living the life...

Yesterday was the 4th birthday of Blanche the "Angel of Deaf" *cough*SLAYER*cough*
As you can see, she spends most of her day contemplating her place on earth and the meaning of life... which she has indicated is Food, Naps, Toys and Loves. In that order. I can't imagine my life without her.
She and I have a lot in common... Specifically our love of food and eating. Today was my day off work and I took the opportunity to do what I normally like to do on my days off: Emotional eating. Today's lunch was so luxurious and flavorful. Perfect for our 73 degree weather, I ate out on the porch and revelled in it. Most all my eating is to feel good. Either ease hunger, satisfy a craving, or treat myself to something special. Today it was all three.

Lunch was zucchini noodles tomato and shallot tossed in basil/olive oil dressing... so fresh and filling and subtle yet savory Dessert being Sliced Mango marinated with Sweet Ginger Syrup... topped with coconut mmmmm
As Stacey would type "MLR" (my life rules)

Found this...

My old band, kinda awful sound but glad to have a visual record of me singing since I don't really plan to be in another band. I can show it to my sisters grandkids someday... haha

as long as YOU'RE comfortable...

Thanks so much for your love and concern for my pup friend... She is doing great and continuing right along in her spoiled lifestyle. As you see above she uses us a furniture as she sees fit, regardless of our comfort ;) Always lookin out for #1
Have had some frustration at work due to the FDA lately. We were made a part of the peanut recall and pretty much bullied into recalling our product with peanuts and made to put out a press release saying so, then were later told that the peanuts we use were never actually part of the recall. We were also informed by a customer that our product had been identified at their store by the FDA as needing to be relabled. We were told we are not allowed to say "made with organic ingredients" on our product, or really make any claims like "fresh", or "healthy", or "natural"... Now I can understand why you can't say fresh, I guess, since that is a somewhat subjective evaluation; saying "made with organic ingredients" is not. They ARE in fact, made with organic ingredients but it seems to say that we have to pay to become organic certified and also make an annual payment based on our unit sales. So we lease the word essentialy. Who owns the word "organic"? Is it copy written? What's more, how long will it be before you can't even list "organic flour" in your ingredients list? All of our organic ingredients are certified, we shouldn't have to be personally certified to mention that. Frustrating.


On a better note, this weekend I am going to 2 exciting raw food "cooking" classes... This is what I get to learn!
Nuevo Mexican Raw Dinner Menu:
Corn Tortillas - These corn tortillas will quickly become a favorite in your house. Make from raw corn and hemp and flax seeds, they are then dehydrated and can be stored for months in your refrigerator or freezer.
Enchilada Spirals – These very special enchiladas will be made using raw corn tortillas and wrapping them around a veggie taco filling like a spiral then topping them with enchilada sauce, pine nut sour cream and avocado slices. These are so flavorful, satisfying and unique.
Mexican-Spanish Rice – It tastes like the best Spanish rice you’ve ever eaten, only there’s no rice! Elaina will show you how to use vegetables and spices to recreate all the flavors and comfort of rice.
Taco Filling – Again, keeping with her low to no nut agenda, Elaina will demonstrate how to take root vegetables and turn them into the most flavorful, juicy, mouthwatering taco filling that can be eaten in a “taco”, on your salad, in your Enchilada Spirals or dehydrated into crunchy snacks or burgers.
Enchilada Sauce – A light and flavorful sauce that can be used in a variety of dishes.
Pine Nut Sour Cream – A light and fluffy version of sour cream with Irish moss, pine nuts and more flavors to make this a raw food staple

Elegant Raw Desserts Class Menu:
Crème Caramel – Experience the sensuous elegance of this melt in your mouth heavenly flan treat while learning the secrets of successfully working with Irish moss.
Hazelnut/Cacao Ganache Truffles – These are real Cacao confections; we will be stepping into the world of a chocolate lovers dreams, I’m talking Willie Wonka goes Raw/Vegan. Get ready to bust open your heart and enter the realm of Theobroma/Cacao.
White Chocolate – Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake – One of the most popular cheesecakes at Café Gratitude and a must have in anyone’s black book of raw desserts. As well as learning to create a truly heavenly cheesecake you will learn the art of swirling, which can turn any plain pie, cheesecake or frosting into a stunning work of art!

rollercoaster ride

So a certain someone some of you may know...
Decided it would be a good idea yesterday morning right as I was leaving for work, to jump up on the kitchen counter and eat 4 raw chocolate macaroons fresh out of the dehydrator. Now I am normally very careful with chocolate, onions, grapes and other dog poisons but she was in the bedroom asleep with the door shut and I put them on the counter with the intention of putting them away as soon as they had cooled. I didn't think she would be awake until I left for work. I was sadly mistaken and careless. She grabbed them and swallowed them whole before I even knew what happened. I woke up my sister (the vet) on her day off and she advised inducing vomiting. I had to rush to the store, buy a turkey baster and hydrogen peroxide, and race home. Trying to force the hydrogen peroxide down b bears gullet was one of the most traumatic experiences in me, chuck, and blanches lives. I was crying, blanche was red and panicked, and alex was scratched and shaky. The first two times we didn't get enough down and had to do it one more time before it finally worked. WHAT A HELL RIDE! She finally tossed her cookies (well, my cookies) and I was so happy to see them all come up whole, which means no digestion or absorption of the chocolate. I feel so awful to have been so irresponsible and put pup in harms way. Please learn from my mistake and be extra vigilant for your doggies. I am so glad I had alex to help me... We could barely hold her down together, there is no way I could have done it alone.
Today was a much better day. She and I spent the morning cleaning and napping (on her part). I did a whole bunch of grocery shopping later in the morning. Hit Raw Vegan Source (.com) and restocked on all my raw nuts and seeds I can't get elsewhere. Also enrolled for the raw mexican food and dessert classes they are having next weekend. I am pretty excited about that as they will both be using irish moss and I am really curious about that. I was a busy be when I got home... I made more macaroons (since pup ate most of mine) being very careful she couldn't snatch any. Made crackers and cashew cheese. Brazil nut milk. Oh! and of course ICE CREAM. A really good coconut ice cream. So dinner was pizza followed by a bowl of ice cream with a hot macaroon crumbled on top. YUM!

good article

Just wanted to share this nice article I just read... It is about "falling off the raw wagon" and sets a bit more realistic tone for aspiring raw foodies such as myself.

Lazy day

I am FINALLY posting (how many of my posts start with those words?) about my trip to California and a life update...
First off, California was great. Not as much Sun as I could have hoped for, and not as much raw food as I needed, but great friends and a great break from routine.
I stayed with BFF Stacey who I have convinced to go on a 30 day raw challenge (so go give her some encouragement!). She and her sister have a nice apartment a mile (maybe less) from the beach in Santa Monica, centraly located near many shopping establishments and raw eateries ;)
The first day I was there I got in the car Stacey said she had a suprise at her house for me... it was my friend ANDY!
He had been around hanging out with a mutual friend (Ben) who was down visiting from Portland and heard I was coming so stayed up in SM to see me :) We all walked to the beach and stood on the pier for a bit dispite the fact that it was raining. Good thing Ben and I brought our RAIN COATS! (to california!!! how wrong!!!) After the pier we went to Juliano's raw because I had been DREAMING of the Raw Tortilla Soup and Mocha Smoothie (hold the Love Honey, ewww). They were out of the soup and that was pretty devistating. We had some other good stuff instead... Sushi bites, Pasta Premivera, Coconut spring roll things, and smoothies.
We did some window shopping and went back to the house for a bit to rest up before the show. The heavans aligned and I just happened to be there when my two favorite (SoCal Vegan Straightedge) bands were playing at a house in Pasadena so we were all excited to go and see Andy's band play. It was like a reunion party just for me... I felt so happy and loved because none of my Orange County friends expected to see me and it was like hug after hug. I even got to see a few people who I had no idea would be there. GREAT FEELING. The show was great, sang along til my voice was scratchy, and remembered again why I love (certain, haha) hardcore.

Ran with stacey along the beach the next morning and got my first actual view of the venice boardwalk. Went to breakfast and had a mostly non-raw vegan meal with some friends from the show. It was a great but not healthy feeling meal, how often can you get vegan eggs benedict, right? ...and so good to spend extra time with some amazing people. Later went to see an awful movie and had lunch at Real Food Daily. We saw the guy who played Bud from "married with children" (my only celeb sighting of the trip) and ate more cooked food. After the second heavy meal of the day Stacey and I were exhausted and ready to go home, rest, and not eat for the rest of the day. We dropped ben at the airport and went home to veg out. The next day we went to ths SM Sunday Market and had a coconut from the Juliano's booth and some snacks. We were on a mission to find a new vegan eco friendly store of some sort we had heard of in Venice but after walking HOURS found out they weren't open on Sundays. We ate at RawVolution on the way and had the highly reccomended Nachos (from Aimee and Chris), a pudding parfait, and choc-chip cookie dough ball. The Nachos were really good, especialy the chip things, they were so fluffy and crispy. Wow. Loved the texture. I did not read the ingredients for the nachos before ordering and found out after starting that they had walnuts aplenty. I freaked myself out and nearly had a panic attack that I was going into anaphalaxis but luckily Stacey talked me down and I was fine. Haha, I am rediculous. After that it was time to go meet up with Alex's sister and nephew and go up to Ventura/Oxnard for the last day of my trip. Ate a bunch of not raw food the last day and kinda gave up trying at that point... figuring I could get back on track once I got home. It was really great to see my boyfriends family. I love them all and they are so welcoming to me. It is really comfortable :)
Took the plane home and have been catching up on work and life since then.
Here are some more pictures from my trip:

Find more photos like this on Raw Fu


Since my trip:
-Got sick from eating too much cooked food, hopefully learned my lesson for a while
-Went to a pretty fun Raw Potluck on VDay with Alex, Aimee, and Chris, met and saw some rawfu friends
- Had a few good runs, feeling good about the fact that it is STARTING to get light earlier.
- Got a new BIG TV with alex for the living room. 32" it rules.
- Worked late last night with one of our Drivers and learned how to do the delivery route. I am supposed to be sleeping right now as I have only had 3 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours but I am taking the opportunity to post this.
- Hanging with Bdog today

Oh Happy Day...

So far, today is shaping up to be a great one.
- In four days I will be in Santa Monica (it WILL be sunny! Got that, weather report?!)
- I just found out that we may be going to see two of my favorite bands play the first night I am in Ca. I am so happy because they are also my good friends and I didn't think I would end up seeing much beyond my BFF Stacey.
- Had a great run this morning, it was clear and 43 degrees (relativly warm) warm enough that m eyes didn't tear and the breath did not catch in my throat...
- I am hanging out with my other BFF today, Carey (who has a very funny blog, click here) and our dogs... Who are also best friends, though mine is a bit abusive to the black man...

- I think I successfully cultured cashew cheese for the first time the other day. Tasty!
- Looking forward to Aimee's blog post about all the food she got to eat this weekend in southern california... I think it will be a forcast of my weekend ;)