for a video coming out soon.  I would really like to watch this with my family who is fighting me tooth and nail in the food area.  After all, I have been the catalyst in their addiction to processed foods.  I ate processed foods growing up.  At what point will we wake up and realize the bits of food in the brightly colored boxes aren't real food?  Here is the trailer:

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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Commitment

So far on my commitment to stay high raw (one whole day) I haven't felt too many pullings to SAD.  Normally, the thought of no cooked, fried snack foods has me licking the paint off the walls with cravings. Today hasn't been bad.  Granted, it's only one day, but I feel good that I have made it this far.

Today when I came home from work I was hungry.  True tummy-growling hunger.  My breakfast was a deliciously sweet Ruby Red grapefruit.  Instead of coming home and eating crackers or chips or whatever I could scrounge in the cupboard I made a salad.  A delicious broccoli salad with purple onion, raw cashews, and sweet golden raisins.  The dressing was made with Vegenaise, lemon juice, and raw Agave.  It was so filling and YUM!

My juicer is back home so tonight will carrot juice and maybe more broccoli salad.  I want to make tomorrow, the day before Thanksgiving, another juicy raw day.  I CAN DO IT!!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Off again on again...

I have never really given any thought to eating SAD then trying to correct my poor eating choices by green smoothie-ing and eating fruits and veg.  I found out from a friend on RFR (Raw Food Rehab) who had been on Matt Monarch's page that yo-yo ing back and forth between raw and SAD was actually damaging my cells.  Stretching them on SAD because I'm bloated with gases then shrinking back when I decide I want to be high raw.

Well, I think I'm done with that.  I have had a lot of comments on how young I look or how hot I look since I began losing weight by being high raw.  As much as I enjoy the comments I want to be healthy on a cellular level.

So, my hot sexy self is done with SAD.  I am making a commitment to myself and to my family to be healthy so they don't have to take care of me in my old age.  I am committing to eating in a way that will keep me happy and feeling good.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Raw on Thanksgiving?


Thanksgiving dinner.  A time of traditions, family and friends, football and food.  Have you ever thought about our major holidays always being centered around food?  And usually we eat the same food.

This year I wondered about eating raw and having Thanksgiving dinner.  How am I going to handle this?  What will go on my plate and in my mouth?  I figure if I have some kind of game-plan going into the day I will be less likely to fill up taste-testing and more likely to put healthy raw/vegan foods on my plate.  I do plan on having a small slice of turkey, some stuffing (bread = my weakness) with gravy and pumpkin pie.  So what will be raw for me?

cranberry relish (Martha's recipe)             
pumpkin/persimmon flan   
broccoli salad                                           
brussels sprouts and Asian pear salad

The raw menue has changed.  I am still serving Martha's cranberry relish, Brussels sprout & Asian pear salad; wild rice stuffing; okra salad; Ruby Red Grapefruit & avocado salad.

It isn't much but it's a start.  Throughout the day I want to be filling up on green smoothies, which will keep the taste-testing at bay.  That is the game plan.  Do you have a game plan?  Would you be willing to share it?  

UPDATE:  Okay, my plan pretty much went out the window.  BUT I didn't do much "taste-testing" as I usually do on Thanksgiving Day.  When dinner came I was hungry AND I did not eat until I felt sick.  Another first for my Thanksgiving Day.  All in all, I'm happy with the day.

The wild rice stuffing didn't happen.  I literally ran out of time.  The okra salad, which I was SO looking forward to, didn't happen because I could not find fresh okra.  Out of season.  The Ruby Red Grapefruit & avocado salad was eaten right up; gone.  I got a small taste of it and this is a deliciously refreshing salad.  

I hope you all had a good day focusing of family and friends (we had 16 in our house!).  

Friday, November 12, 2010

Squashed!

God has truly blessed our family this week.  I have been unusually stressed about jobs and finances, like most others around me.  Just when I thought I would lose heart in our situation, God came through.  I'm not sure why I am surprised when He blesses our family.  This week was awesome!

Here's a bit of background on what's what.  At a busy intersection near our house, an enterprising group put up a pumpkin patch/petting zoo/straw bale maze/haunted house.  The mountain of pumpkins was a sight to behold!  Some of the biggest and roundest orange globes all in one place.

After Halloween I noticed there were several boxes, large 4'x4'x4' boxes, filled with pumpkins.  I decided I was going to stop one day and ask about them.  Wednesday I was driving down the road and noticed someone doing some cleanup.  I whipped the car into the drive, got out and walked toward him.  "I was wondering if you were still selling your pumpkins?"  "No, but you can take some.  Do you want the large or pie pumpkins?"  "I'm hoping to buy pie."  "Well, the pies are over there, take as many as you want."  "What can I pay you for them?"  "Nothing.  They're just going to waste and I've been giving them to anyone.  So there's no point in charging you for them.  Take as many as you want."

Now, just for the record, this is more than I can handle so I will be putting the word out to my friends who may want fresh pumpkin pie.

These are going to become puree, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, and anything else I think need pumpkin.





As if that wasn't a hugely generous gift, God blessed again this week.  My daughter's boyfriend called last night.  He had a strange question for me.  It seems someone had donated some large squashes to the church's food pantry.  Most pantries can't keep fresh produce so the church was giving them to anyone who would take them.  He told me they were huge squash, about 40 lbs.  Well, my brain cannot picture what a 40 lb squash looks like so I told him, "Sure!  I'd love a couple."  When he got to our house he popped his trunk and hauled out (and I mean hauled out) this beautifully red-orange, bumpy monster of a squash!  Wow!  It is gorgeous!  The second is a beautiful white, flat squash.  I may get a couple more if they have them.  Here is what he brought over:

Are these not just the most beautiful examples of an autumn harvest you have ever seen?!  I may keep some seeds from the white squash for planting this spring.

The pretty white cat is Strat.  He is my daughter's large 16 lb cat.


Another shot of the 40 lb squashes.  I can't wait to cut into these for some soup!

There's a blob in my kitchen!

And the blob isn't from the sink of unwashed dishes, either!  No, I have two jars of Kombucha brewing and the scobies are forming nicely.  It's strange, though.  One scoby is thicker and better formed than the other.  They both sit next to each other in the darker corner of the counter.  One is next to the (uninsulated) outer wall so I am wondering if that has anything to do with the stunted formation.  When the scobies are thicker I plan on starting a new batch and making black cherry Kombucha.  These current jars are pretty tart so I want to use them as the starter for a new, drinkable batch.                                              

Here are my jars of Kombucha.  The are covered with a paper towel and rubber bands to keep out the inevitable gnats that appear during Autumn fruit season.  It smells good but is a bit too tart for my taste.

Here is one of the scobies.  She is about 1/4-inch thick, maybe a bit more.  I had to do a double take on this one.  The momma sank beneath the surface and now has a baby scoby forming above her.  BONUS!  The other jar has a malformed scoby and isn't thickening quite as fast.  I think this is the one setting next to the wall, so she doesn't get a much warmth to form correctly.  I may move both of these over on the counter closer to the oven for a bit of radiant heat.



This is the baby scoby forming above its mother.  Doesn't she look so cute?



Future black cherry Kombucha using R.W. Knudsen's juice concentrate.  Hmmm... it looks like someone has been snitching from the bottle!  I can't wait to try Black Cherry Kombucha!
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