Art Sale

What a crazy weekend! I sold most of my work and it was a nice little Christmas bonus for the end of the semester. Thanks to those who came and others, if you didn't make it, there is always next year!
The place was a madhouse, but it was great seeing everyone so excited about all the artwork on the walls!

Gawd...

Spring is FINALLY here, and I really need to get back into gear with raw food. I have been slacking a bit, still keeping it all in mind, but at least one meal every day and sometimes two has not been raw. And it hasn't been the healthiest either...
SO here I go! I loved how I felt, and although I haven't gained a single lb, I still feel heavier and sluggish. I think since the semester is coming to an end I am getting very tired and less motivated but I just have to remember how I felt before!
Lack of money and my job coming to an end is very scary to think about, so I just need some positive vibes coming my way and every little thing will be alright!
I might keep this going as the summer gets into gear.
Tootles!

Just thought I would share a couple delicious recipes I have half discovered, half made up. I was craving some spice really bad, and made a jalapeno sauce for my good ol quinoa and kelp mixture. It would be great used just on any noodle of your choice too.
For the sauce: Put in blender...
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup cashews
2/3 cup water

Blend well, add more water if it's too thinck

Add 1/2 tsp corriander
salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 Red Jalapeno, or a whole one, but start with 1/2 (I used the whole pepper, seeds and all)

Blend away! Pour it on whatever you like

Today I also had a wrap made with a collard leaf. Inside I had this avocado mixture with sesame oil and soy sauce. The i put whatever veggies I wanted inside and wrapped 'er up! It was delish.
Ok, I am off to class
ciao

Alright now....Seriously

So, I feel like it's been a difficult month as far as the raw food adventure goes, but I still lost around 6 lbs and have felt soso. I think with the onslaught of school and lack of money I have had a harder time sticking to a complete raw diet. I have had pizza here, (home-made) and some cookies there...But I feel like I just need to reinvent things that I eat. Today my experimental lunch prompted me to continue on with my blog!
I bought some Quinoa last weekend and decided to cook some up today. When it was still in the pan and a small amount of water was left, I added some dried kelp, shredded carrots and cellery, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, soy sauce and a tid bit of sesame oil and mixed it all up! The kelp salts the mixture quite well, and it is insanely delicious! If you're not into kelp add spinach and salt. The hot water will soften the greens, and I know this isnt really raw but it's super good for you and really tastey!
I have to finish it up and go hang up my artwork for the Merit competition here at school. Fingers crossed I get the $6,000 children's book illustration scholarship!
ciao ciao from minneapolis :)

Been a while

Well, It's been a little over a week since my last entry, but things have been pretty good! I had a great valentines day weekend, and went to ecopolitan for dinner saturday night. I had a delicious hawaiian pizza and some wine, then went to see a play with my mum. She ended up bringing a scale to my apartment and I have lost 10 lbs since the last time I weighed myself! But that was before christmas, and I know over the holidays I gained somewhere around 10 lbs. I wish I had weighed myself before I started eating raw. Ah well, in any case, I'll just pretend I have lost 20 lbs this first month! :) It's more inspiring that way...
I have been eating probably 90% raw, and am including bread sometimes, dairy very occasionally, and meat...but I have only eaten meat once in the past month. Tofu is just as good for me right now!
I have to get cracking on school work, but so far so good with the raw food! It is sort of breaking the bank though and I am counting the days till the farmers markets start!
Happy Tuesday to all!
ciaociao

Oh what a world!

Today seems a bit dreary, but I have a lot planned for the next 12 or so hours! I have to first get this g-dang history test out of the way, and then shopping! I am so hungry I could eat a horse. I didn't shop very well this past week and ran out of food pretty quick. I was sort of pinching my pennies. I am trying to figure out that happy medium where I get just enough food for the week but don't spend too much money. Maybe this week will be the one! I was going to weigh myself this morning but I think I will wait till the 14th when I will have been 1 month raw! Somehow I have to find a scale...Mom will you bring yours?? :)
I held off on making myself a green smoothie this morning and instead took a jaunt to spyhouse. I tend to wait till later to use the blender on weekends so my roommate doesn't go completely insane from the whizzing noise.
So last night it was decided that I might go to Glacier National Park later this summer if funds and time allow! How awesome would that be!!! So this gives me yet another goal to strive towards...being fit enough to romp around the mountains for 6-7 days :D
I should get to work, but right now life is pretty exciting! I have to focus on the now, and not worry about the future at this point. I have been distracting myself with summer plans the past week or so, and it's gotten pretty bad. NO MORE FACEBOOK!!! It is truly liberating!
Oh last note...I had a dream I went to Florida and my cousin Nikita jumped into the water where a bunch of lobsters were hanging out, and a fisherman dragged him out of the water covered in lobsters. M'ok that is all!
Ciaociao

Word.

It's about time for class but I just thought I would check in. Today has been actually a very successful day so far. To curb my cravings for sweets I munched on a couple dates. This whole week has been super hard, and once I get to the end of the week for some reason I get really motivated to drink a lot of water, eat better and just do my work! I talked to my cousin this morning and the talk we had really motivated me to do better in school and finish. Weird how that happens! I also deleted my facebook account. It was sort of consuming my life.
So, today is a good day!
I did try some sunflower seed cheese and its delish, thanks Zoe!
I figured if you want a thicker cheese add less water.
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup water
garlic
dill
salt
pepper
lemon juice (just a tablespoon or so)
and some olive oil if you want to....

Off to learn :)
ciaociao

It's been a few days...

So what's up folks. I was wondering last night if I bought enough food for the week. I have been getting the munchies like crazy and no I'm not smoking the pot. I did buy gum to maybe curb those tendencies to reach for the bag of nuts in my cabinet and eat them all. I think I will have to make another run to the wedge and pick up some more greens and tofu this afternoon (weather permitting...it's been super cold the past 24 hours)
Classes are going pretty good, I have yet to go to my studio to work, and am thinking I might just do so this afternoon to work on my professional practice piece. It is a poster for the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, that ended this past weekend. I didn't go but I heard it was soso. Work at the Children's Theatre is pretty crazy, and I seem to be doing ok with managing that and school. I think letting go of Storyboarding really helped. I have been thinking about summer plans too like mad, almost in a distracting sort of way. What I am thinking is doing the internship for about 6 weeks, that will run into about 30 hours a week give or take. Then the rest of the summer try to do some freelance illustrating. I need to get a little taste of what it might be like if I do choose to take that path in my career. I made my first trend board this weekend and after revisions this is what I came up with! It's for a skateboard design, and I was thinking of coming up with a company name/logo to put on the surface design I create.
Allright, I should make my green smoothie of the day and be obnoxious to my roommate!
ciaociao

She done a bad bad thang...

YEP well, I ate some lentil and sausage soup tonight, with a couple french fries from The Black Forrest restaurant and daaaamn was it delicious! I broke all the rules and had dark german beer too. I think that it is ok to do this once or twice a month! It was so satisfying, and tomorrow morning I will have a giant detoxifying green smoothie to start out my day! Just thought I would be 100% honest with all this. I should go to bed though, because I have a feeling if I'm not careful I will find something to unnecessarily munch on at 1 am.
Hope all a wonderful weekend!
xoxo

Very niiice...

I might be interning with one of my professors here doing surface design and product design this summer! We chatted last night and she seemed pretty positive about having me as well as a friend of mine as interns. It's going to be a lot of work but Im super excited about it! Basically she will get a job from a client and give it to us to work on...then eventually our designs and products will make it to the shelves come the fall and winter! It should make for a great summer, and an amazing experience. Also, when we are done interning she said she would be willing to take us on as freelancers if we were interested. woot!
Happy Tuesday to all :)

um what?

Tonight we had a delicious pot luck and munched on some rawvioli and cheesecake! It took such a long time to prepare and I think most of the work was put into slicing the beets super thin. (Thank you to Jeremy for taking that over....I sliced my fingers too much) But in the end it was all so very tastey! (Thank you Zoe for the desert :D)
It has almost been two weeks being "raw" and today I had bread, and I'm sure at some other point this week I ate some not so raw food. I've been drinking beer, only one though and thinking about moderating my vino intake. I'm so very tired with school starting up, and now the stress kicks in. I think it is time I move to my studio and start doing most of my work there. It is hard to make the transition from such a long break to no time to think/school mode. I'll get into the swing of things soon enough, I hope!
I also technically got promoted in my job and will be taking on a ton more responsibilities this semester. I hope, as some people say, this new way of eating will help improve my attention span and energy levels. I already feel the energy boost, and the dragging of the feet has stopped, but I am sort of spacey and might be in need of some nutrient that I am lacking...a de-spacey vitamin. Is there such a thing?
In any case, today was fun! Preparing food for a few people is a lot of work, but I hope to make it a bit of a tradition, as time and money allows :) I am really craving a good day out on my snowboard or a few hour ski. I would just like it to get a weeee bit warmer outside! At this point I am also craving sleep, which I am going to go do right now. I might get up early...no I take that back.
That is all for now, I might write more as the week progresses. I have a meeting with one of my profs about an internship with her tomorrow night so I might let you ALL ( I think there are two of you that follow this blog) know how that went! Fingers crossed it works out positively.
Till then, tata

Yummy Skin

One great thing I have noticed about the change in my diet is how my skin has reacted. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm drinking more water, but my skin feels great! I hardly have any acne and its all soft and purdy. I think I am going to go down a big glass of water right now as a matter of fact. Its sunny today so that means its a good day!
ciao ciao

Goooood MORNING!

So school has officially begun and I am already thinking that storyboarding isn't going to be a good class this semester. I don't know if I am going to drop it or not. I think I will decide this coming Thursday evening. Other than that a good frothy green smoothie for breakfast is the best!
I have been doing pretty decent so far this week, nibbling on a few non-raw things here and there. (I am probably eating about 90% raw vegan) Yesterday I ate SO much, so I think I know what my limit is. I had this gigantic salad for lunch that tied me way over until dinner. Then for dinner I had a collard wrap with a bunch of veggies and my cheese sauce on it. AND then I had a fruit smoothie after class for a treat. SO I think when I got sickly feeling last Friday night, it wasn't the amount of fruit but rather the yogurt. I do know also that on nights I will be drinking, I am going to gnaw on some bread.
I have also joined a "social network" I guess you could call it, called Give It To Me Raw. It's almost like facebook for raw food folk. It's pretty interesting, and is a great way to talk with people about how they live raw, and exchange recipes, get advice and support.
I am off to work this morning, had an interesting awkward first couple days, but I think today I will just stop being a goon. Some days I feel super awkward around certain people, then other days I feel awkward around everyone....then a few days in my life I'm not awkward at all. What gives?
Have a happy splendiferous day! LOST is on tonight and I will be in class :(
ciao ciao

Dang

I am pretty much loving this alfredo sauce I half made up, half took from a recipe online.
Equal parts Cashews and Water (I used 3/4 c and its plenty for a few meals)
Salt
Pepper
1/2 lemon Juice
Dried celery (and/or basil or whatever spice)
Pinch of Garlic Powder
Blend till smooth then add some olive oil
YUM!
It is a great substitute for those that cant always eat creamy cheesy alfredo sauce. I have been eating other non raw foods, but only OK-MAK crackers and humus, some yogurt and salad dressings. I feel great today, so everything is seeming to work out well. We will see how things progress in the next couple weeks! Today is the one week mark of me starting to eat raw foods...yay!

I feel better!

So these past two days I actually haven't felt that great. I think Friday night's smoothie gave me a wee bit of a stomach ache, and then I decided to drink almost a whole bottle of wine, which in turn made me feel like a mushy banana. I wasn't really sure how I would be able to take alcohol, but now I know I just cant drink as much as I used to. Ah well! Such is life I suppose. SO today is a new day and I have started off with a nice big green smoothie. It is snowing now, giant fluffy flakes and I might just have to go and play in them!
As for being 100% raw, I don't think I can do it, but I want to be able to find a happy medium. I just need to learn what works with the foods I eat. I feel like yogurt may be making me feel a bit yucky, but if I combine that with a granola of some sort instead of just fruit it might digest better...I think.
In anycase, happy snowy day to all!

mmmm yeah

Heres another yummy treat. Frozen strawberries, a wee bit of water, 1 orange (I used a blood orange) and 5 dates. Blend and enjoy! I had it as my desert tonight, and it might keep me up and going till the early hours of tomorrow but that's ok. Its Friday night....woooo.

Great Success!!

So I have realized that simple is better. I made another green smoothie this morning and all I put in it was a banana, spinach, spirulina, water and coconut milk. Voilla! Its yummy. Everyone stay warm out there. ciaociao

mmmm garlic.

I had a clove of garlic in my meal tonight and UGH....bad idea. I can still taste it and even though I like the taste when I'm eating it, the aftertaste is the worst. I think I went a little overboard but dinner was still flipping awesome. I cant wait till tomorrow morning when the garlic is still seeping out of my pores. 

Today is....Wednesday?

I really can't wait for school to start. It's annoying not knowing what day it is. It's SUPER cold outside and has been for the past couple days, so because I'm not eating any hot food I have found myself drinking a lot of tea...green tea in particular. Which, ding ding ding! is why I haven't been sleeping well. Last night I went for the tea kettle and realized, duh, maybe I shouldn't drink caffeine before bed. sewanyway, yesterday I ate almost 100% raw and splurged on some cheese. Ah well. I'm feeling pretty good today and made a yummy lunch! Spring rolls, and here is what I put in them. I also took the lemon rinds from the dressing I made yesterday and have been drinking lemon water, which takes the pond taste out of the tap water in my apt. I really should get a filter. Anyway, you should try these, they are pretty tasty! The little dish has coconut meat because I have a lot of it and should really eat it up :)


Zucchini sliced thin for the outer part
Red Pepper sliced thin
Carrots sliced thin
Sprouts
Spinach
Hep seeds
ginger curry dressing (Which is 1 lemon juiced, 1/4 cup pecans, 1 tbs ginger, 1 clove of garlic, 1 apple, 1 tbs curry, and 1 cup olive oil blended together.)

Put everything on one end of a slice of zucchini and roll it all up! I put down the sauce first then seeds then spinach, and so on.

Ok off to brave the frigid air!

Green Smoothie....

Here it is! My first green smoothie and I think it turned out pretty decent. Probably more greens next time? Not too sure. Here's what I put in it:
1 Banana
1 Apple
1/2 Cup of coconut milk
1-2 cups of Spinach (roughly, I just grabbed a decent handful)
1/4 cup of pecans (if that)
1 Tsp Spirulina
some ice cause it was sort of warm. Im going to try frozen banana tomorrow.
I also cracked open a coconut and it seemed pretty good, didn't loose a finger so my day is starting off well.

one more thing...

There was banana in that desert parfait and YES I ate it and NO I didn't feel sick!!! Thank the fuzzy things above, I think I can eat bananas again! I will put some in my green smoothie tomorrow morning and see what that does, but so far so good :)

YAY!

So I actually didn't start eating "raw" til tonight which ended up being the most amazing first raw night ever! Zoe and I went grocery shopping at the Wedge and I almost broke the bank but really half of it is stuff I wont buy every week. It was so fun foraging around the produce section for about a half an hour give or take. After the Wedge and scooting our full carts through the snowy parking lot we went to Ecopolitan which I later learned from Zoe is the only raw food restaurant in MN. Kinda lame but ooohhh so tasty! I ordered Rawvioli and it was to die for! I seriously almost cried... Then came desert where we had the most delicious parfait made with a frozen banana base I believe and then nuts, dates, carob whatever mixed in. The other part was coconutty and sweet, almost like the inside of an almond joy. I am really not doing the meal any justice but I will take anyone who wants to go sometime. After we stuffed ourselves, we each bought some young coconuts which I am going to dig into tomorrow morning without hurting myself or losing a finger!
There is an excitement for this adventure that I haven't felt in a long while. It's almost like I am about to go on vacation somewhere new. You know how that feels? It's nice knowing I will be taking care of myself and having fun with it all at the same time. I come from an Italian background, and food is kinda important there... :) Its something that brings people together, and is precious. Anyhoo, Im happy, and can't wait to see what this first week brings! Baby steps always.
til then ta ta

And so it begins....

After about a month of researching and then gorging myself in holiday sweets I have decided to finally start a raw food diet. Most people I have talked to about this, aside from a couple friends, all think I'm 100% off my rocker, but honestly it is all worth a try. I want to be healthy, energized and take care of myself for a change. I don't eat terribly bad, but some things like refined sugars, processed foods and bad fats just aren't necessary. I know a lot of people think, why be so drastic? The truth is I feel like it has to be in order for me to stick with it. I can't do junk food Saturdays, or say, well I guess once a day I eat a meal that isn't raw or whole. It just won't work for my personality.
Now, why RAW? It is known that a lot of nutrients/vitamins are actually lost when some foods are cooked. Vitamin B1 is easily destroyed when food is prepared and cooked because it's sensitive to heat and the oxygen in air. But essentially I am going back to basics here and eating whole unprocessed foods. I just want to try something new, and really have no reason not to.
I am overweight, (have been all my life) and am getting absolutely sick and tired of it all. I recently had my appendix out and almost immediately after I started thinking about changing my diet. My digestive system has been absolutely horrible for almost the past year. I would eat one thing and then get sick, the next day eat something else and get even more sick. I think my diseased appendix might have had something to do with this, but overall it wouldn't hurt to improve the foods that go through my body. I know raw and whole food will make me feel like a completely different person and I am most definitely ready for that. I know this past semester my concentration was almost nil, and my energy was shit. I ate SO bad (sugars, high processed and refined foods, not a whole lot of veggies, fruits or nuts) and I think it might have triggered the appendicitis.
So here goes nothing! I think the biggest challenge will be the shopping on a budget. I am a full time student and funds are low. I know this summer will be much easier because of the amazing farmers markets we have here, and I cant wait for those! I bought a blender and am about to go do my first raw food shopping, so wish me luck :) I think I am going to make a giant fun salad tonight. I will be keeping this blog updated with photos, recipes, links, thoughts, opinions, and rants. Here is a link to the website of the first person I discovered in my quest for raw food/whole food goodness.
Take care all, ciao ciao
http://www.rawreform.com/index.php