A Day of Raw #7

Today I participated in a "call-in" for people who are participating in a 21-day Raw Food Challenge. This is being organized by the good folks over at Living Well Now. It was a great conversation and very informative. I took notes and posted them on my discussion board over at my 313HealthyMe Face Book page. I will post a few excepts from my discussion board in just a minute. For now, let's talk about my DAY #7 today marks that day and it feels great. I haven't had any adverse feelings or affects from eating the raw food. I didn't expect that I would but you never really know. I started my day with a nice smoothie. It was a nutritious green smoothie made with dates, banana, oranges, pear, and spinach. I always make enough for my family because they love the taste and they look forward to my smoothies. So every time I make my morning smoothie I always make enough for five people to have a tall glass. Later in the day I enjoyed  a snack that I made with  raisins, apples, sunflower seeds, and honey. This is a quick treat that satisfies hunger and provides various levels of nutrition.

Well, as promised, I thought to share an excerpt from my discussion board and here it is:

I am listening to a call in conference with the folks over at livewellnow. The number of rebirth is 21 is what Christopher says. He is very excited and energetic in his delivery. Brandi Rollins is the author of Raw Foods on a Budget and she talked about chapters 2 - 3 of her book. She provided a free download of these chapters available from her website http://www.rawfoodsonabudget.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/RFBudgetchp2-3010110c.pdf

Buy what you need and eat all you have is what she says. When you get down to a few little ingredients you become really creative. These are some strategies that she outlines in her book.

Eat in season is another tip that she has for raw foodist.The food that is in season is cheaper than the food that isn't in season. "Season" food is food in your current environment and it is fresher.

She created a menu plan to give certain experiences. "Lightness" is one of the experiences she described for breakfast. Fresh fruit in the morning will fill you up and keep you satisfied. She says have 2-3 of that fruit in the morning. It is a mono meal! She wants everyone to experience that satisfying feeling. Mid-morning snack is a handful of soaked nuts. She says take your time and eat them. Savor them. For lunch she says experience satisfaction. Collard greens and peppers is a filling meal. It will give you tons of vitamin c. Brazil nuts are a part of that recipe as well. She has a recipe that includes sunflower seeds, apple, carrots, dijon mustard or mustard powder. The meal she outlines will last for two days and the price will be about six dollars. She says you will be satisfied and you shouldn't be hungry until dinner.

The feeling for dinner she wants you to experience is sensuality. She created.....

To read more please click on this link

A Day of Raw #6

I have been really enjoying my Raw Food and fitness fun daze craze and last night is a good example. Normally, I enjoy making something in the gourmet category as raw food goes. I like to refer to the gourmet side of raw food as any recipe that requires you to take a food from it's original form and put it into another form like making smoothies, nut butters, cereals, etc. Last night, however, I was so moved by my decision to go raw that I just wanted to eat some veggies unadulterated. I almost never eat my raw food meals like this just because I have so much fun preparing them. I had a different vibe last night. I just cut up some veggies and used a cheese dip that I had prepared earlier along with the last of my tabbouleh salad. It was like having a healthy snack and my cheese sauce was unbelievably delicious too. I thought I should dress them up a bit with some dulce flakes. This is a very quick and nutritious meal. tastes great and feels light on your stomach. Give it a try and add your favorite dip or sauce.

For breakfast I had a wonderful recipe that I created from an inspiration I had during my 2009 100 day raw food and fitness journey. I call my recipe RAW Macada-APPLE cinnamon cereal. It looks like a raisin brand with the crunch if a corn flake and the taste of cinnamon granola treats. Soooooo multi-delicious :-) I snack on it as well as have it for my breakfast along with some chilled FRESH Almond Milk.

FRESH Almond Milk (RAW)

Raw Macada-APPLE cinnamon breakfast cereal

A Day of Raw #5

Today I had one of my favorite raw soups for lunch. I sprinkled a generous helping of Raw Cheesy Kale chips on top. This  is an easy meal to make. I love this meal and I find myself eating it throughout the day. I can make a variation of it that is reminiscent of a V-8 juice drink. All the ingredients are fresh and if you are able to grow a garden (check out my Urban Garden) then you could have an Organic tomato soup experience (lol). I also made a wonderful fruit smoothie to enjoy after eating this savory treat. the smoothie was made with frozen wild berries, banana, papaya, and fresh squeezed tangerine. How nice the flavors, how nutritious the meal. If you wold like to have the exact recipe then please check out my You Tube videos and watch how I prepare this meal. It is easy and nutritious too!

Overhead view of my Tropical Berry Fruit smoothie treat

A Day of Raw #4

This is a raw meal I made for my dinner on Jan. 4th. My fourth day of raw food and fitness fun. I had the camera set to view the tomato tabbouleh salad up close. It was sooooo tasty and easy on my digestive system too. Tabbouleh is one of the foods that I enjoy at anytime. I fell in love with this salad when I had my first experience with middle eastern food. There was a restaurant just outside of the city that had a great middle eastern food community. Once I tasted the salad I was hooked. I learned how to make it and the rest is history. This meal also included a Raw marinated mushroom burger on Romain lettuce (used in place of bread).

There was tomato and a Raw cheesy sauce. When you look closely, you notice that I shredded romain lettuce into the tabbouleh. I also sliced some cherry tomatoes up on top and sprinkled Dulce flakes over everything.

2011 Raw Food and Fitness Fun Daze Craze!

For this new year I have added a FaceBook page for this blog. It is called 313HealthyMe and will chronicle my activity for my newest journey entitled:

2011 Raw Food and Fitness Fun Daze CrAzE!

I will discuss things that pertain to raw food and vegan living. My meals will be searchable there and links to videos demonstrating the preparation of my raw food meals will be available as well. With the new year comes a fresh new outlook and new discoveries along the way. Follow this blog and watch as I SHRINK (lol). My diet will help me to align myself with my inner most desire to become the healthiest that I can be. I invite any and all to join me, ask questions, and offer support if you would like. I remain open to new discoveries and welcome the challenges that are ahead.

Kale Chips my first Raw food prep of 2011

Today is the first day past my 5- day water only fast. I took the first two days of this new year to transition from the water fast using organic raw fruit and veggie juice. I wanted to do 30-days of raw fruit and veggie juice but thought it would be better to let my body decide. As of today, my body unanimously chose the raw

food and fitness fun for 365 days (see my You Tube video). I made my first raw food dish of the new year and it was Kale Chips.

I also made my all-time favorite Savory Raw tomato soup and a wonderful berry smoothie! I felt so excited to make these dishes and found myself making videos to post on my 313HealthyMe YouTube channel. Amazingly, I haven’t had any desires to cook or eat anything outside of my raw food menu. I have been gathering some of my best recipes and finding new ones to try. I feel a sense of accomplishment and elevation from my former process of eating. If there was anything I could say to anyone who was looking into starting a raw food diet or just getting into a healthier way of living it would be….

1. Put daily practices in place and hold true to them.
2. Approach your daily life from the heart.
3. Seek not to change others but be the reflection of them and change self.
4. Always promote a positive position in place of one that is out of balance.
5. Create a path ideal for you and be your own architect.
6. Remain true to your path for life!
7. Minimize monumental imbalances moment by moment.

These are seven of my prime promises that I live by daily. Developing a positive outlook in the face of less positive positions is a daily challenge and will create a stronger resolve!

Raw Food and Fitness Fun for 2011

This is the first day of the new year and marks the end of my 5-day water (only) fast. The first two days of the new year I will spend preparing myself for the beginning of my 365 day raw food and fitness fun daze! It is advisable to slowly move yourself from water only to raw juice then on to solids. I plan to have a two-day juice feast then my raw food fun begins.

On Day #4 and #5 of my water fast I thought about the 365 day Raw Food and Fitness Fun Daze and began to get my mental list together. I had to figure out what I was going to focus on and how I would initiate the journey. I had been tossing around the idea of doing a juice feast for another week maybe even the entire month of January. Then I thought it might be too much for my body to handle. In my deepest thoughts, I still want to proceed with the 30-day juice feast. I want to drink freshly prepared fruit and veggie drinks day in and day out. I want to make smoothies until I am all out of recipes and I have exhausted my collection of raw food books. I want to find myself looking at the calendar and noticing that I have come to the end of January and all I have consumed is fresh juice. I want to do this very much and I don't want to break it. So I have decided to let my mind rest on the idea for the next two days. When I have completed the transition from the water fast, whatever my mind and body has determined is the way I will proceed. The options are 30-days of fresh fruit and veggie drinks or enter into the raw food journey immediately. What do you think I will choose. What would you choose if you were me?