Back to blogging!

Hello! Where has the time gone?? I have been attending our local raw meet ups over the past few months and tried some fun recipes. Right now I am participating in a raw challenge to be 30 days raw in the month of January. It is going well. I also gave up coffee almost 3 weeks ago. That was much harder than eating raw. I still miss her, my friend coffee but I am less cranky. I am not sure the 2 are related but I will take it!
One of the pot lucks I attended was a pizza making class. The food was delicious and the company was great. Here is a couple of pics of the fresh live food.

Real food vs fake food

I sent the following letter to The Food Network today after watching the program Hungry Girl. Lisa Lillien is very popular with the Weight Watcher world and weight loss community. Let me know what you think, was I too harsh or not harsh enough.

I just watched your program Hungry Girl and the first thing that comes to mind after viewing it, no wonder she is hungry, she did not use one real ingredient of food in her dishes. I believe I did see a tablespoon or two of chocolate chips and 12 raspberries. But that was it.


Lisa makes Sandra Lee look like an Iron Chef. The recipes (which term I use loosely) look like they are taken straight from the late 1980's. I half expected her to introduce The Go-go's at the end of the segment. I understand her demographic, she appeals to masses because she wants the "goodies and treats" every day. When the truth is the reason people want this "stuff" everyday is because it's not real food. The subsitutes for sugar and fat are addictive because they do not satisfy, creating a desire for more. When we use real food ingredients and small portions we are satisfied and we may not crave desserts every day, maybe weekly.


She also answered a question about organic foods and if they have less calories. She said no. Which is true when speaking about processed foods, but she could have added that organic produce is better when using the raspberries that she used at the end of the program.


I did like that she addressed what a real portion size looks like.


I am surprised that this program would be on The Food Network. It seems it would be a better fit for one of those shows where 5 women sit around and complain about today's' topics and then end their show with a segment on how women can be thinner.

A birthday gift

I was super excited to get this t-shirt for my birthday!

The end of the cleanse

I am wrapping up my cleanse and I indulged in wine and other triggers this weekend and I feel awful. I did not juice Saturday or Sunday and I can totally tell.  I stayed in bed an extra hour, feel sluggish and overall just tired. So last night I headed back to the neighborhood co-op to pick up some of my favorite raw/cleansing yummies. Bubbie's pickles, raw onion bread and some sprouts. I am going to double up on green juice today and ask my body for forgiveness. I will continue to juice in the morning now that I see what happens when I don't. Also I have lost my mojo for coffee. I think that I really want the sugar/syrup that Starbucks offers in my Venti French Roast.

Although I didn't do exactly what Kris suggested, I really did have some great results from the cleanse.
I lost 12 pounds, realized that I really do have an addiction to sugar and I love green juice. (Which I already knew but it was reinforced). I wish I was better about blogging every day but it's not in me.

I am planning to this 21 cleanse again in July.  But this time I plan to do it with a group of people.

Day 9

My juice was dark green today. Out of apples so I put in carrots for sweetness, not the same. I add also the one lemon. The combo was OK but not the best I have ever had.
I used baby romaine, kale, celery, cucumber, ginger, carrots and lemon. I really missed my apple.

A new favorite

Soaked kelp noodles



Crack like spicy "peanut" sauce



My rainbow of veggies cukes, red cabbage, carrots, red & yellow peppers

Chopped nappa cabbage

Topped with kelp noodles-pour yummy crack sauce, I mean peanut sauce over salad.



Try not to eat it in all one sitting.

So the second week is going well. I have had some sugar and have seen negative effects from it. Sluggish, crabby and craving returned with the sugar. So goodbye to you.
I made this veggies, kelp noodle, spicy almond sauce and could not stay of of the sauce. So good!

A look at my garden

Romaine

Kale beautiful kale

Mint

My first fruit of the season

Both flat and curly parsley

Red cabbage

Basil my second love after kale

Here's some pictures I took this morning in my garden. Enjoy.