Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I'll have mine to go please!

I don't know about you - but I tend to live a rather fast paced life.


I know, I know - we're human BEings, not DOings......


and I totally agree with the concept. I do.


Still, I happen to be busy - my life is VERY full.


And for that - I am very thankful. I have gainful employment (that I don't HATE!), I have a family, a part time hobby/business, I have friends both online and off, I run a large and successful forum......my hands are full (but you should see my HEART!).


I can't complain. Don't need or want to.


I do have the challenge of eating raw on the go. Not a problem - merely a challenge.


Life is full of them!

I try to rise to the occassion. ;-)


One thing that goes with me every day is my smoothies.


Green smoothies have become a (THE?) staple in my eating. But how do you take them on the road?


Well, first is my nifty spotted tumbler my son gave me a few years back.


WAY before I knew about raw or had the pleasure of sipping smoothies.


At that time I had taken to drinking a peanut butter shake that was a combination of plain yogurt, peanut butter, banana, and something else....maybe some soy milk.


Now it is full of green goodness and I drink this on my way to work each morning.


Then came the challenge of what I would lug the REST of the smoothie to work in each day. I use lots of canning jars at home for things, but I didnt' want to travel with glass. I have gone through several different 'jugs'.


The first were some old containers I had (so old I can't even find a picture!)  and while they were great f9or home use, they were prone to leak and don't hold that much.





Then there was this lovely little bottle which really was nice -  

but somehow it still didn't meet ALL my expectations.









and now there is this:





My new favorite - the CHUG container.

 
See how it fits in the side pocket of my bag!!???  Perfect to keep it upright. It doesn't leak, my papers stay dry inside the bag...


Life is good.

Its a 32 oz bottle but will hold a bit more if you fill it to the rim.

It doesn't leak and its completely round at the bottom but slightly flat/oval on the sides so it fits nicely in my bag.


I realize this may not be the right choice for you. ITs plastic and I am uncertain as to what type of plastic it is made from, I will be checking into that. 

Someone else recommended these:


Stainless Steel bottle


They are very pretty and they come in different colors. This may be a GREAT choice for you.

That is one great thing about life in general - DIVERSITY!


Next up - my *choice* online suppliers.


With so many out there, how does one know where to shop??? It can be mind boggling. I was blessed to run into people who have given me good recommendations.

I will share the ones I've done business with and WHY I like them. :)  Hopefully tomorrow.

STAY TUNED!


Janice

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Reasons Why - 1/101


There are many things I wish I had known at the beginning of my raw adventure. These things were probably written in books I had or on blogs that I was reading,  but for whatever reason they didn't REALLY hit me.

Or I just wasn't paying attention.

I thought I'd share some of the things I've come to realize or learn along the way.....things I now understand the WHY behind. I'm a big theory person. I mean I can do something just because you tell me to but it won't last if I don't really understand WHY I am doing it.

So the first thing, which I have done right from the first time I purchased them, but didn't REALLY understand the WHY until yesterday I bought a replacement is shared below.

The replacement is inferior in many ways and now I'm going to share WHY in hopefully a plain and easy way.

OK, so all over the raw food world you will see 'medjool' dates' specified.

I had read that they were 'bigger' and just tastier. So I did in fact purchase them the first time I actually went to use dates. THEN I went and purchased some California dates because they were $5/lb cheaper. Yes, you read that right

FIVE dollars A POUND less.

For the California variety.

I think they were 3.99/lb as opposed to the medjool variety which runs around 8.99/lb

Well, then they arrived.




Imagine my surprise.  My TOTAL surprise.  I actually giggled.



Until I cut them open and  took a bite.



Hmmmm, hard.  Very little meat.  Low on flavor

ALL by comparison. to the studly medjool.

You should be able to see the difference very easily from the photos.

The little California pitted dates are rather dry. And they will work fine in certain recipes but they truly just can NOT compare to the medjool dates.

And now you know WHY :)

~Janice

Monday, February 1, 2010

Sweet and Sour
















Isn't that lime lovely?

Looks so incredibly REFRESHING -

doesn't it?


I decided we needed a break from the choco-caramel desserts we've been enjoying.


So yesterday I decided to experiment.


Remember I said I was excited because I was finally 'getting it'?


How to combine the ingredients better?


I got brave, I decided to venture out on my own. That can be scary, but in this case it was JUST what I needed!


I made a little 'Key Lime Tart' - all on my own!!


The key lime part is a mixture of:

  • soaked cashews
  • water
  • fresh lime juice
  • lime zest
  • agave
  • chia seeds
















I added the chia seeds for thickness. I didn't want to use coconut oil.


I find that a LOT of raw recipes use coconut oil, but it just seems like a lot of added fat so I thought maybe I could use chia to help thicken this as chia has GREAT gelling properties.


IT WORKED!

The crust is simply walnuts, sunflower seeds, medjool dates, and a pinch of salt. I wanted something a little plain so as not to overwhelm the lime.


They are garnished with fresh cut lime slices in different shapes/poses.















The flavor of the lime 'mousse' is good but could have been a little 'limeier' so next time I will omit the water and JUST use lime juice.



I also decided to pop these in the freezer prior to eating. I wondered if that would make it more like a frozen keylime pie (one of my FAVORITES!)


Again, it worked!


The frozen version had a VERY creamy lovely luscious texture.


The only downside is that freezing it detracted a bit from the lime flavor. That was a bit of a surprise.


I have a fair amount of the lime mousse left over and will enjoy that tonight fresh from the fridge.



For dinner last night I had another batch of the 'ground meat' sort of thing that I showed a few days back.














This time I also made a little relish of jicama, sweet red pepper, onion, chopped cranberries, and broccoli.

I made a simple cranberry vinaigrette and let it marinade for an hour or so, then assembled with lettuce as the bed, my meaty mixture, then topped with the relish.


I enjoyed fresh sliced mango on the side.


I will be happily having leftovers tonight!
Janice

Healing - a journey, I believe

I first got interested in raw because I simply wanted to heal my digestive tract.


I then became more intersted in healing in a large sense - my physical health.


For a long time I have been intersted in emotional health - psychological health and spiritual health, but I have now begun connecting dietary, physical health, emotional health, and spiritual health in a way that I didn't before.


I do believe that each of these impacts the others.


Like most of us, I find that as I age I have gained wisdom (thank you God) and I begin to make better choices about how to promote my health.


While I have learned a lot of things, I do not always put them into practice.
(anyone relate to that?!?!?!)


Although I have learned what foods will fuel and heal my body, I do not always choose them.


I have learned of the need to guard my heart, but I am not always careful.


I have learned to live and let live, yet I do not always walk away.


I have learned to love God but I do not always place God first in my life.


I have learned a lot about forgiveness, grace, and mercy
(though I forget that others have not)


So I am not always patient. I am not always kind.


I am not always quiet.


I believe in freedom but also in personal responsibility.
Freedom is not a license to injure or abuse. It is not an 'anything goes' and even those who posture as such, don't really believe it in practice.


I believe in COMMUNITY.


And I believe Americans are far to 'individual' minded and that it is spreading.
(I believe this is very unfortunate)


I know, without a shadow of a doubt that I am not perfect.


I know of my need for forgiveness and I am thankful that God speicalizes in
forgivenrss and grace and mercy


I know each day is new and I know that I am not powerless.


I know that God will never let me go.
(Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 13:5; Psalm 23:4; 1 Corinthians 10:13)


I know that you are hoping for some lovely yummy food photos and a recipe.


I shall post both later today. :)


Janice