Posts Tagged ‘ 30 day challenge ’

47 degrees = suspension

December 7, 2009
By
Rain clouds over Los Angeles

Rain clouds over Los Angeles

It’s raining.  Hard.  It’s 47 degrees outside.  I know, it’s a balmy day for Ottawa (where I used to live).  Here in L.A., however, it’s FREEZING.  My fellow Canadians are laughing their asses off at me right now. I’ve gone soft  :-) .

I have succumbed to hot veggie-licious soup and roasted veggies.  Yes.  I’ve suspended the 30 day challenge.  My body just isn’t feeling it.  I want warming grounding food.  I know, I can get it via raw foods with creative use of spices, dehydrator, running the Blentec until food is warm, warming things to the touch on the stove top, etc.

I know myself regarding food.  I’m in recovery from an eating disorder.  I need to give myself what I want when I want it.  Otherwise I go into deprivation and denial mode, which is one step away from a binge.

Today’s menu: oatmeal with flax, walnuts, and a wee bit of stevia.  Lunch will be a green smoothie.  Dinner will probably be miso soup with kale and portobello mushrooms and some steamed veggies.   Healthy.

I’m going back to Eat to Live.  It’s high raw. It works for me.  I plan on doing another 30 day challenge when the spring arrives and it’s warm in Los Angeles again.   Fresh strawberry season makes it easier to love the living foods.

I did well at sticking to my goals last week.  I was 100 per cent raw for 5 days and 90% the remaining two.  I got in my 5 days of cardio.  My goals haven’t changed all that much.  I’m keeping the 5 day per week cardio.  My other goal is to eat leafy greens with lunch and dinner.   Do-able.

Day 3 – Eating like a rock star

December 1, 2009
By

So far, this challenge hasn’t been a struggle.  Usually the first 3 days are the hardest part in terms of craving SAD veggie food.  I’m sure it’s because I was ready to eat better.  My mood has been rather dismal since mid-October despite regular exercise and I know without a doubt that eating a high percentage of fruit and greens makes a difference.

I’m feeling better already.  My skin is starting to do that glow thing.  My mood is much better. Not being weepy at the slightest thing rules! My energy level is up.  I got my exercise in today, walking 3 miles with my buddies (and Keen-O!).  And, I’m eating like a rock star.  Today I loved:

Breakfast

  • 2 fl oz shots of E3 Live
  • Almond milk with coffee
  • Green smoothie
    • 2 cups coconut water (fresh!)
    • 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
    • 1 cup pineapple
    • 1 1/4 cup chopped collard stems (leftover from making marinated collards)
    • 2 tablespoons ground flax seed a.k.a flax meal
    • 3 capsules acidophilus (I have Country Life Power-dophilus on hand)
    • 1 tablespoon bee pollen (yeah, I’m not an ethical vegan)
    • 1 teaspoon raw agave powder
    • 3 scoops MSM
Spicy sweet potato chips

Spicy sweet potato chips

Lunch

  • Marinated collards served on top of a:
  • Monster salad
    • Mixed baby greens
    • Broccoli sprouts
    • Shredded carrots
    • Broccoli slaw
    • Fat free balsamic vinegar dressing
  • Spicy sweet potato chips (crumbled on top of the collards & salad…OMG soooo good)
  • Apple

Snack

Dinner

  • Romaine lettuce wraps filled with
  • Raw agave gelato from Organic Nectars — this time cherry chocolate

I am grateful for the spousal support.  I am grateful for tasty eats.  I am grateful for lovely friends and walking buddies. May it continue to go so smoothly.

Day 2 – Tostada goodness

November 30, 2009
By

I know I extol the virtues of menu planning.  I know I spent a goodly portion of my weekend thinking about a menu for the week and making some things ahead of time.  I know my theme this week is “American comfort food.” You know what they say about the best laid plans.  Stuff happens.  Tonight the stuff was tostadas!!!  (living in the Southwest, it may be fair to say that Mexican grub IS American comfort food).

My wife’n'kid were having bean’n'cheese burritos.  The smell when I came in the house after work was inspiring!  So I got creative.  I made a batch of Cherie Soria’s Fresh Corn Tortillas back in July.  Since I had a dozen, I froze a bunch of them.  Five months later they’re still good.  I warmed them up in the dehydrator while I got busy making the Stuffing Fantasy I was supposed to make on Saturday (I do want my Thanksgiving eats this week at some point).   I also had some portobello mushrooms and some cherry tomatoes so I warmed massaged those in a little olive oil and salt and put those into the dehydrator to soften up. Finally, I threw some of the salsa the wife’n'kid were having into the dehydrator too.  It’s chilly!  I like my raw food warmed up!

Forty-five minutes later, after I’d finished the stuffing, I had a beautiful set of ingredients with which to make tostadas.

Fresh corn tortilla with portobello mushroom cherry tomato ragout

Fresh corn tortilla with portobello mushroom cherry tomato ragout

Fresh Corn Tortillas

  • 4 cups chopped yellow bell peppers
  • 3 cups fresh corn kernels
  • 1 cup peeled chopped zucchini
  • 1.5 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • .5 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ripe avocado, coarsely cut into chunks
  • 3 tablespoons psyllium powder or ground flax seeds

1. Combine the bell peppers, corn, zucchini, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt in a blender and process until smooth.  Add the avocado and process until well combined.  With the blender running, add psyllium powder and process for a few seconds longer until well blended.

2. Using 1/2 cup of the mixture for each tortilla, use a small metal spatula of flat rubber spatula to quickly form 4 flat disks on a dehydrator tray lined with a nonstick sheet.  Each disk should be about 7 inches in diameter, with a little space between each one.  Work quickly or the mixture will thicken and become difficult to spread.  Continue to work in this fashion until all of the mixture is used.

3. Dehydrate at 105 F for 4 hours, or until the tortillas can be easily remoed from the nonstick sheets.

4. Turn the tortillas over onto mesh dehydrator trays.  Place an additional mesh screen on top of each tray; this will make the tortillas flatter and easier to store. Dehydrate for 3-4 hours longer until the tortillas are dry but still flexible.

5. Stored in an airtight container, will keep for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator or up to 2 months in the freezer.

Portabello mushroom and cherry tomato ragout

  • Portobello mushrooms, chopped
  • Cherry tomatoes, chopped
  • Olive oil, to taste
  • Sea salt, to taste

Mix mushrooms and tomatoes with olive oil and salt, using your hands to massage oil into the vegetables.  Put veggies in the dehydrator until they become soft and reduce in size a bit.

Tostadas

  • 2 fresh corn tortillas
  • portobello mushroom and cherry tomato ragout
  • shredded carrots
  • pico de gallo salsa
  • mixed greens

Spread salsa on the tortillas.  Layer the greens, mushroom ragout, salsa, and shredded carrots on top.  Serve with love!

I ate like royalty today, day 2 of my 30 day raw food challenge.  I had

Breakfast

  • 1 shot of E3 Live
  • Tropical fruit salad (no coconut today): pineapple, mandarin orange, and banana

Lunch

  • marinated collard greens mixed with
  • leftover monster salad from yesterday
  • apple

Snack

  • banana

Dinner

Sometimes it’s really really really easy to be raw.   It’s all in the pre-prep baby.  I had several things available to me today which made my life easy’n'tasty.  I had tortillas, tortilla chips, store-bought salsa, store-bought gelato, and chocolate sauce.   I also had leftover collards from this weekend’s prep session.   I only spent 30 minutes doing food prep today.   It took me longer to do the dishes after the family ate!

I didn’t exercise, unfortunately.  All that eating and dish doing has left me a bit done in.  Only half-hour until bedtime.  I’m going to read a novel in bed cuddling with my doggies.

30 day challenge – Day 1

November 30, 2009
By

Made it through the first day of the challenge, no problems.  Today Yesterday I ate:

  • Coffee with almond milk
  • Tropical fruit salad (pineapple, banana, mandarin oranges with sprinkle of shredded coconut)
  • Yogi chai with almond milk and raw honey (ok, not strictly vegan…but raw!)
  • Pumpkin bread with almond butter
  • Spicy sweet potato chips
  • Monster green salad (mixed greens, broccoli sprouts, broccoli slaw, shredded carrots, red cabbage, spiced seeds, raw parmesan, and low-fat balsamic vinaigrette dresssing)

And  I made (active hands-on time in parentheses)

  • Yogi tea (a.k.a Chai) (5 minutes)
  • Peeled the skins off 1 lb of soaked almonds (30 minutes)

No exercise – a friend was visiting from out of town.  The chai is super yummy.  An excellent coffee substitute.  Full of medicinal ingredients.   Keeps about a week in the fridge if you mix it with “milk.”   Keeps two weeks without the milk.   I like to keep some on hand

Yogi Tea

Ingredients:
  • 2 quarts water
  • 15 whole cloves
  • 20 black peppercorns
  • 3 sticks of cinnamon
  • 20 whole cardmon pods (split the pods first)
  • 8 fresh ginger slices (1/4″ thick, no need to peel)
  • 1/2 teaspoon regular or decaf black tea leaves (approximately 1 tea bag)
  • Dairy or soy milk and honey or maple syrup to taste
Preparation:

Bring two quarts of water to a boil. Add cloves and boil one minute. Add cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon, and ginger. Cover and boil for 30 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for two to three hours. Remove from heat, add black tea, and let cool. Strain and store in the refrigerator. Reheat when you want a cup and add milk and honey to taste.

Week 1 menu & prep schedule – post-Thanksgiving leftovers

November 28, 2009
By
Arranged Vegetables Creating a Face

Arranged Vegetables Creating a Face

I’m going to go with “holiday leftovers” for week 1 of this raw challenge.  It’s what I’ll have on hand. I guess the theme is “American traditional comfort food.”  I wasn’t going to go raw for Thanksgiving, but I realized I needed to do prep for week 1 anyway.  Might as well take advantage of all the holiday recipes abounding on the raw food blogosphere. And yeah, they’re not leftovers per se, since I didn’t actually make this stuff for Thanksgiving.  But they would have been!

I’ve already got a few staples on hand :

  • raw parmesan
  • flax crackers
  • tortilla chips
  • gRAWnola
  • chocolate macaroons
  • chai spices

Plus I made some cranberry relish the day before Thanksgiving.   There is still a fair amount of prep work to be done. The trick is to think a bit about when I’d like to eat what while considering how best to space out the work.

Here’s the menu with a rough prep schedule.  One can assume I’ll be eating other things besides these menu items. Those would be staples and/or simple salads which don’t require a recipe.  One can also assume that I prep stuff the night before I eat it if the recipe requires more than 10 minutes of preparation.   I do perishable staples a couple of times per week.  That means things like nut milk and washing and cutting up fruit and vegetables.

I probably spent about an 90 minutes doing the thinking today.  That means looking at recipes, writing shopping lists, and thinking about scheduling.   I’ll report at the end of the week how much hands-on time I actually spent preparing stuff.  My ultimate goal is to spend less than 4 (non-consecutive) hours per week making food and less than 2 hours per week shopping for it.  Raw can not become routine if it takes too much time .

Breakfasts

  • Green juice (Monday)
  • Orange and cranberry smoothie (Tuesday)
  • Pumpkin bread with nut butter (Saturday)
  • gRAWnola with nut milk  (already done, almond milk made twice each week)

Lunches

  • Marinated collards with spicy yam chips (greens Sunday, chips Saturday)
  • Waldorf salad (Monday)
  • Green smoothies (Wednesday & Friday)
  • Green bean almondine and flax crackers (Wednesday)

Dinners (all served with a big ass greens & sprouts salad)

Snacks

  • Veggies and dip (wash and cut veg twice a week)
  • Kale chips (Sunday)
  • Macaroons (already done!)
  • Fruit (cut up night before if juicing or making smoothies)
  • Almond milk chai (Saturday, more almond milk on Wednesday)

It seems like a lot.  Too much really.  I need to simplify more.  I think I get carried away with wanting to try out recipes.

Bad Behavior has blocked 107 access attempts in the last 7 days.