In keeping with my style..

Here is another long post for ya :)

I've been putting this off for s bit- since the camera was downstairs and the computer was upstairs- and each time I would go upstairs I would forget the camera... Yeah, lame I know. So let us begin:

Cookies: Maple nut from Vegan with a Vengeance before-

After:

So here's the deal- these cookies tasted alright, but stuck to the paper like a mother! I think I got like 3 bits off the paper, and scrapped the rest of the crumbs onto a plate. James thought they were ok- but these sat in the corner for a few days before I tossed them.. Sad :( I hate to waste.. but when you need a pick me up you can count on a great date- maybe stuff it with some pecans for a little xtra lovin!

Friday night we had a simple dinner of sautéed broccoli slaw, onions, garlic and spices- topped with grilled portabello mushrooms, diced tomatoes, and avocado:

There is some slaw tucked under there:

Saturday morning came quickly and along with it was some pancakes for James, and some ice cream for me:

We hung out and got ready for James tattoo session which included some melon for lunch:

And packed a bushel of oranges, a sammich for James and a bar for me:

This was the first time I had this bar and it was pretty good.. I'd eat it again! After the session of needles scraping surfaces of skin and gritting of teeth- we headed home and watched some movies from the Redbox- GOT to love $1 movies!!

Sunday morning was time enough for ice cream sundays! Strawberry AND chocolate ice cream togethers between a nanner topped with raw pumpkin seeds, and coconut- it was fantastic!

I had to hit up a staff meeting at the yoga studio and was there WAY longer than I thought.. so when I got home STARVED I ate an entire pineapple :)

I don't remember what we did on Sunday night, or what I did Monday for that matter, haha Time just seems to go by REALLY quickly.. I know that I did yoga, and went to the gym, taught and went to work.. but that's all there really is in this head of mine!

Now that we are all caught up... we can move onto this mornings breakie:

The first thing I did was hack into a pineapple for James and I to share, and then we got the blender working to make some blueberry ice cream.. of course there was coffee included :)

After my morning yoga I had the little bit of pineapple that was left over from breakfast and a caramel apple:

Also known as a quartered apple with a half of a date on each.. Seriously simple and delicious! So that's it for the food- but there are pictures of my favorite flowers (from the bunch that we got at the store :) )Alstromeria's which are the flowers of my foot tattoo.. They come in a ton of colors and even though they don't smell like a thing they look amazing!

And finally I leave you with this photo of my youngest going to town on romaine lettuce leaf:He's just too cute- and enjoyed this more than he should.. hahah got to love it.. Maybe it's the green collar that makes him want more greens in his diet??

Phew- if your still reading.. Thanks!! Have a WONDERFUL day :)

Boring eats..

Happy Weekend everyone!!! I hope you all have been great, staying busy, eating good foods, creating awesome meals.. You know just living it! I've been trying my best to keep up on everyday things.. You know how it goes, laundry piles, dog hair to sweep up, dishes to do... and of course those bills to pay! In the course of all this my new nephew was born! Ryker Maddox was born Jan.29 - 9 lbs 9 ounces and 21 inches long!! He's certainly a chunker.. but adorbale :) My brother/sister in laws and kids all live in North Carolina- and James and I are heading down to meet the new addition this week! We will be leaving Thursday evening and driving through the night- hopefully making it there early enough to get a little nap in before the weekend starts! With three kiddies under the age of 5 it will be a crazy weekend- and we are looking forward to it.

But the foods I've been eating are pretty boring to post.. We've been monkey-ing our way through cases of bananas:

Pounds and pounds of oranges which have been AMAZING!

And of course I've been eating alot of these:The more I'm eating raw- mostly fruit meals.. the simpler the whole eating process becomes.. plus the better I feel, and the more fruits and greens I crave... Also realizing each time I'm eating food that is cooked for dinner... my tummy hates me for a bit. Ah well it's a healing/learning process!

LONG post!!

Morning all! Boy this one has really started out a bit rough for me today- but I managed to practice yoga this morning even though I REALLY didn't want to! So I'm just going to be positive about this little accomplishment.. Consistency is really something that is hard to practice when your just sleepy and wanna hit that snoozer button a few more times. So now that I'm a bit more with it I wanted to share some pictures from the trip James and I took to the New England Aquarium on Saturday!!! So first things first; I got this shirt at Salvation army when I was visiting my dad Friday, and not only was I excited about the aquarium I wanted to show you all the shirt too!!!

Here's a close-up:

Can you believe I got this shirt for $.99?!?!? I love that I got it second hand and that it has a great message- stop cutting down trees, or they are gonna kick your butt!

The aquarium was completely fantastic- except that it cost us $35 to park for 2 1/2 hours!!! Anyway- they have this HUGE 23 foot deep tank that holds something like 500,000 gallons!! It's hard to get any good photos through the glass but here's a couple of my favorites:

I have rediscovered that I LOVE turtles.. They aren't sure how old this little girl is- but she certainly was a cutie! There was also thie HUGE 75 year old sea turtle that was camera shy.. I tried like 65 times to get a great picture of her too.. but she was amazingly too fast for me to get any decent shots.. I was a little sad faced about it until:
Now I know this little dude is blurry, BUT he is a Spiny Puffer fish which are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FISHES EVER!!! I had one for about 2 days before it died and I was heart broken...I loved that little guy (his name was Vinyasa for all you yogis out there) I vowed I would never get one again- because I was so sad.. and cried and cried :( so I was super excited to see this dude.. There were actually quite a few of them in there.. As amazing as the tank was it was really hard to see it all.. We would sit in the window for a good 10 minutes just trying to see all there was to see at each level of the tank.. Man it was impossible!

However- these guys were WAY cute!!!
He's all: "What? You got a problem with me?" He must be an Italian penguin- at least in my head he has the voice of the Godfather, or Tony Soprano.. either one :) Again- these are one of my favorite animals as well.. I seem to have ALOT of favorites... I'm was Wicked happy about it:

I even made James pose for a picture with me:

He's not AS excited as I am.. but I'm easily amused.. It's really funny when you go to places like this without a kid.. Number one.. this is GREAT birth control.. haha.. I'm just kidding.. it's pretty cool to see all the little kiddies excited :) Their excitement is infectious.. Not that I needed help in that department..

Now on to the food; I went to visit my Daddy in Vermont Thursday- but before I left I had to get some food supplies because he is on the Master Cleanse and had nothing in the way of fruit or veggies for me.. so I went to the market in the same plaza as work- so that I could leave quickly from work and get on my way there.. as it takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there, and there was some snow.. Well I got some AWESOME deals.. I spent $16 and got this crazy about of fruit... 3 pineapples, 2 cantaloupes, 2 cukes, 16 lbs of oranges, 3 mangos... I know it really does seem like a lot.. but when your mostly consuming fruit for caloric intake you have to eat ALOT.. I cut up a pineapple for the ride and packed a few clothing items and headed off.. The drive wasn't so bad- but I hit some white-out conditions.. which were intense.. seriously the most scared I've ever been driving alone... it was like i just drove into a snow-globe for about 5 miles.. unable to see anything.. at all.. I was driving about 30 mph.. scary! But I made is, and hung out with my dad- went to this crazy place called the barn.. I spent another $35 there and got all of this.. 2 CASES of organic bananas:

Look how much they cost: (see it at the top!!)
yup- just $5 a piece.. Fantastic.. Also along for the ride was 2 bunches of organic kale, 2 organic salad mixes of baby greens, 4 containers of Sambra hummus, 2 containers of Pesto for my man, 11 pounds of organic pears, 5 pounds of onions.. and two baby coconuts.. Phew.. that's a whole lotta stuff to fit in my Yaris.. Friday morning I went to work with my dad and then we hit up Salvation army where I got 7 shirts, a sweater, a sweatshirt, and a pair of jeans AND some silverware that had stars on it like my favorite fork.. for $22!! Unfortunately I had to head home, so headed out around 2 and when I got home, James and I had some Dins:

Nice and simple salad and steamed kale.. I really love both of these.. I think I would eat Kale every day...

Of course a post wouldn't be complete without "Ice cream"
This flavor was totally James idea.. Banana, blueberry and raw chocolate.. I thought it was weird to put blueberries in the chocolate.. but what an amazing success!! It tasted like these Frosty things that Wendy's has- that I used to love when I was a kid.. MMMMMMM

Yesterday's breakie.. came out more like sorbet than ice cream.. which was really nice- it only had two bananas in it.. so I had to add some more :)

And finally dinner last night

Piled in there: Romaine, baby spinach, noodles, carrots, toms and more lettuce.. doused in a dressing of coconut water/meat, fresh pineapple, chili and curry powders.. YUM.. We ate the rest of the pineapple as a "Pine-atizer" and when I got to this I could only eat 1/2 for whatever reason.. But I did have room a few hours later for an apple :) Have a great Tuesday everyone :)

Honest Scrap..

Thank you Krys from http://twoveganboys.wordpress.com/ for nominating me for an Honest Scrap award! I have never had trouble being honest.. sometimes I'm a bit too honest for some!! Here's the rules:

1) Thank the lovely person who has nominated you and link back to them.
2) Tell your readers 10 honest things about yourself. (Hide the childrens eyes.)
3) Link to 10 other blogs you feel embody the spirit of Honest Scrap and whose blog you find brilliant in design and/or concept.

Here goes nothing! :)

1. I used to hate to read but now I love it to death though I never read one book at a time.. It's not that I do this purposely, it's just that I just want to read so many things- and I am impatient.. so I just read them all at once!

2. I HATE when food touches on one plate.. it literally makes me feel ill and for the longest time I had to eat in stages... one thing at a time- all usually washing the bowl or plate in between. I've gotten much better with this- as the ideas for toppings for salad increase... and usually I don't have to eat in stages- though it seems to be the way I prefer things.. I like to think of it as keeping the palette clean to be able to enjoy each part of the meal fully :) I also almost always eat out of bowls.. and have a "special" fork that I've had since I was a kid which has stars on it- I stole it from my parents house when I moved out!

3. I can't stand odd numbers- but for some reason the number 3 is my favorite.. Figure that one out...

4. I'm a procrastinator.. big time. I would always leave things to the very last second... making school interesting- I would try to get things done early, but I could never get any ideas.. it was like my brain needed the pressure to be successful.. I could write 6-10 page papers in a couple hours before they were due.. and would always get an A.. so I just went with what seemed to work!

5. I almost got a black belt in karate.. making it to a brown belt before I quit.. For some reason I had a natural talent for kicking ass- I skipped a belt.. was too advanced for the kids class when i was just 10 years old- having to be the only girl in the adult class, which is why I quit..

6. As a swimmer I was always a sprinter and even though I didn't really learn how to swim "correctly" until I was 11- I had a natural knack for speed; My personal best for swimming the 50 meter freestyle was 26 seconds flat; 100 meter freestyle was 1:01 (a minute and one second)

7. James and I got married on our 4 year anniversary, on a boat that was docked out in the water.. We kept things simple- went barefoot, no one dressed up, made most of the food ourselves, went tubing, set off a TON of fireworks illegally :) and still to this day people still say it was the best wedding they ever went to! Including the rings it only cost about $2000.. For our honeymoon we went camping in the White Mountain National Forest, in NH.. The same place James asked me to marry him :)

8. I'm cold all the time.. I literally always have at least 3 shirts on...( ok maybe not in the dead of the summer) I get so cold that my hands and feet lose all their color turning white/yellow and feeling.. my lips turn blue- and sometimes I have to take a hot shower just to warm up!

9. I LOVE being barefoot.. I HATE shoes..

10. Even though I'm a complete nut, I've always been completely responsible and never have acted my age.. which is why I get along better with people that are older than me... I don't get the people my own age!!!

Man that was much harder than I thought it would be! I can't nominate just 10 people... I wouldn't know where to start!! There are so many bloggie friends I love to read... so why do all take the award?!?!?! I wanna hear more about you all :)

Detox me

I've never experienced detox symptoms like this before! But first I will explain: I've been striving for the 811 low fat raw vegan diet for the last 3 weeks or so, slowly eating more and more fruit and greens... I guess in reality it has been much longer than 3 weeks, in fact this raw journey started a few years ago with my first interest in the lifestyle. But the last weeks I've been really living it you know? I've been re-reading Dr.Grahams 80-10-10 diet and realized that the first time I attempted to go 811 I wasn't paying attention to the amount of calories I was consuming.. and I wasn't consuming nearly enough- which lead to me giving up on it, and feeling like shit! Well I've been paying attention more- not counting the calories- but getting a rough estimate to ensure that I'm getting what I need- and it's really paying off! I have been feeling completely amazing!!! I've been positive, happy, energetic, and loving it! :) Unlike my first attempt- I have been eating smaller meals more often, and really think this has been the key for me. I've always been a bit of a grazer, and have found this to be the more enjoyable way to do things.. I love that my stomach never feels heavy and gross.. but satisfied and light :) even though I don't weigh myself- because I would drive my self crazy with the numbers and really who cares what the number is if you feel great?! I can tell (and James has been making comments as well!) that I've released some excess body fat and I'm toning up quickly, wooohooo! it also helps that I have been doing my yoga more consistently along with running/walking each week. I'm planning on doing my first triathlon at the end of June- and have been working on the running part first since that will be my biggest struggle, and I'm amazed at the rate at which my body seems to heal after my workouts!

But back to the detoxing:

Running nose, CRANKY PANTS!!!, head ache, and number 1: tiredness!!!! Bleh... I feel much better today- but yesterday after the aquarium I felt like the worst I've felt in forever.. I was a complete bitch- and I couldn't figure out why.. the last 4 nights or so I've been so tired I never feel like I'm getting enough sleep but otherwise have had no other symptoms.. well after the aquarium they started.. I was so irritated it was awful- and of course I took it out on James being that he's my husband- and the one that I spend my time with... hahah.. poor guy.. we went and had some food- which I put soy sauce on ( The culprit I later discovered) and when we got home I was crabby beyond crabby.. and went to bed- it was only 8 pm! Well in the middle of the night around 2 am I woke up, and thirsty and had some water- went to the loo... and thenI discovered that my hands were completely swollen- to the point that closing them was painful.. and then it hit me... the salt!!!!! I haven't been eating it at all.. and then I go and use soy sauce... in excess I'm sure.. and that was what sent my body in a whirl wind. I even woke James up to show him... and then tried to sleep it off.. it took half of today to feel back to normal... and to flush the saltiness out of my cells.. But I'm feeling so much better now.. and have learned my lesson!! I do feel as though this was a good thing- and feel like I'm moving forward in my raw journey!!

"What's in your wallet?"

Unlike Capital One I don't want what your wallet contains.. However I do care what your Raw Ice cream contains!!

Yesterday's breakfast ice cream contained banana obviously along with strawberries and blueberries.. I topped the whole thing off with ground flax seeds and coconut... But then when I mixed it up and started to eat it.. I discovered that I was missing something:

I found it!! Some 85% dark chocolate which really added a little special something.. YUM :)

Of course I made more ice cream for breakfast this morning as well..

Strawberry banana ice cream- which also had flax and coconut- along with a little bit of coconut oil this morning.. I sliced up some dried banana, and a date- and swished up some pecans for toppings.. Man this is some good shit... I'm definitely addicted..

Getting back to yesterday, lunch was some shredded romaine, carrot, and kale- which I topped off with some leftovers from Sunday's dinner and dressed with the pineapple sauce from Monday's dinner:

Surprisingly it all tasted really great together.. the onions and the sweet pineapple really flowed to some hippie music in my mouth! I kept dinner nice and simple- and portable.. I made my yum-tastical choco-banana-greens milkshake... just like this one from before:

I sipped on this during my whole class (where I kicked the asses of the snotty students from last week- who returned, even though they seemed to really dislike my class last week.. hmm.. who knows?!) I'm hoping they wake up this morning unable to lift their arms.. you know in a good way from all the double chaturangas I made them do.. and it was certainly a LOT!! For those of you who might not know what that is.. think of a push up.. but with your elbows really close to the body :) - When I got home from my victory, I mean my class I snacked on a granny smith apple.. I really do love apples.

So what's in your ice cream?!?!

I always do this...

I've been really pretty good about taking pics of food and all of that.. but not so good about posting each day- Its tough to fit it in, especially with yoga, work, running, household stuff and the weekend! So here are a ton of pics which I can hopefully get straight!

Saturday night we headed to a friends house for dinner- which was to have a theme.. sort of anyway- Chinese night! He made Lo-main, (Which is not pictured, because it turned out that the sauce he made for it had anchovies in it, bleh! so he just added the veggie one that was supposed to be for me to the meat one he made for everyone else.) Also on the menu was some spring rolls- that were store bought frozen ones that were popped into the toaster oven.. and some fried rice- which I basically made myself! Here's the steamy:

Really nothing special.. He put a TON of oil, no seriously.. like a crazy amount.. and some frozen veggies- carrot, corn, and green beans.. Onions, and sesame seeds- along with some minute rice.. and it was cooked forever.. Drizzle fo- shizzle of soy sauce.. It was actually not too bad.. not something I would make a habit of eating- but they aren't really the cooking type, and they tried really hard to make food I could eat.. <3>

And dessert.. which I didn't take a pic of..damn it! It was some of my homemade Apple Crisp straight from the oven and topped with raw banana strawberry soft serve.. It was a HUGE hit, and a perfect combo together!

Sunday morning while hanging out in the man cave (What we call the room that James has his video games set up in) and I decided to spark up excalibur, and try to make some Raw Corn Muffin Tops:

This was simply corn, peppers, spices, and ground sunflower and sesame seeds. Whizzed to a smooth paste consistency, which I then portioned onto teflex sheets with the mini ice cream scoop:

They dehydrated for a good long while.. probably something like 15 hours:

They are pretty tasty- and James wants to use the recipe to make some stuffed mushrooms.. YUM- can't want for that one!

Speaking of James cooking, he took it upon himself to make some thing for dinner- and let me tell you.. it was so awesome.. the recipe was from VCON- Caramelized onions with lentils and rice, and though it seems a bit hum-drum, it was anything but! First he cooked some onions in about a gallon of oil until they were crispy brown:

Then he cooked the rice and lentil together with come cumin, cinnamon and allspice, and combined them with the onions and oil.. OMG- AMAZING!! I put mine on a bed of raw Kale:

And because I'm on a canned green bean kick-

They were served on the side with some homemade lemon pepper pita chips.. Such a great meal.. Plus I didn't have to cook it!

And Finally today! Phew getting up to speed takes it out of me! Upon waking up, James and I shared some coffee, and some pears (he also had some pumpernickel toast)... Once I shipped him off to work, I practiced some yoga, showered, and got ready for work.. But didn't leave before making one of my most favorites- Choco-banana-spinach-pumpkin seed milk smoothie- for the road. I sipped on that guy for a good couple of hours and then around lunch had 2 clementines, an apple, and some celery.. Then off to the gym to run 4.5 miles! I was feeling pretty good physically (minus a bit of knee sensitivity) But was having some heart burn going on.. Who really knows why?!?! Anyway Got home and Got my snack on with some pretzels, and apple, banana and a couple of handfuls of homemade granola. Then came some yoga teaching and finally I was able to come home and eat some dinner!!! By this time I was once again starving... but knew exactly what I wanted.. James helped with the prep while we talked on the phone as I scurried home from class and I finished up and put it all together when I got home:

It was a layered dish. Based on a couple of things I'm made in the past, and a dish I got a couple weeks ago at a restaurant. First shredded romaine, then rice noodles, then shredded carrot, beet, broccoli, and slice avocado to top.. For the sauce I used 1/2 a can of slice pineapple with juice, soy sauce, hunk o-ginger, garlic, sesame and chili oils and a shit-ton of chili powder.. Whizzed up in the blendie... and poured- I mean SMOTHERED over all this bowl of raw veggies and noodlie goodness.. I'm not ashamed to say that I drank the sauce when the bowl was empty..

I told you there were noodles in there!:

I love this!! I really think I will eat this alot.. it was so fricken good!! James and I both loved it.. and it was best served with chop sticks (You can kind of see them in the right corner)

Of course.. I'm a hungry girl and we snacked on some more clementines and pears afterwards!!

Now that I'm all caught up- I can rest easy.. See you tomorrow kiddies!