Designing the blog

August 12, 2009

I’ve been spending way too much of my time messing around with WordPress themes.  I want this blog to look good.  I want it to visually convey a message: establishing healthy eating habits is do-able. I want the look and feel of this publication to be unique.  Problem is, I’m really not a visual designer.  And every pre-made theme is going to be used by others.  The solution is WP frameworks.  They allow you to hang your customizations onto a foundation of code.  Sounds good to me.  It still leaves this blog looking rather plain until I dive into the CSS or hire somebody to do it for me.  I definitely need to hire-out logo design.

While I figure that out, I think I’m either going to stick with Magazine Basic or Arras.  I’m waffling.  I guess I’ll have to ask M. her opinion and go from there.  Whichever is easiest to tweak while I work on the framework will win out. I wish I could get the design done and then blog, but I’ll never get around to blogging if I wait around to do that.   Besides design, there are a zillion other things to figure out like adding video, search engine optimization, microformats, etc. etc. etc.   I really just need to focus on content and let the design evolve organically.  Unfortunately, I’m the type of person that likes to tinker under the hood.   It’s yet another area where I need to learn how to strike a balance.

Juice feasting & Green Giant Juice

August 9, 2009
Green Giant Juice

Green Giant Juice

I’ve been juice fasting feasting today. M. & I had a late dinner of Boca Burgers last night which left me feeling even more sluggish than I did yesterday. Soy and wheat = stuff sticking around inside of me.

I was definitely in need of a cleanse when I awoke. M. brought me a lovely latte in bed but it just didn’t taste good, nor did it give me the caffeine kick I craved.

Enter the green juice. My favorite green juice recipe is from Cherie Soria.  I pretty much love all of Cherie’s recipes. Not surprising, since I attend her culinary school.   The recipe is published in her latest book, “Raw Food Revolution.”

I usually use 2 apples instead of 1 to cut the saltiness of the celery juice.   The lemon is critical to balance the heavy green chlorophyll-y tasted of the kale.

Green Giant Juice
8 oz kale (1 bunch, including stems)
4 celery stalks
1 cucumber
1 apple
1 lemon

Juice all ingredients and serve immediately.  Yields 3 cups. 2 small or 1 large serving.

Raw spaghetti marinara

August 8, 2009
raw spaghetti marinara

raw spaghetti marinara

2 1/2 cups tomatoes
12 sun dried tomatoes, soaked
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
3 dates, pitted
2 tablespoons parsley
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Place on a bed of spiralized vegetable “noodles.” Serve with love.

Veggie pasta with sauce is a standard recipe in the raw foodie’s repertoire. Every recipe book has a version. This is my favorite from Alissa Cohen’s Living on Live Foods, p.367.

It’s super fast to whip up, especially if you’ve got the sauce on hand. I use less oil and I often use use both olive and flax seed oil to get those beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. I also use about 1/2 the salt, since I’ve got to watch my blood pressure.

Marinara is a good weekly stand-by since it can be used in a variety of dishes.

Getting started

August 8, 2009

I’m not consistent about eating living foods.  Breakfast this morning was coffee with milk, 2 slices of buttered whole wheat toast, some home-grown cantaloupe, and a Skinny Cow fudge bar.  The cantaloupe was fresh from the garden, but disappointing.  It was both mushy and gritty in texture.  What’s with that? The fudge bar was consolation.  In any case, it was a dairy-licious morning. I can do better. I need inspiration. So I’ve registered for some courses at the Living Light Culinary Institute in October.  I need to be in the San Francisco area for work anyhow.

I’m in the midst of completing raw chef certification.  I began the training in 2007.  Living Light lets you take your training in chunks.  At the rate I’m going, it will take me around 10 years to make the transition from librarian (I prefer to be called an information diva, thank you very much) to chef.  I’ve finished the introduction and essentials courses.  I need to do associate chef and advanced courses plus knife skills and raw food nutrition courses.  I’ll need to finish up in two years once I start the advanced courses.  No pressure there.  It’s difficult juggling the expense and the time off from the day-gig.  Somehow I’ll figure out a way.  Meanwhile, I can do the knife and nutrition work and save my pennies.

I’m inspired now that I’ve committed to taking a couple more classes towards the certification.  I think I’ll do a juice fast feast tomorrow.  Sundays are a good time for fasting. I don’t need to make juice ahead of time and I don’t have to worry about being grouchy at work if I start to experience some detoxing symptoms.  The drawback is that my meat-eating family is nearby with their tempting standard American fare.  And that box of Skinny Cow treats remains in the freezer.  How do I retain the motivation? I find it easy to get inspired but difficult to stay inspired.

How do others manage?

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