The big blog overhaul plan

So I have been crazy. Work has been crazy. Home has been crazy. My car has been driving me crazy. The dog has been giving me a crazy look.

So my plan is to continue my break, and come September I am going to start a new 100%challenge and blog daily. I have so many cool recipes to test and I have been experimenting with my own recipes.

enjoy the summer blogworld.

I'm a slacker baby...

...so why don't you kill me....
I know, slacker, no posting for me. Not that many folks read this, I think mostly some peeps from my raw food group (hi peeps!).

So work has been crazy, so it has been smoothies breakfast lunch and dinner. I have managed to put together some fabulous concoctions using my new food processor.

My lastest crazy is a grapefruit green smoothie. Sounds gross, but my god is it good.

1 large grapefruit (I prefer pink)
1tbs agave
2tbs coconut butter
1/4 c shredded coconut
1 banana

Toss it all in the blender with some water and get it going. Once I see all the juice is moving about getting mushed I add in 5-8 ounces of spinach.

It is a super springy green color, and tastes soo goooooood. I had two yesterday.

Wednesday at the Park with the dogs...

So I have been a bad blogger...bad bad bad...but here is my excuse (and it is lame):

I have been eating mostly fruit, which is something I do at times. I don't know why I go through these periods but I will eat the same food (or in this case food group) every day for weeks on end. I once went for a period of about 2 weeks eating corn for dinner every night. Just corn. So with just eating fruit I haven't had much exciting in the raw foods to report.

The second part of the excuse is that I have been LOVING the spring weather here so much that I have spent every possible moment outside. Including taking out my favorite boys in the world...Mr.Howard and Senor Ramon. We went down to the Esplanade yesterday and had a blast walking (and for Howard, swimming in) the Charles River. Always a good place for smells, tinkling, and eating disgusting rotting trash (again, HOWARD!).

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Honestly...how can anyone look at these faces and not want to go for long, sunny, rotting trash filled walks!

One week raw...

So it has been 8+ days of going raw...still loving it. I am starting to venture into my own recipes, but I am also excited to try more of the yummy ideas other people share. I made some freezer fudge last night, a great snack for the week, and now I am working on my popcorn substitute. I am soaking some quinoa, and I am going to try an agave/seasalt mixture to hold it together. Something like making "kettle corn" bars, but without the popped corn and the sugar.

Now for the good stuff...I have lost 15lbs effortlessly with this raw food thing. My patients are really noticing and my jeans are a little bigger. SWEEET!

My friend and I are planning a trip to NY. We are going to brave the Chinatown bus and head to NYC to see CryBaby: The musical (gotta love John Waters) and catch dinner at Pure Food and Wine. I am so excited. I can not wait to get ice cream for the ride home!

Raw Weekend- Saki Cocktails

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm SAKI!
So I have read that most hard core raw foodists do not agree with alcohol as part of the diet. These people obviously do not work in healthcare. There is nothing better than a glass of wine when I get home, and now thanks to Sarma I have discovered the joys of saki.

Yum yum saki cocktails.

Saturday night, because I am very exciting and cool, I went over to my sisters for Wii Bowling with snacks and cocktails. Now this poses a problem because I am doing the whole raw thing and everyone else can dive in to snacks. So I brought some sun chips from Organic Garden and some spinach/artichoke dip for sampling and myself. I also brought the making for Pineapple Saki Mojitos....oh joy of joys. I have to admit not being a huge fan of the sun chips and it made me realize I SO need a dehydrator, but the saki made everything go down smooth.

Oh I also got an awesome new high powered super duty food processor. I am in food processor heaven. YEAH! made some "refried beans" out of sunflower seeds with mole sauce and stuffedit all in a big pepper. Delish.

Uncooking!

This was my kitchen Monday afternoon...bowls of soaking nuts (tee hee) and appliances everywhere. Two hours later I had plenty of yummies for the week. Since starting my "I am gonna go 100% raw" plans, people have been saying that they couldn't possibly spend the time preparing the food. I find that very strange since the time has not been an issue.

On Monday night I managed to make an entire week of meals and snacks in a matter of two hours. This included a chocolate pudding and an awesome chocolate tart for a co-workers birthday. Sure there was quite a bit of chopping, food processing and shredding...but overall it was just about the same amount of labor time as I did when cooking with gas.

I am still honeymooning with the raw food. After a few weeks of about 90% raw foods and now the 100% raw, I am still loving the food. I am still working through my green smoothies and green juices in the morning, but lunch and dinner are rocking my world

4/1/08 - Day One

This day one of my 30 days of 100% raw food challenge. I have the books and the recipes and all kinds of fun things blended in my fridge. So what did I choose to eat? I had a huge green smoothie for brekkie, and then nothing...I was full. Apparently a 20oz green smoothie can do any girls stomach in for the day. I have mixed my own little trail mix of dried fruits, raw nuts, and some of One Lucky Duck's awesome cinnamon cripies so that is pretty much grazing food every day.

I confess that I am hording the blonde macaroon's that I ordered...heaven help the roommate that tries to steal one! They are better than the fully cooked and fat laden version.

Last thursday in preparation for the big 30 days I dragged my friends down to Grezzo a new raw food restaurant in Boston. I LOVED the food. Big Daddy (my roommate) and I enjoyed the chef's tasting which was just plate after plate of goodness. Well , that is after the soups. From things I have read about raw food, soups can be enjoyed at a low temp. These soups were cold...not fun...I really liked the taste of the carrot soup but I wanted it a little warmed.

Other than the soup debacle we had an awesome meal. The sliders were overall the favorite at the table. I enjoyed my lasagna, which inspired me to make my own for dinners this week.

Not sure the friends loved it quite so much, apparently I was the only one without GI issues after dinner. I am going to eventually get a road trip together to Pure Food and Wine but I don't want to push it quite yet.

So off to walk the pooches...lunches this week will be the Thai Lettuce Wraps in "Raw Food, Real World", dinner is my lovely lasagna (if I am hungry). On the plus this day one is going great so I am looking forward to week one being pretty much the same.

I also can't wait to mix up some saki cocktails this weekend!