Happy 100th Post to ME!!!

What an auspicious day to make my 100th blog post. I woke to see the most beautiful foggy morning. The best part? SUN!! That's right! 2 days IN A ROW! Insane right? It sure does a lot to boost the mood here in the great northwest when we have a few days of sun. I am spending my morning cleaning the house, watching a financial "president Obama and your money" show, and waiting for my new jacket (photo coming soon!) to come in the mail.
The other night I went out with friends Aimee and Chris to dinner at Thrive. Again a great meal, and a really good time catching up with friends I hadn't seen in a while. Aimee gave me a container of some raw nacho cheese she made and i had it for dinner the next day. I put it in the vita mix for a bit to warm it up and then dipped all these veggies and some crackers in it. The funny part was that it was basically a more elaborate version of the dinner I had the night before at thrive. It was just so good I had to have it twice!

The other day I made Mock Tuna from RAWvolution and put it into collard wraps with some greens. I made three wraps and froze the rest of the "tuna" for later. I am trying to work on the preparedness part of my raw goals so I am trying out freezing left overs to see how they keep. The wraps are pretty tasty and I have one left to take to work tomorrow. There is something really satisfying about eating food that is bigger than your head.
Let's go back to the above moment in history and remember last June (7 months ago, far too long) when I was in California and went to eat at juliano's RAW with my bff Stacey. What a good time. Things have been dark and gloomy here and I have been working hard so I decided to be spontaneous and use my earned frequent flyer miles to go to LA for a few days. I will be staying with Stacey, definitely eating LOTS of great raw food, definitely running and working out in the sun, and definitely recharging my Vitamin D. 18 days and counting! I am so excited to be taking a little vacation and spending time with a very fun person. Anyone know any scams to get free frequent flyer miles or how to hack into alaskan airlines and give me more? Flying for free is awesome.

Things that stop me from eating raw... Pt. 2

An explanation first...
I seem to have maybe come off as a bit of a negative nancy. My yardsnacking friend seemed a little concerned about the tone of my last post and asked if my cup was half empty; only if its a cup of coffee buddy! Which I haven't had in weeks!
No, seriously... When I am struggling with a problem the way I am able to turn it around and figure it out is to identify ALL the barriers stopping me from reaching my destination, solve each problem (or decide if the problem really IS a problem) and take down the things stopping me so I can move forward.
That last post was my first step in identifying the barriers to me going back to 100% (or darn close) raw food. The process will be to go through each group of barriers, one item at a time if they are particularly hard to deal with, and see how to problem solve. Seems logical right?
Keep in mind that at this point I am hovering right around 75% overall... I did eat a cooked meal with friends the other day at an unnamed local vegan thai restaurant that has a buffet from 11-4 monday-saturday. It was good but I felt like crap afterwards... I am putting off the first group "social barriers" until I can think on it a little more.
The first group of "barriers" is...

Other Barriers ahh others
1. Not Being Prepared (and Other Excuses)
- Not having food on me when I am hungry
easy enough right?! ALWAYS CARRY FOOD! ALWAYS! I know lara bars aren't REALLY 100% but they are better than a lot of crap I could resort to when I get low blood sugar so if nothing else I will always have a larabar on me. Until I learn to make my own fruit/nut bars.
- Not wanting to eat what IS available that is raw
this is a little tougher... luckily I will pretty much always eat a larabar. Things I tend to turn my nose up at: uncut apples, uncut fruit in general... moral of that story: eat a banana! Or start carrying a knife. That would make me look tougher too.
- Wanting comfort food
luckily this one isn't as hard as it sounds because I am willing to spend the time preparing foods that fill this niche for me... zucchini noodles with red sauce and nutritional yeast (dream come true!) Raw pizzas with marinated mushrooms and olives (OMG!) Pie after delicious raw fatty pie!!! I just have to have it ready when I need it. Luckily I am strategizing how to get and stay ahead on my food prep and make certain things routine so I will always have them. In the past I have shied away from freezing a little bit, I think I am going to be a bit less reluctant to do so this time around so I can make MORE at once and have it keep for those days I just don't feel like being in the kitchen.
- Craving something that isn't raw
This really only happens when I am hungry. I am only hungry when I am not prepared and didn't eat. (See beginning if this list) Also if I really want to try something cooked I will taste it. In the past round this was a great way for me to assuage my cooked curiosity without overdoing it. Usually I taste it and think "no, that's not really what I wanted"
- Having no groceries
I can see this being a problem whenever work gets hectic and stressful. If I only get one day off on a week it is really hard for me to make myself go do all the shopping. I have to rent a zipcar, drive all around town getting the best deals, come put the grocerys in the house and drop the car back off before walking the 3/4 mile home. Not really so bad, and I feel fortunate that at this point in my life I can afford a car share service... but a good three hours of my day, not to mention food prep for the week. I guess I am hoping for this one that my freezing and stock pileing will see me through any weeks like this in my future and if I have several weeks like this on end maybe my boss will let me borrow a van after work one day so I can do my shopping straight from work. Cross that bridge when I get there.
- Wanting something fast and Convenient
Again, being prepared... thinking ahead of time. Always having some kind of fast and convenient option available to me. So after a long day of work if I don't feel like it I can throw something together without much thought.
- "Treating myself" to junk
Treat myself to RAW junk instead... like the coconut cream pie I made tonight!!!
(for recipe see penni's blog)
And really is "junk" really a treat? No, but it does feel like a reward, making an allowance because you deserve it or had a rough day. I just need to substitute the word raw in front of reward and I am A O K.
- Wanting something WARM
This one is a little tough because it has to do with something a little outside my control, weather. This last week hasn't been bad because it has been a bit warmer outside but especially when it was VERY cold before christmas all I wanted was HOT food. I know I can use my dehydrator to warm my foods, and I know I can drink hot tea, or use warming spices in my foods, but sometimes it doesn't feel like enough. I need more good raw soup recipes that I can let the vitamix bring up to 115 for me, and I will eat them in the bath. No really, I will. Mostly, I just need to live somewhere warm, like here where I used to live...

Not to make any of the above issues less than what they are for me, the real problem is a lack of forsight and planning. I do SO love to plan, and make schedules and systems, so if I look at it that way: as a project to try to successfully plan my raw menu, it should be fun and I will do well.

Next time...
Financial excuses!

Things that stop me from eating raw... Pt. 1

Being inspired by many of my raw compatriots lately I have been thinking a lot about my raw journey and what I am doing with my diet/body right now and why.
Being the ESTJ and Project Manager that I am I made a list of sorts to help me figure it all out...
I know some of things things are irrational and downright untrue... but these are my thoughts so I have to consider them despite their untrueness as they are affecting my overall mental picture of being a raw food eater.
I plan on breaking down each of these areas and exploring my feelings about them in later posts.

Things That Stop Me From Eating Raw
Social Aspects
1. Party's
- wanting to feel included
- not wanting to draw attention to myself
- not wanting to be a hassle to others
- being asked to bring dishes other people like that I am known for
2. Social outings/ dinners out
- not wanting to make others feel they have to go somewhere they don't like or don't want to ALWAYS go to because it is the only place I can eat
- not being able to find satisfying food at a lot of restaurants
- feeling awkward if I eat before hand and sit at the table abstaining from food
3. Dinners at home
- not cooking for my boyfriend as often
- feeling like I am not participating in taking care of our family
- not wanting to cook the favorites because I won't be eating them and I have to make my own food too

Emotional Aspects
1. Fear
- Not wanting to commit because I may decide I want to eat cooked food at some point and I don't want to break even an informal commitment
- Worry that I won't get all the things (protein, vitamins, minerals- I know totally ridiculous!) I need from my diet
- Worry that anytime I am out of my routine eating exclusively raw means I may have to feel like I am making a sacrifice
2. Guilt
- Feeling like I am not giving my bf or friends care through food like I did before
3. Feelings of Sacrifice
- Not wanting to feel that being healthy means I have to sacrifice my joy of food
- Not wanting to give up foods that may me feel good
- Not wanting to give up time with my friends or social outings because of my eating habits
- Not wanting to give up food as emotional comfort/fulfillment
- Wanting to feel full

Other Barriers
1. Not Being Prepared (and Other Excuses)
- Not having food on me when I am hungry
- Not wanting to eat what IS available that is raw
- Wanting comfort food
- Craving something that isn't raw
- Having no groceries
- Wanting something fast and Convenient
- "Treating myself" to junk
- Wanting something WARM
2. Financial
- Raw food requires more frequent shopping
- Fresh foods are more expensive
- All the raw extras I need to have and expensive
- Wanting to make sure I am not using all our food budget on my stuff, making sure there is some for bf too


With all of that you may be asking "then why the hell do you want to eat raw food anyway?"
- When I was eating REALLY high raw I felt better than ever
my energy was up, I was motivated, allergies were minimal, health was optimal, I woke up feeling rested, I was more positive, I never felt weighed down or sluggish, I was more productive, I had more focus, and I was down to a weight I felt pretty good about.
Why wouldn't I want that?

Raw Pad Thai

Got this recipe from someone on Raw Fu and have been dying to try it. Now that I have my handy zucchini noodle maker it was destined to be. I thought it was really yummy and shared with my love who thought it was good but didn't think it tasted like pad thai.


Carmella's Pad Thai Sauce
Inspired by the creations of Frederic Patenaude and Elaina Love
1 heaping Tbs tahini
1 Tbs almond butter
A few cashews
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked
2 dates, soaked
1/2 lime, juiced
1-2 garlic cloves (we love garlic!)
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
Braggs, to taste
Curry powder, to taste
Water or tomato soaking water (if unsalted!)
Blend in food processor with some water until you reach the desired consistency. (We like ours on the thick side!) Top with diced red or yellow peppers and marinated Portobellos.

Marinated Portobellos
1 Portobello mushroom
1 part apple cider vinegar
1 part Braggs or Nama Shoyu
2 parts olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp agave nectar
Cut the mushroom into bite sized pieces. Put them in a bowl with other ingredients and mix well. Spread the Portobello pieces on a teflex sheet and dehydrated them for a couple of hours. You can also serve the mushrooms non-dehydrated for an equally delicious treat!

I deviated just a little from the recipe, using garlic powder and ginger powder instead of the fresh stuff (we're in the middle of a recession!) and I garnished it with marinated (not dehydrated) crimini mushrooms, chopped almonds, bean sprouts, green onion, and lime wedges.

update... spirooli

oh, I kinda look like skelletor in that picture but I am not. I am just enjoying the last of my groceries in juice form. We are out of all greens and all fruits officialy. I had planned on grocery shopping yesterday after I went to the Raw Vegan Source Store in redmond last night but unfortunately I was stuck in traffic FOR AN HOUR... Seriously NOT MOVING. How can people do that every day? It is the reality of a lot of peoples commutes and I just can't imagine that. I would go imsane. Or at least take the bus so I could read or compute or SOMETHING. I saw so many single occupancy vehicles.
Anyway... I ran out of time and had to get the Zipcar back. As it was I ended up extending the reservation to make it back in time. It is ok though because I spent all my money at the rvs as usual. I wouldn't have been able to buy groceries anyhow. We get paid again today so maybe this evening I can shop for food.
Also, I got my veggie spiralizer and it is awesome. I haven't quite figured it out yet but I am getting there. Once I have it down smoothly maybe I will do a video demo illustrating why every kitchen should have one.
The bike is in the process of being repaired. It is nice to have a leisurly walk to work from time to time, but this day after day 2.5 mile walk is wiping me out. Mostly because it shortens my free time at home and makes me feel like my work day was an hour longer. Usually my total commuting time (by bike) is 20-25 minutes a day. Walking makes it an hour and 20 minutes to an hour and 40 minutes depending on how tiredly I am plodding to/from work. At least today I am making my way there in daylight. Makes me feel like the day isn't quite SO long if I get to spend some time outside in the daylight.
The pouring rain also doesn't help me to enjoy my 40 minute walk to work.
Summer! Where are you!!?!!

Peach Cheesecake!

I made some delicious dessert tonight, a coconut based peach cheesecake. The recipe is an approximation, I kinda just threw it together.
Filling
meat of 2 young coconuts
1T vanilla
2T coconut butter
agave to taste (about 1/4 cup)
juice of 1 lemon
1 T nutritional yeast (weird, right?!)

Peach topping
1 c chopped peaches
2T agave
2T water

Crust
1 c left over almond pulp
6-8 dates pitted
1/4 cup whole almonds
1/4t salt

Process crust, pulp salt and dates until combined add whole almonds and process until whole almond pieces are small but still add texture.
Press crust into a spring form pan.
Blend filling until smooth adding just enough water to allow blending. It is good if it warms just a little while blending to thoroughly emulsify the oil.
Smooth filling on top of crust
Blend peaches and agave and pour on top of filling.
Refridgerate a few hours and run a knife around the edge of your pan while loosening the band.
EAT and ENJOY!

Just said goodbye to some friends who have been staying the last few days. Including our friend Andy seen below ;)

And our friends in Abandon an awesome vegan straightedge band from southern california.

I think blanche will miss them most <3

sad bike...

Here is my wheel... glad it wasn't my head. Don't worry... I always wear my helmet.

My friend grabbed it today to take my hub out and rebuild the wheel. I might be walking for a few days though :(
Had a big breakfast at a friends house this morning, kinda a late christmas party. Everyone brought food or supplies to make food and i was asked to bring my "famous" cinnamon rolls. Not my words but they are damn good. Vegan desserts rule. Anyway, I ate a decent amount of cooked food with my large portion of fruit salad. I feel bad eating the cooked food despite that being my game plan. It was tasty though! I managed to eat less than half of a cinnamon roll and had NO coffee so I am doing well.
I also made sure to start my day with a green smoothie and a pear. That probably helped :)