Monthly Archives: February 2013

Getting Ready!

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Hey guys! I’m back from my weekend babysitting Delilah. She is so freaking cute and funny and smart but she is exhausting! I am so glad I have today off to recover! She’s a little too smart for her own good though and she tricks us a lot but we caught on ;) Can’t get outsmarted by a two year old! I didn’t get a lot of pics but I did get this one.

She was driving the ice cream truck ;) She’s so freaking cute. I can’t believe how big she is.

So now that I’m home I’m getting ready for my raw journey. Some things I’ve done so far today:

I’ve torn up two heads of kale and cleaned them in filtered water. I tore them up ahead of time because I thought it would cut some prep time during the week to make my salads for lunch. I’m going to get more for some kale chips too :)

I didn’t take a picture because it’s not interesting but I changed the filter in my Brita so I have a fresh one for clean water :) It seems silly but I’m paying attention to everything because who knows, maybe I have a sensitivity to chemicals? I try to eat all organic but sometimes it’s not available so I’m trying to be extra diligent with that. And with the water because that could make a difference too.

And now I’m going to comb through my raw “cook”books to look for recipes to try for dinners. I laid them all out and was surprised by how many raw books I’ve accumulated! Books I saw after I took the pic and forgot to include are Ani’s Raw Food Asia by Ani Phyo and Thrive by Brendan Brazier. I’m sure I’ll be able to use recipes from those as well.

I’m getting started tomorrow with a one day juice cleanse. After that my plan/goal is to have a green juice breakfast, a big salad for lunch, a snack that ideally includes healthy fats (veggies with almond butter, avocado, etc.), and dinner will be something different and more involved than just a salad. Who knows, I may stray from that meal schedule but a big goal is lots and lots of greens. I’m hoping to keep this up through February and depending on how I feel, add back very minimal amounts of cooked veggies (sweet potatoes, etc.) and grains like brown rice, gf oats and quinoa. That will happen slowly to see how my body takes it. Hopefully all of this effort will pay off.

That’s all for today. I’m gonna get back to the books so I can make my grocery list! I hope you all have a great day!

Updates and Nerdy Things

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Hey everyone! So let me just warn you there are no pics today, just a verbose post of things that probably don’t really matter but I’m curious about ;) As you know I’m about to embark on a raw journey. My goal is to start over the next week or two. My plan is to be as low maintenance as possible with this since raw diets are SO time consuming and SO labor intensive. I’m thinking I’ll start the day with a giant serving of green juice, midday meal will be a big green salad, an afternoon snack with healthy fats and dinner will involve some sort of effort, ha! We’ll see how that works out though. My first question for you, my friends: What is your favorite raw salad? What dressings do you enjoy (no vinegar except apple cider vinegar and no sweeteners)? What are some of your favorite raw recipes and snacks (light on fruit and no added sweeteners)?

So last night I indulged my inner uber nerd and figured out my blood type using a home blood typing kit. It was actually really fun and it brought me back to high school science lab :) My trainer and I were curious about it because there are theories of blood types contributing to certain health problems so that was the main goal behind figuring it out (and no, my Drs didn’t know or want to tell me). So now I know and I guess we’ll see what the next step is. As a side note on this whole topic, have you guys heard of eating for your blood type? I’ve heard of it and haven’t put too much thought into it but decided to take a look because I finally know what my type is and UGH! If I follow this stupid diet I’d have to get rid of tons of my staples/favorites like avocados, tomatoes, corn, lentils, peanuts, sesame seeds, beans and legumes, grains and starches, coconut, cinnamon, and pepper. I feel like if I got rid of this stuff there would be nothing left, certainly none of my higher calorie powerhouse foods! Well I’ll be getting rid of some of these foods for the raw cleanse I’ll be doing so I guess I’ll see how it works. Never getting rid of my avocados though! Have you heard of eating for your blood type? Any thoughts or do you know anyone that does it?

I may not be around for the weekend because my mom and I are babysitting Delilah and the animals while my bro and sister in law are in New Orleans for her birthday. I’m going to try and pop in but she is definitely a two person job, ha!

Hope you all have a great night! Tonight is the mid-season finale of Impractical Jokers and of course I’ll be watching. Then I’ll have to impatiently wait for the new episodes later this year :)

Mini Haul and A Plan

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Hey everyone! I know it’s been a while but I’m still around I promise. I have a few little side projects going on (small writing jobs, a small party favor job, blah blah) so I’ve been a bit busy. I’m kind of in a transition phase in terms of diet and after speaking with my trainer I decided to make a few changes to the plan. More on that later :)

First, here’s a small haul from Whole Foods this morning.

2 bunches of kale (never thought that would be the norm!), cauliflower, cucumbers, almonds, celery, avocados and zucchini.

And here’s a delicious meal I made the other day and had to share:

Extreme close up of my tofu scramble (tofu, spinach, black pepper, garlic powder and the last 1/8 cup of cheddar Daiya – I had no tofutti so I used the daiya and it was good!) and some roasted sweet potato fries. So good.

Ok, so I started training again once a week a few weeks ago. Wouldn’t you know it, my trainer has decided to start researching for me!! I thought it was so nice of him to take the time to do that. He brought me a lot of interesting information and we discussed diet changes. I had mentioned that I was planning on cutting out the sugar and he suggested that I do a 100% raw diet. No grains, no added sugars (but keep fruit)… basically fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds. I’ve decided to bring the two together and try a 100% raw diet with no grains and with limited fruit. I’m thinking about starting with just limiting to a low glycemic granny smith in my morning green juice with the option of a small piece of lower glycemic fruit for a morning snack (if necessary and only a few times a week, but I’m going to try and just stick with the apple in the juice). He said that he thinks a month of eating like this will help me control a lot of my symptoms.

I’m going to be working on transitioning into the raw diet within the next week or two. I’m still trying to get rid of some food I have in the house that I don’t want to waste and will need some time to prepare (the time and preparation is the hardest part of the raw diet) but I’m looking forward to seeing how it works! Be prepared for lots of large salads and kale, ha!

Anyway, hope you are all doing well! I lost two hours of my day today getting caught up in the Weather Channel and have some work to catch up on ;) Have a great night!

Gluten Free Almond Coconut Oatmeal Cookies!!

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Hey everyone!! Happy Valentine’s Day :) I’m not big on Valentine’s day so that’s the only mention you’ll get out of me but I figured I’d wish you all a good one. I figured today would be a great day to share my recipe for my Almond Coconut Oatmeal Cookies!! I loved these cookies so much and I really hope you’ll try them. Soooooooo good!

I used this as my start point and made a bunch of changes to create this new cookie. Yum!

Gluten Free Almond Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup gf oat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar*

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, drained on a paper towel

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 cups gf rolled oats

3/4 cups sliced almonds

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

*Instead of regular brown sugar I use Alter Eco’s Mascobado sugar that was sent to me to review. This was my secret for this recipe. It added a beautiful hint of caramel that was so perfect. I really love this sugar, you should definitely try it in place of brown sugar if you can get it in your local stores.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3. Mix the sugars, syrup, applesauce, coconut oil and extracts in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Add oats, almonds and coconut. Stir until combined then let sit for 10 minutes.

5. Drop cookies on baking sheet (I used a small ice cream scoop to portion my cookies… probably about the size of a rounded tsp). Bake cookies 10-11 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on tray then transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy!!

These cookies are seriously amazing. I really love the almond extract in it too. I may add a little almond flour next time too :)

That’s all for me my friends! Hope you all have a great night, whatever your plans may be!! I’ll be spending a quiet night at home. It’s Thursday after all… which means a new episode of Impractical Jokers :) Have a good night!

Kitchen Adventures and Rainy Day Dramz

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Hey everyone. Hope you’ve all been well over the past few days. I’m writing this from my bed, barely able to move. I’m so exhausted! And SO SORE! A little from shoveling and a little from wandering around aimlessly for hours. See what happened was I left super early this morning to run errands so I could bake this afternoon and get to the gym. Well. No. Didn’t happen. When I got out of the store and started up my car… my windshield wiper wouldn’t work. The very one I replaced two days ago. Wouldn’t move at all and it was POURING. I was a little panicked because I literally couldn’t see anything while driving but I managed to drive about a half mile or mile down the road to a gas station, where I proceeded to wait for hours for a new part. The gas station was right next to the mall so I climbed over snow mountains in pouring rain then wandered like a teenager cutting school. It was very surreal and by the end of the ordeal I was exhausted.

I don’t know about you guys, but I like to get in the kitchen after having a bad day. Even though I was exhausted, I still managed to make all three recipes I had wanted to make :) Check em out!

 The first recipe I made was Alicia Silverstone’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. I’ve made these before and they always come out great!

It is my friend’s birthday this week and these are his absolutely favorite treat. I first made them for him a few years ago and it has become a tradition. The recipe made 12 large cups and they fit perfectly in two layers in this cute little box.

There are a few other birthdays I’m celebrating in April and decided to gift these friends with some homemade cookies. I’ve been holding on to a recipe I wanted to try for a while and figured this would be the perfect time to test it out. I am so happy with the way these came out and I can’t wait to share the recipe later on this week!

Check out these beauties! They are my Gluten Free Almond Coconut Oatmeal cookies. They are light, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I pulled out a secret weapon for this batch as well. Stay tuned to see what I used!!

The last recipe I tried was Laura’s Raw Snickers!!!! I knew the minute I saw these I HAD to try them before I embark on the Anti Candida Diet. These cuties are the naked candies, pre-chocolate dipped. My caramel was a little chunky since I don’t have an awesome high speed blender but I’m ok with some date chunks in my caramel ;)

The finished product. My bars aren’t as pretty as Laura’s but oh well. Not too bad I guess!

I cut one of the bars in half… you know, so you guys could see the inside ;) I tried a small half and it was so delicious!! They are decadent and definitely worth all of the effort. This treat will be a perfect send off into ACD land.

This will probably be the last sweet I have for a few months as I did a great job using up most of my sweeteners today (maple syrup, agave, dates, etc.). I just have a little bit of fruit to use up then I’m ready to start!! I’m excited about starting and hoping to see some improvement in how I’m feeling. I’m hoping to keep it up through the next couple of months, maybe until the spring? The plan in to be strict for at least three months then start reintroducing fruit slowly in the spring. Hopefully I’ll be able to tolerate fruit by the summer so I can enjoy my watermelon, cherries and berries (in moderation of course;)).

That’s all for today. I’m planning on just crashing the rest of the night and relaxing big time. Hope you all have a great night!

We Found Nemo!

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Hey everyone! I hope you are all staying warm and dry. How did everyone do with the storm? Its hard to tell how much we got because of the ridiculous drift that happens and from the plows creating a giant wall but it was pretty significant. I’d say between 1 and a half and 2 feet maybe?

Woke up early this morning and dug through piles of ice (the wall built by the plow came up past my waist!!) then I showered quickly and was at work by 10:45. I found that pretty impressive :) Anyway, I figured I’d pop on here to see how everyone did in the storm and show you some pictures of what I’ve been eating and Nemo’s wrath.

This was early yesterday… maybe about 5pm. The icy sleet had finally turned to snow. It looked pretty for a few minutes but I was over it quickly.

This is what we woke up to. You can see how high it is when you look at the back of my car (the one sticking out onto the sidewalk). It was pretty high and it was really icy (they didn’t salt until after we started shoveling) but now it’s all nice and clean.

My Nemo snack/dessert was my cashew milk. It was rich and creamy and delicious. Definitely a rare treat given it’s price but it was really good.

Now to play catch up:

I tried the Good Belly Probiotic Shot. I had the Strawberry flavor as you can see. When I opened it the first thing I thought of when I smelled it (I didn’t sniff it, you can smell it when you open it… it’s pretty potent) was that it smelled exactly like a Strawberry NutriGrain bar tastes. Makes sense since it contains strawberries and oats. It tasted ok but I felt really nauseous after. I don’t know if that was just me or if it was actually an effect of the drink. Haven’t tried it since, maybe tomorrow since I’ll be home in case I don’t feel well.

Raw Kale Caesar salad with baked tofu croutons.

Peanut butter and banana on a gf tortilla. So good!

That’s all for today! How did you all do with the storm (well, those of you in its path that is)? Yay for my weekend and having 2 days off! I plan on getting stuff done, ha!

Have a great night friends!

Grocery Haul and Illness

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Hey guys. This is going to be a quick one because I’m home sick today :( I think I have some sort of sinus infection. Been getting bad headaches and my face is actually tender to the touch so I’m just trying to knock it out today. Haven’t posted in a while so I wanted to show you a little something so here is a grocery haul.

Produce: Sweet potatoes, baby spinach, bananas, oranges, carrots, granny smith apples and scallions.

Groceries: Daiya Cheddar, dates, gf oat flour, cacao powder, cashew milk (I’ve been dying to try this stuff), Good Belly shots with probiotics, black rice noodles (for soba like dishes), dry roasted peanuts and gluten free tortillas.

That’s all I have. As a side note, this will be the last time you’ll see a lot of these items in my grocery haul. I’m just about ready to try the Anti Candida diet again which means I’ll be cutting ALL sugars (including fruit and starchy veggies), soy, certain nuts, etc. I plan on sticking pretty closely to this list of Foods To Eat and this list of Foods to Avoid. I anticipate this being a challenge but I’m ready for it. I’m just very tired of being sick so hopefully this will be a key to feeling better.

OK I need to stop looking at the computer so have a great day!

Another Day, More Food

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Hey everyone! Nothing new going on here so I won’t go on and on about nothing. I guess the only update is that I have been getting back to the gym a little more and that’s felt pretty good :) Feels nice to get back into a routine.

Had some pretty great meals today!

Breakfast was so simple but so delicious! It was a gluten free tortilla with peanut butter, banana and cinnamon. I only wish I had more time because I would have toasted it up quesadilla style. It was still amazing though and it was SUPER filling.

This is actually a recycled pic because everyone was around today at work but I had the same exact meal. Rice and beans and stewed zucchini from next door. Really delicious and hearty.

Snack was an unpictured orange.

For dinner I just chowed down on a raw kale caesar salad with roasted sweet potato fries. It was an absolutely perfect end to the day.

That’s all for now. Planning a trip to Whole Foods tomorrow morning. Not really into football but I’m going to go to my brother’s house for the Superbowl… mostly to hang out with Delilah and the animals :) Do you have any plans for the big game?

Have a great night everyone!