Grawnola

My husband, my mother, my son and my babysitter devoured my raw granola. This makes me very happy. I've got orders to make more. See recipe below.

2 cups almonds, soaked
2 cups cashews, soaked
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked
1 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked
1 cup goji berries, soaked
Dash of sea salt
Raw honey

Drain all the soaked ingredients well. Blend the nuts first in food processor and place in large bowl. Blend the remaining ingredients except for raw honey and add to large bowl. Stir well and add as much raw honey in order for the mixture to bond well.
Dehydrate for at least 24 hours on Teflex sheets. When the top part of the granola is hard, flip over sheets and remove teflex sheets. Dehydrate for another 8-12 hours. Break apart the granola with your hands and keep in an airtight container. Enjoy with almond milk or alone.

Mango Pie

Yesterday evening I had so much fun with my friends and family. Hubs made a Spanish paella that looked fantastic. The guests devoured it. I enjoyed my salad of cucumbers and cabbage. I wasn't that hunger in the evening. I tend to graze during the day. Naturally my guests were wondering why I wasn't eating the paella and I explained about my diet. They were curious and understanding. The wife commented that one would certainly lose a lot of weight. I've dealt with a variety of attitudes about the raw food diet. Theirs was great even though I could tell they weren't interested (at least for now) to live on a raw food diet.

Dessert was a smash! They loved my mango pie and I did too. Hubs went crazy over it. So much so that I thought we were going to have baby #3. It was fantastic and so Über easy to make. I used ataulfo mangoes which are my favourite. These type of mangoes create a more richer and naturally sweeter filling.





Tonight, I will meet with a professional track & field coach about jumpstarting my training. This should help with my pelvic recovery. I am really excited about it and hope that he isn't too expensive. I really need to balance my budget and work within my means if I ever hope to accomplish my financial and personal goals.

Okra

Yesterday, I made my husband's favourite Indian dish: okra with tomatoes, onions in a non-dairy sauce served with chappatis. For the first time I was quite tempted to eat the okra. I will try to make the same version raw. Onions are pretty strong raw so I'm looking for a marinade that won't change the overall taste of the recipe and keep the flavour of the onions mild.

My hubs made a strawberry batido (Cuban milkshake) and so I made my own with mangoes, strawberries and some parsley. I thought mine was fantastic! I wouldn't say it was a green smoothie but the hint of parsley made it taste nice. Lately I've been obsessed with mangoes. I need to make sure I balance it out with enough greens.

Tomorrow, I'm having company over to see my newborn. My husband wants to do the cooking for the guests. Even though he is a vegetarian (with the occasional desire to eat some fish), he hasn't embraced raw veganism. He does support me though and that's very important to me.
I'll make sure I have a salad so that I may enjoy it and I'll be making a raw dessert...something with mangoes. Mmm... I'll post the pics tomorrow.

Returned to Running

Last night I decided to return to running. It's been a long time and I miss it so. I figured that I could take it slow. I wouldn't say that the pelvic injury is 100% healed rather 85%. I still feel some soreness at times. I pulled out all my running gear. Santiago and Ernesto were fed and rested, hanging out with papa.

Well as soon as a I stepped on the concrete and began to run, I felt pain. WoW! I'm not ready to run yet. It felt as if something was pressing down on my pelvic bone everytime I took a step. It was a premature move. I ended up walking instead. I realized while walking that I still walk like a penguin a bit. Until my gait is back to normal and balanced, I can't be running.

Nonetheless, I am very pleased with the progress. Seven weeks ago I couldn't even move my legs and get out of bed. Now I'm quite mobile.

I celebrated my accomplishments with a tasty raw concoction of mango, strawberries, an orange and dates all blended. It was delicious.

Having fun with raw foods

I had participated in a Frederic Patenaude contest a year or so ago. The contest was to create a visually enticing raw dish. I came in second place. I don't remember what the prize was because I don't think I claimed it or received it. Hahaha.

Tah-dah!!

Caterpillar
Button mushroom body, cranberry eyes, grape nose and cucumber legs

Porcupine
Green grapes, canteloupe body, red grape eyes, strawberry body

Car
Daikon car, cucumber wheels, cranberry hubcabs, not sure what the head is but the hat is a button mushroom

A lady
Daikon head, cranberry eyes, cucumber mouth, orange torso, dragon fruit skirt

Today was a great day. My eldest son who is 3 years old behaved very well today. Lately he has been acting out with temper tantrums and disobedience. I know it has to do with the terrible twos (which started late for him) and having another member of the family. It's been very trying for me but I have the wonderful support of my sweetheart.

A few days ago I had made some sweet plantain chips. They were delicious and sweet. I have to watch my love of raw sweets. I'll just make these once in awhile. I have such a hectic schedule that I need to make simple quick raw foods. I do love my crackers so I make those on the weekends, enough to last a month.

Feeling the difference

I feel the changes again with my body being slowly restored to its natural form. My body is detoxing and honestly, it feels great. The healing is wonderful even though I've been running to the bathroom after every bite of food. I have been eating mainly raw smoothies in the morning and a sunflower/almond pâté at lunch and a juice or water with lemon in the evening.

It's quite a challenge raising a toddler and a newborn while maintaining a decent household. I find I'm making two kinds of food: raw for myself and cooked vegan for the rest of the family. One thing that is wonderful is that I have the support of my sweetheart. He started out as a hardcore carnivore but I guess I influenced him with my juices and smoothies. He supports a vegetarian diet but not ready to take the plunge into raw. It's nice now to see the fridge completely filled with vegetables and fruits.

I started yoga again but couldn't complete all the poses as I still have soreness in the muscle and pelvic bone area. When I twist, the pain is there. In time this will pass. Tomorrow, I'm going to include running again, but I will be taking it verrrry slow.

Back after a 2 year absence

Wow! I can't believe it has been 2 years since I last used my blog...boo to me. I am back and dedicated. So much has happened. I have another baby boy, mi querido Santiago. I was off the rawfood wagon during my pregnancy (boo to me again). I had a rough pregnancy, which I believe had to do with my awful SAD diet. My delivery resulted in a pelvic injury and I was unable to walk. I was in the hospital for one week. Recovery has been faster than expected. I no longer need a walker and I can carry my son and walk at the same time. I have eliminated animal products (with the exception of raw honey) and I feel so much better. During my pregnancy I had a lot of mucus and I kept getting colds. No more colds and mucus now that I have brushed up on my diet. Now I need to release the pounds I had packed on. This was worse than the first time around but I am determined. If I intend to walk the walk and talk the talk, it starts now. Woo-hoo!!

WoW! It's been so long

It's been over a month since I've written. Back to work, back to school. Very exhausted. Lately I've been maintaining a 95% raw diet and I'm very happy about that. The key is planning and I've been planning my meals in advance and doing my grocery shopping with a list. I've been feeling a lot better and my skin is clearing up again. I've had my temptations but I've managed to overcome them.

I was tempted to make sushi (cuz I loooove sushi) but I distracted myself by cleaning my kitchen floors. As strange as it may sound, it was quite rewarding *laughter*. I make an effort to get more sleep.

Being raw is great! It is the diet/lifestyle for me.

Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day and my special Valentine and I are going to have a wonderful Valentine's lunch at my friend's raw restaurant. It'll be a wonderful time for mother and son.



This is my son enjoying his green smoothie. Trust me, it's delicious.

Recipe

1 large sweet mango, chopped
1 1/2 cups of diced fresh pineapple
1/2 apple (your choice)
1/2 banana (optional)
2 cups or more of chopped fresh spinach
Water

In a strong blender (like a Vita-Mix) add fruits, spinach and enough water to blend to your consistency. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

It's My Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Happy birthday to all of me!!!!!
Happy Birthday to me!

I think I'll go to my friend's raw restaurant and celebrate. There'll be a party for me on Saturday. I'll be honest, I'll be eating cooked food. The theme is Tropicanadá. We're going to dress up. I'll be munching on some arroz y tostones!! (So much for my 30 days)

LOL!! I love life!

New Year's Resolution

I had purchased the documentary DVD "Breakthrough" about Storm, Jinjee and their children...the raw-vegan family. It was well done, very informative. The daughter, Shale is soooo adorable. I am very impressed about the way they live and how they take care of themselves. It was very inspiring.

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to spend less money and to learn to live on less. Healthwise I'm going to try to eat a 100% raw diet for 30 days. I've done it once before and I saw the wonderful results. This may be harder because it is my birthmonth and I know a lot of friends will want to go out with me to restaurants and stuff. I'll just have to find a way to work around it.

Another of my resolutions is to get more rest. I'm not getting enough sleep and it shows. I've been getting a lot of headaches. The more rest I have the more I'll be able to enjoy my time with my son.

The Raw Lunch

My percussion teacher loved the lunch. He was quite impressed that the food tasted so good. He said for something that was just pure fruits and vegetables, it was delicious.

Here are the pics of the meal I made.


Raw spaghetti with marinara sauce. Spaghetti is made from shredded zucchini. I also added marinated Portobello mushrooms, red peppers and herbs and spices. The sauce is made from tomatoes, herbs, strawberries, pineapple, Nama Shoyu, shallots, olive oil.


Raw chocolate pie in a Brazil nut crust topped with strawberries. Raw carob is used as a replacement to chocolate. Looks good. It was gooood.



My percussion teacher. The smile on his face says it all.

Raw Lunch for my Percussion teacher

Next Tuesday will be my last lesson with my percussion teacher until February. After the exam that day, we will be hanging out and talking about Afro-peruvian music, culture and his upcoming trip to Peru. I offered to make something to eat. I told him that since I'm veg, there will be no meat. At first I was thinking about making a vegetarian version of a Jamaican dish called "Stew Peas and Rice". But I don't want to eat anything cooked that day. I only do that once a week and that's not the day I want to do that. So I've decided to make him a 100% raw meal. It'll be new to him. I'm not necessarily trying to convert him but I know he has no idea what it entails. The menu will be:

Pasta w/ Marinara sauce (the pasta is made of zucchini)
Raw choconut pie
Sorrel

He's going to love it!

Raw Fritters

I have a pretty good recipe for making plantain fritters. It's really good. Tastes like the real thing. Fritters are concoction of mashed fruit or vegetables or fish covered in a batter and deep fried. It's very popular in the English and French Caribbean. My raw version doesn't need a batter and it certainly doesn't need to be deep-fried. I use a dehydrator and it works just as well and keeps the enzymes in tact.

Flu Shot

I see it everywhere: in the news, on bus shelters, in doctor's offices, on the subway. Get your free flu shot. I haven't had a flu shot in years. The last time I had it was in Morocco. I didn't like it and decided not to take it anymore. I figured that I eat wholesomely, try to get plenty of rest and exercise. Even with threats of the avian flu, I'm not compulsed to get it. However, I've been thinking a lot about it for my son. I've been doing a lot of reading on the pros and cons. My son's pediatrician recommends it but he's not pushing me to do. He just told me to think about it. My son is as healthy, if not healthier than me. He is with me almost 100% of the time. I make homemade babyfood, he still breastfeeds and gets plenty of rest and exercise. I rarely get sick, I haven't had a cold and neither has he. As I may be returning to work late February early March. It is possible that my son may need daycare. I'm dreading it. A friend of mine has her child in daycare and I remember the uncle telling me that his nephew always gets sick but then he's fine again. He's in full-time daycare, with other children. Lots of children + enclosed space + germs = maybe I should give my son the flu shot. Ugh.

Recipe Book

For the past few months I've been working on a raw recipe book. There are a lot out there but I think my idea may work. I've been trying out recipes. I made my infamous (at least among raw foodists) tropical grawnola. It is really good. It's a combination of nuts, tropical fruit and agave syrup. Once I make it I have to give it away or I'll eat the whole batch. I thought the granola would taste great with milk (raw almond milk) but I wasn't digging it. I think it had nothing to do with the combination. I'm just not a cereal person even if it is raw.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to jogging with my baby again. It was raining heavily today. I'll still go out in the rain as long as it is a light drizzle.

Rough Days

A few days ago I was feeling a little down. My studies are tiring me and it's hard taking care of my son. I had a cooked meal and I could feel the changes to my body. Even though I'm not 100%, it's not good for me to eat cooked food in a negative state of mind. I normally choose a day where I know I'll be eating cooked food and I prepare for it. That way it's not a shock to my system. It's usually a vegetable soup. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those days. I really started to feel sluggish and miserable. I want to fast but since I am breastfeeding, I won't do it. I may have to eat a high raw diet, which is mainly fruits, vegetables and some nuts. Nothing dehydrated for the moment.

Rainbeau Mars/Jogging

I was perusing other blogs on rawfood and I was inspired by a person named Rainbeau Mars. She is a yoga practitioner and rawfoodist who has a baby. She looks fabulous. She is living a very healthy, active, organic life. I like that. Another inspiration is Frederic Patenaude, a fellow Canuck. His website and information is practical and realistic.

I've been jogging with my son in this jogging stroller I won on ebay. It's fantastic. The ride was smooth and my son loved. I need to encourage fitness and good health at a young age. I haven't jogged in a long time and my muscles could feel it. But it's been getting better everyday. I feel a lot better. I'm trying to incorporate jogging at least 3 times a week and the other days will be Ashtanga yoga.

I celebrated with a raw carob/banana smoothie. Mmm...

Winter's Coming

I normally don't do well on a 100% raw diet in the winter. I feel my body needs some warmth. My goal is to maintain a 75% raw diet during the winter months. I will keep eating my greens and making my raw crackers and biscuits. The cooked food part of my diet will consist of vegan soups. I should be fine with that.

Christmas is coming and I dread eating with the family because no one is raw or vegetarian. I'll have to prepare a dish so that I don't feel left out or tempted. Caribbean food still smells good. There is this Jamaican Christmas drink I love called sorrel. It is made from the sorrel plant. The plant is boiled in water and pieces of ginger until there is a deep red colour. While it's hot, you add sugar and sometimes pineapple juice and mint leaves. I'm trying to find a raw version of sorrel. Instead of the sorrel leaves I may use fresh cranberries. Hmm...we'll see.

Why I Chose a Raw Food Diet

All my life I've been trying to find a healthy diet that works for me. I've struggled with my weight and it frustrated me. My relationship with food was complicated. I developed terrible eating habits. I was addicted to certain foods such as refined sugar, and coffee. I became an emotional eater and that led to eating disorders and problems with my weight. It wasn’t until a few years ago, when I went to Victoria and Igor Boutenko’s raw food workshop, I had learned about raw foods. I went to the workshop with an empty stomach but in the back of my mind I thought about the slice of pizza I’d be eating afterwards. I didn’t think raw food could be satisfying. I was in for a wonderful awakening. The food was terrific and the dessert was amazing! My body felt light yet satisfied. I didn’t have that heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I realized that this was the direction I needed to take.

Since having a predominantly raw food diet (the odd time I eat sashimi...it is raw :P), my energy has increased, my skin looks great and my eating habits have become more balanced. I still have my ups and downs (especially during my pregnancy) but this is a road I intend to stay on and there’s no turning back.

I'll be documenting my raw journey and I'm hoping to be as honest and open about it. It may not be for everybody but somebody may gain some insight on it.