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